Ontario reported another 1,553 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, ahead of an expected update from Premier Doug Ford on the province’s ongoing vaccination campaign.
The new cases include 404 in Toronto, 294 in Peel Region and 176 in York Region. Ottawa, which recorded 82 more cases, will move into the red-“control” tier of Ontario’s restrictions framework on Friday.
The infections come as labs completed 58,560 tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and logged a positivity rate of 3.1 per cent.
The seven-day average of daily cases climbed to 1,427, its highest point since February 7.
Other public health units that saw double-digit increases in cases were:
- Durham Region: 85
- Hamilton: 80
- Lambton: 48
- Waterloo Region: 43
- Halton Region: 38
- Eastern Ontario: 33
- Windsor-Essex: 33
- Thunder Bay: 30
- Niagara Region: 28
- Middlesex-London: 24
- Sudbury: 24
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 18
- Chatham-Kent: 15
- Simcoe Muskoka: 15
- Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington: 12
- Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District: 12
- Brant County: 11
- Northwestern: 11
(Note: All of the figures used in this story are found on the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard or in its Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any region may differ from what is reported by the local public health unit on a given day, because local units report figures at different times.)
According to Critical Care Services Ontario (CCSO), a government agency that compiles a daily report for hospitals and health organizations, there were 361 people with COVID-19 in the province’s hospitals as of yesterday. Twenty-seven of those patients had been admitted in the previous 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Ford is scheduled to hold a news conference beginning at 1 p.m. ET in Hamilton. You’ll be able to watch it live in this story.
Key questions about the next steps in the province’s vaccine rollout will be on the forefront.
Public health units administered 58,119 doses of vaccines on Wednesday, just short of the record high set the day before.
Ford, as well as members of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine task force, have said that overall capacity for getting shots into arms could be quadrupled in short order, once a consistent supply of vaccines is flowing from the federal government.
Some two million total doses are anticipated to haved arrived in Ontario by the end of month. Phase 2 of the government’s rollout plan, which will distribute vaccines based on age and relative risk level, is slated to begin in April.
This week saw several significant developments.
The province’s online portal and call centre for booking vaccine appointments went live Monday, though for now spots are limited to adults aged 80 and older. Two temporary workers hired to help staff the call centre told CBC News they got little training, with one referring to the launch as a “shambles.”
Then on Wednesday, three mass vaccination clinics opened in Toronto. Three more are scheduled to open by the end of March.
The Ministry of Health says that, as of last night, 47.4 per cent of Ontarians aged 80 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
But there are still many unanswered questions about the unfolding rollout. Among them are:
Will Ontario give the AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged 65 and older?
The National Advisory Committee on Immunizations (NACI) recently revised its recommendations for the AstraZeneca vaccine, deeming it safe for use in adults 65 and older. Ontario had initially planned to use the vaccine first for people aged 60 to 64, then eventually in younger age groups. Asked about earlier this week, Ford couldn’t say how the new guidance might change Ontario’s plan.
Will vaccine supply be throttled in health units that get ahead of the official schedule?
Some public health units are moving faster than others when it comes to vaccinations. York Region, for example, has opted to already open appointments to residents 75 years old and above, as as well as high-priority health-care workers. Local health officials there said the move was prompted by a slowdown in appointments for residents aged 80 and above.
Will doses that may have otherwise gone to York be diverted to other public health units that are still working through the highest priority groups and their oldest residents? The province has not yet said.
Who, if anyone, will replace Rick Hillier as chair of the vaccine task force?
Retired general Rick Hillier confirmed this week that he would not continue as chair of Ontario’s vaccine task force after the term of his Order in Council expires at the end of March.
