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Ontario reports 1,258 new COVID cases Friday

Public Health Ontario has reported 1,138 new cases of COVID-19 today (Feb. 24). Today's report includes 23 new deaths, four were residents at long-term care homes.
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Public Health Ontario has reported 1,258 new cases of COVID-19 today (Feb. 26).

Today's report includes 28 new deaths, none were residents at long-term care homes. 

Of the deaths reported today, two were individuals were between 40 and 59, 11 were between 60 and 79 years old, and 15 were over the age of 80. 

The province has reported 58 new hospitalizations since yesterday, and 27 new admissions of COVID-19 patients to intensive care units.

The Feb. 26 update provided by the province's public health agency also reported the following data:

  • 1,007 new recoveries
  • 10,294 active cases, which is up from 10,071 yesterday
  • 683 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario, down from 687 reported yesterday. 
  • There are 284 COVID patients in intensive care units (up from 283) and 193 COVID patients on ventilators (up from 182 yesterday)
  • The province reported 64,049 tests were processed yesterday resulting in a 2.3 per cent positivity rate.
  • Another 35,502 tests are still under investigation and/or being processed. To date, 10.9 million tests have been completed.
  • Of the 1,258 new cases reported today, 362 are from Toronto, 274 cases are from Peel, 104 are from York Region, and 25 are from Simcoe-Muskoka
  • There are 104 active outbreaks at long-term care homes, 62 at retirement homes and 34 at hospitals. 
  • Of the cases reported today there are 228 people under 19 years old, 477 people between 20 and 39 years old, 355 people between 40 and 59 years old, 154 people between 60 and 79 years old, and 42 people over the age of 80. 

Variants of concern

  • The province has reported 477 lab-confirmed cases of the UK variant strain of COVID-19 (B.1.1.7). 
  • The province has reported 14 cases of B.1.351 (also known as the South African variant).
  • The province has reported 2 cases of P.1, which is the variant strain that originated in Brazil. 
  • According to Public Health Ontario, there are delays between specimen collection and the testing required to confirm a variant of concern. As such, the reports can change and can differ from past case counts publicly reported.

Vaccine update for Feb. 26:

  • There were 21,805 doses of vaccines against COVID-19 administered on Feb 25, which is up from 19,112 administered on Feb. 24. 
  • As of 8 p.m. on Feb. 25, the province reported 643,765 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 have been administered.
  • In total, 258,014 people have been fully vaccinated, having received two doses of vaccine.

Public Health Ontario has confirmed 298,569 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and reported 281,331 recoveries and 6,944 deaths, of which 3,864 were individuals living in long-term care homes.

The cumulative average incidence rate in the province is 2,008.6 cases per 100,000 people in Ontario.

The weekly incidence rate in Ontario is 50.2 cases per 100,000 people from Feb. 16 to Feb. 22, which is an increase of 0.4 per cent compared to Feb. 10 to Feb. 16 when the average weekly incidence rate was 50 cases per 100,000 people.

Yesterday, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported 36 new cases of COVID-19 in the region

There are 522 active, lab-confirmed cases in the region, most of which are in Simcoe County.

According to the health unit, 182 local cases have tested positive for the B.1.1.7 variant strain that originated in the UK, and 276 cases have screened positive (awaiting confirmatory testing). 

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 6,362 cases of COVID-19 with 5,606 of those cases recovered and 188 cases have ended in death. 

The weekly incidence rate for Simcoe Muskoka is about 46 cases per 100,000 people, which is up by 25-30 per cent from 35-37 cases per 100,000 a week ago.

For the latest breakdown of cases in the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, click here.


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Erika Engel

About the Author: Erika Engel

Erika regularly covers all things news in Collingwood as a reporter and editor. She has 15 years of experience as a local journalist
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