Ontario reports 476 new cases of COVID-19 this morning

Ontario Public Health is reporting 476 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 today, 425 more recoveries, and 48 more deaths.

Long-term care home outbreaks continue to rise with another 19 reported since yesterday, bringing the total number of long-term care facility outbreaks to 162 in the province.

There have been at least 470 deaths of residents and patients in long-term care homes attributed to COVID-19.

There have been 13,995 cases confirmed in Ontario since the start of the pandemic. Of those, 7,509 have recovered (53.7 per cent) and 811 have died (5.8 per cent).

There were 10,578 tests processed on Thursday and there are 8,171 still awaiting results. In total, Ontario labs have processed 217,618 tests.

Of the 811 deaths reported by the province, three people have been under 40, 39 have been between 40 and 59 years old, and 221 have been between 60 and 79 years old. The remaining 548 deaths have been people aged 80 and over.

Of Ontario’s total number of cases, 4,891 (34.9 per cent) have been community transmission, and another 5,175 are undetermined.

“We know what’s absolutely critically important within this pandemic is that we flatten the curve,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for Simcoe Muskoka region. “We’ve been successful in that, Ontario has been successful in that.”

But it’s not all a success story. Gardner acknowledged the province is struggling to protect long-term care residents as outbreaks continue to be reported and have been fatal for hundreds of patients and residents of long-term care facilities.

Data from the Ministry of Long-term Care states there are now 2,455 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in patients and residents at long-term care facilities, and another 1,120 reported among staff. Not all of those cases have been included in the total numbers reported by Ontario Public Health yet. The Ministry of Long-term Care is also reporting 625 deaths of residents attributed to COVID-19. Again, not all of those deaths have been included in the province’s death toll.

There are now 50 outbreaks at Ontario hospitals with 157 patients reported infected and another 122 staff.

Gardner said one of the factors that led to the flattening of the curve have been the physical distancing and control measures put in place by the province through state of emergency orders.

“What’s also been critical is the way people have abided by this and complied with this,” said Gardner.

Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has confirmed a total of 237 cases in the Simcoe Muskoka region, including 124 recoveries, and 15 deaths.

The case breakdown by community (including those who have died or recovered) is as follows:

Bradford W-G (62 cases, 19 recoveries, 7 deaths), Barrie (67 cases, 33 recoveries, 2 deaths), New Tecumseth (18 cases, 14 recoveries), Orillia (12 cases, 8 recoveries, 2 deaths), Collingwood (7 cases, all recovered), Innisfil (16 cases, 5 recoveries), Springwater (5 cases, 4 recoveries), Midland (5 cases, 4 recoveries), Wasaga Beach (6 cases, 3 recoveries, 1 death), Oro-Medonte (5 cases, 2 recoveries, 1 death), Adjala-Tosorontio (6 cases, 2 recoveries), Clearview (2 cases, all recovered), Essa (3 cases, 2 recoveries), Ramara (3 cases, 2 recoveries), Tiny (2 cases, all recovered), Penetanguishene (2 cases, 1 recovery) for a total of 221 cases in Simcoe County, including 110 recoveries.

There are also 16 confirmed positive cases in Muskoka, and 14 have recovered.

In the region, there have been 81 cases attributed to community transmission, 54 to close contact, and 53 to travel.

The case rate (including lab-confirmed cases only) for Simcoe Muskoka region is 40 cases per 100,000 population. The provincial average is 94.2 cases per 100,000 population.