Public Health Ontario has reported 1,054 new cases of COVID-19 today (Feb. 24).
Today's report includes nine new deaths, two were residents at long-term care homes.
Of the deaths reported today, two were individuals were between 60 and 79 years old, and seven were over the age of 80.
The province has reported 65 new hospitalizations since yesterday, and eight new admissions of COVID-19 patients to intensive care units.
The Feb. 24 update provided by the province's public health agency also reported the following data:
- 1,291 new recoveries
- 10,050 active cases, which is down from 10,296 yesterday
- 675 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario, down from 718 reported yesterday.
- There are 287 COVID patients in intensive care units (up from 283) and 182 COVID patients on ventilators (down from 186 yesterday).
- The province reported 54,842 tests were processed yesterday resulting in a 2.4 per cent positivity rate.
- Another 41,251 tests are still under investigation and/or being processed. To date, 10.8 million tests have been completed.
- Of the 1,054 new cases reported today, 363 are from Toronto, 186 cases are from Peel, 94 are from York Region, and 53 are from Simcoe-Muskoka
- There are 114 active outbreaks at long-term care homes, 63 at retirement homes and 33 at hospitals.
- Of the cases reported today there are 188 people under 19 years old, 401 people between 20 and 39 years old, 322 people between 40 and 59 years old, 115 people between 60 and 79 years old, and 28 people over the age of 80.
Variants of concern
- The province has reported 395 lab-confirmed cases of the UK variant strain of COVID-19 (B.1.1.7).
- The province has reported 9 cases of B.1.351 (also known as the South African variant).
- The province has reported 1 case 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. 24:
- There were 17,141 doses of vaccines against COVID-19 administered on Feb 23, which is up from 16,252 administered on Feb. 22.
- As of 8 p.m. on Feb. 23, the province reported 602,848 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 have been administered.
- In total, 251,590 people have been fully vaccinated, having received two doses of vaccine.
Public Health Ontario has confirmed 296,173 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and reported 279,230 recoveries and 6,893 deaths, of which 3,860 were individuals living in long-term care homes.
The cumulative average incidence rate in the province is 1,992.5 cases per 100,000 people in Ontario.
The weekly incidence rate in Ontario is 49.7 cases per 100,000 people from Feb. 14 to Feb. 20, which is a decrease of 3.7 per cent compared to Feb. 8 to Feb. 14 when the average weekly incidence rate was 51.6 cases per 100,000 people.
Yesterday, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported 61 new cases of COVID-19 in the region. The health unit is scheduled to provide an update on local cases today, including those reported since Friday.
Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 6,298 cases of COVID-19 with 5,504 of those cases recovered and 187 cases ending in death.
According to the health unit, 171 local cases have tested positive for the B.1.1.7 variant strain that originated in the UK, and an additional 216 cases have screened positive (awaiting confirmatory testing).
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.
