Ontario reports 2,005 new COVID-19 cases

December 27, 2020Julia Mastroianni

A photo of people wearing masks in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic on November 27, 2020

Ontario reported 2,005 new cases of COVID-19 and 18 new deaths on December 27.

The province has also confirmed a third case of the fast-spreading coronavirus mutation in a person in Ottawa who recently travelled from the UK.

The person is now in self-isolation and a contact management investigation is underway, the government said in a statement.

On Saturday, the province announced two cases of the coronavirus variant first identified in the United Kingdom have been confirmed in a couple in Durham Region.

The couple at first said they had no known travel history or high-risk contacts.

However, the province said in a statement on Sunday that “additional investigation and follow-up case and contact management has revealed that the couple had indeed been in contact with a recent traveller from the UK, which is new information not provided in earlier interviews.

“The cases and contacts have been informed and are now in self-isolation as per public health protocols,” the statement continues.

Ontario’s seven-day rolling average for new COVID-19 cases is down to 2,212. The province detected 2,142 new cases on Saturday, 2,159 on Friday and a record high of 2,447 on Thursday.

“Locally, there are 572 new cases in Toronto, 331 in Peel, 207 in York Region and 140 in Windsor-Essex County,” health minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter.

There are currently 19,861 active cases in Ontario and 823 patients are hospitalized due to the virus, including 285 patients in intensive care.

There are also 194 patients on ventilators within the intensive care unit. However, more than 10 per cent of hospitals did not submit their data for December 27, and these numbers may increase once all data is processed.

Testing numbers have been unavailable since December 24.

Vaccination numbers also have not been updated, with the last count on December 25 showing 10,756 vaccinations province-wide.

Of the 18 deaths reported, 14 were among long-term care residents. One additional long-term care home is in outbreak from the day before, bringing the provincial total to 162 homes.

There have been 171,416 total COVID-19 cases in Ontario, including 147,178 resolved – up 2,005 from the day before. To date, there have been 4,377 deaths.