Ontario reports nearly 200 new COVID-19 cases

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Ontario reports nearly 200 new COVID-19 cases

BY NOW Staff

July 23, 2021

Ontario reported 192 new cases of COVID-19 on July 23 as the seven-day moving average for new infections rose slightly after months of declines.

Provincial public health officials confirmed 185 new cases on Thursday, 135 on Wednesday, 127 on Tuesday and 130 Monday. Today’s is higher than last Friday’s 159 new cases.

The seven-day average has also risen slightly in the past week, from 151 last Friday to 160 today.

With 147 recoveries and one death in the past day, the total number of confirmed active COVID-19 cases in the province stands at 1,407. Of those, 136 people are being treated in intensive care units.

To date, 9,308 people have died in Ontario since the pandemic began, according to provincial public health data.

Medical labs in the province completed 19,757 tests in the past day, bringing the positivity rate to 0.9 per cent, which is up from 0.6 per cent this time last week.

“Locally, there are 43 new cases in Toronto, 25 in Peel Region, 18 in York Region, 18 in the Region of Waterloo, 11 in Durham Region and 11 in Hamilton,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter.

Toronto’s daily case count is up from the 18 infections confirmed yesterday, 26 on Thursday and 34 on Wednesday. Last Friday, the city reported 23 new cases.

Toronto’s case count per 100,000 people is 1.57 compared with 0.84 this time last week.

As of 8 pm last night, the province had administered 18,724,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccines , including 120,231 doses administered yesterday.

Torontonians 18 to 45 lag behind in vaccine uptake: city

Nearly 70 per cent of all people in Ontario have had one shot of vaccine and more than 56 per cent of all people in the province have had two doses, according to the COVID-19 vaccine tracker.

In Toronto, 70.5 per cent of people in the city have had a first dose and 59 per cent are fully vaccinated.

All nine city-run immunization clinics are now accepting walk-in appointments for all people ages 12 and up.

City officials are now concentrating on opening targeted pop-up vaccine clinics in neighbourhoods where vaccine uptake lags behind other areas.

On Saturday and Sunday, the city is running a vaccine clinic at Mel Lastman Square to boost COVID-19 vaccine rates in North York particularly among people aged 18 to 45, the age group with biggest lag in vaccinations, city officials said a in a news release. The two-day clinic will operate from 8:30 am to 10:30 pm.

Overall, young adults have the highest vaccination rates in the city.

The age group in Toronto with the highest immunization rate is people age 18 to 24. More than 93 per cent of people in that demographic have had either one or two doses. Nearly 87 per cent of people between 25 and 29 have started or completed the vaccination process.

The vaccination rate for people aged 30 to 45 is between 73 and 76 per cent.