Ontario reports nearly 2,000 new COVID-19 cases

December 10, 2020NOW Staff

People wearing face masks in Toronto during COVID-19 pandemic

Ontario reported a new record high 1,983 new cases of COVID-19 on December 10 as the province extends emergency orders to January 20, 2021.

The province also completed the highest number of daily tests since the beginning of the pandemic on December 10, processing 61,809 tests in the past 24 hours. That marks a 3.2 per cent positivity rate.

Ontario detected 1,890 new cases on Wednesday, 1,676 on Tuesday and a previous record high of 1,925 on Monday. The seven-day moving average for daily cases is 1,608.

The Greater Toronto Area continues to lead in daily case counts. Regionally, Peel reported 515 new cases, 496 in Toronto and 208 in York Region.

There are currently 16,233 active COVID-19 cases in Ontario, and hospitalizations continue to climb, reaching 829 patients today.

A total of 228 of those patients are in intensive care, and 132 of those patients are on ventilators.

An additional 35 people died from the virus in the past 24 hours, reaching almost half of the daily death tolls recorded during the peak of the first lockdown in the province.

Of those deaths, 24 were among long-term care residents. Three more long-term care homes are in outbreak than the day before, reaching 118 homes in the province out of 626.

School-related cases accounted for 139 of the new cases reported today, 111 among students and 28 among staff. There are 878 schools with a reported case and 10 schools are currently closed due to an outbreak.

De Villa: Toronto case counts “may be settling”

During a press conference on Wednesday, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Eileen de Villa said daily case counts are still too high but “may be settling” as a result of lockdown measures.

“We are a little more than two weeks into the 28-day restrictions designated for Toronto by the province,” she said. “The daily case counts may be settling [which] suggests the early results of the restrictions are emerging.”

The virus is still spreading “widely,” she explained, adding that Toronto’s daily case counts have been above 600 for nine days in December. “These levels of infection clearly indicate that we must be on high alert.”

As of December 9, Toronto’s seven-day moving average is 506. At the same time last week it was 454 and the week before it was 418.

Toronto Public Health reported 553 new cases of COVID-19 in the city on Tuesday, as well as 220 people in hospital and 53 in intensive care.

The city is also adding new data to its COVID-19 dashboard, including percent positivity in seven age groups. The number shows the amount of people testing positive for COVID-19 out of total number of tests.

As of the week of November 22 – the week for which the city has the most complete data – the highest percent positivity rate is 11.6 per cent for young people age 14-17. The second highest is 9 per cent for people age 18-23.

De Villa said she sees the numbers as “an indicator of just how easily the virus transmits from person to person.”

She said hospitalizations continue to rise and to expect that trend to continue for “at least a few more weeks.”

She also urged people not to gather with people outside their households during the holiday season.

“There has never been a time in the pandemic where it is more important to limit as much as possible our contact with others and to focus on what’s in front of us so we can get to better days ahead,” de Villa said. “There is a real risk January could be extremely difficult for us in terms of COVID-19-related illness if we gather together as usual this month.”

Ontario extends COVID-19 emergency orders

The provincial government has also extended emergency orders to January 20. The orders were previously set to expire on December 21.

Additionally, the government amended the orders so indoor farmers markets that primarily sell groceries can open in the lockdown level of the COVID-19 response framework.

There are eight regions in the green level, five in the yellow level, 14 in the orange level and six in the red level. Toronto and Peel Region are are in the grey lockdown level.

The amendments also increase the number of people allowed in an instructional post-secondary school space for in-person instruction or in-person exams from 10 to 50. This amendment specifically applies to programs critical to supporting health care workers.

To date there have been 134,783 total COVID-19 cases in Ontario, including 114,679 resolved – up 1,804 from the day before. The virus has killed 3,871 people in Ontario since January.