Ontario breaks record with more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases on Christmas Day

Ontario released two days’ worth of COVID-19 data on Boxing Day, revealing the province set a new daily case record on Christmas Day with 10,412 new infections.

This is the first time ever that Ontario has counted more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day.

The case count held steady for Boxing Day, though, with 9,826 cases reported on December 26.

The sky-high case counts come as the Omicron variant quickly takes hold in the city, leading to gathering and event restrictions from government authorities.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter that at least 373 people are in hospital with COVID-19 and 168 are in the ICU. However, she cautioned that these numbers may be an underestimate because not all hospitals report on weekends.

Across the province, more than 100,000 vaccine doses were administered over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Today 373 people are hospitalized with #COVID19, and 168 people are in ICU due to COVID-19. Yesterday there were 510 people hospitalized, and 167 people in ICU.

Please note that not all hospitals report on holidays or weekends.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) December 26, 2021