Ontario reports under 80 new coronavirus cases without data from 11 public health units

The Province of Ontario has confirmed 76 new known COVID-19 cases as of Thursday morning, with one reported death.

But according to Health Minister Christine Elliot, the case count does not include updated data from 11 public health units.

“These 11 units reported a total of eight cases yesterday and while not a direct proxy for today it’s an indication of how many cases may be under-reported,” Elliot said.

Ontario is reporting 76 cases of #COVID19. Due to an issue with iPHIS, updated numbers are not available from 11 PHUs. These 11 units reported a total of eight cases yesterday and while not a direct proxy for today it’s an indication of how many cases may be under-reported.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) August 20, 2020

She added that the glitch is “another reminder” of the importance of replacing the outdated iPHIS with the province’s custom-built COVID-19 system.

“We’re making great progress: in fact, all 11 impacted units are transitioning to the new system today, at which point 31 of 34 PHUs will be using it,” the Health Minister said. 

The 11 units not included in today’s numbers are: Algoma, Brant County, Chatham-Kent, City of Hamilton, Niagara Region, Peterborough, Simcoe Muskoka District, Southwestern, Sudbury & Districts, Timiskaming and Windsor-Essex County.

“Hospitalizations and vented patients both declined today as ICU admissions remain stable,” Elliot said.

And yesterday, the province processed nearly 26,000 tests.

Thursday’s cases are a decrease from Wednesday’s 102, Tuesday’s 125, but an increase from Monday’s 99, and Sunday’s 81.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 41,048 total cases in Ontario, with 37,291 recovered and 2,793 reported deaths.