Ontario reports record-breaking 2,923 new COVID-19 cases

Dec 30 2020, 4:33 pm

The Government of Ontario confirmed 2,923 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest number to date.

Daily case counts have remained above 2,000 for almost two weeks, with Tuesday’s 2,553Monday’s 1,939, Sunday’s 2,005, Saturday’s 2,142Friday’s 2,159Thursday’s 2,447, and Wednesday’s 2,408.

Before Monday’s numbers, the last time cases were below 2,000 was on December 14, when 1,940 cases were confirmed.

There are 998 new cases in Toronto, 441 in Peel, 408 in York Region, 158 in Durham and 144 in Windsor-Essex County.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said over 39,200 tests were completed on December 29.

Ontario currently remains under a province-wide lockdown and will be in effect in northern Ontario for 14 days and southern for 28 days. The restrictions will be evaluated throughout the lockdown, rather than when they are set to expire.

Health officials confirmed that the three cases of the COVID-19 UK variant have been found in Ontario. The fast-spreading virus mutation was first detected in a couple from Durham Region.

Although the new variant of the virus has been found to spread quicker, there is no evidence to suggest that approved vaccines will be any less effective against it.

On December 30, the province is expected to receive 50,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, aiming to vaccinate around 8.5 million people by the end of June.

Karen DoradeaKaren Doradea

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