Ontario reports highest COVID-19 case count of the week

The Government of Ontario confirmed 1,300 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday morning, an increase from the 1,072 reported on Friday.

The province is also reporting 1,434 newly-resolved cases and 19 additional deaths.

Case counts have been low in recent days due to under-reporting from Toronto. The city’s public health unit has been working to merge its data system with the province’s.

Saturday’s cases are higher than Thursday’s 945, Wednesday’s 1,072, Tuesday’s 1,022, and Monday’s 1,265.

Of the newly announced cases, 433 are in Toronto, 253 are in Peel, and 116 are in York Region.

Elliott said nearly 58,800 tests were completed and 456,947 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

Ontario is reporting 1,300 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 58,800 tests completed. Locally, there are 433 new cases in Toronto, 253 in Peel and 116 in York Region.

As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 456,947 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 13, 2021

There are now confirmed cases of the UK, South African, and Brazilian COVID-19 variants in the province.

Health officials have called the fast-spreading variant a “significant threat” and noted that it may impact Ontario’s lockdown measures.

There is no evidence to suggest that approved vaccines will be any less effective against the newfound variants.

Stay at Home orders have been in effect since January 14 and are set to expire in 28 regions on February 16, with Toronto, Peel, and York set to expire on February 22.

Once the orders are lifted, regions will move back into the province’s colour-coded system, which will allow all retail to reopen with specific guidelines depending on the colour.

“Ontario is gradually transitioning public health regions into a revised and strengthened COVID-19 Response Framework,” Elliott tweeted.

“This is not a return to normal. Please continue to follow the public health measures and stay home as much as possible.”

To date, Ontario has seen 284,887 COVID-19 cases and 6,651 virus-related deaths.