Ontario reports 847 new COVID-19 cases, lowest count since late October

The Government of Ontario confirmed 847 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the lowest number count since late October.

According to the province, as part of continued “data quality checks and remediation activities” following Toronto Public Health’s (TPH) migration to CCM, “case counts may fluctuate.”

The province is also reporting 1,456 newly resolved cases and 10 additional deaths.

This is lower than Tuesday’s 904, Monday’s 964, Sunday’s 981, Saturday’s 1,300, Friday’s 1,072, Thursday’s 945, and Wednesday’s 1,072.

Of the newly announced cases, 257 are in Toronto, 170 are in Peel, and 131 are in York Region.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said over 34,000 tests were completed and 489,484 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

Ontario is reporting 847 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 34,000 tests completed. Locally, there are 257 new cases in Toronto, 170 in Peel and 131 in York Region.

As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 489,484 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 17, 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.

On February 16, the Stay at Home orders were lifted in 27 Ontario regions, which will revert back to an updated colour-coded system. However, Toronto, Peel, and York regions will not see the orders lifted until 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.

To date, Ontario has seen 288,583 COVID-19 cases and 6,729 virus-related deaths.