Ontario reporting 745 new COVID-19 cases as data fluctuates due to system migration

The Government of Ontario confirmed 745 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday morning, which is the lowest number in months due to a change in the data system.

According to the province, on February 1, Toronto Public Health (TPH) migrated all COVID-19 data to CCM from their local CORES system, which had an impact on today’s data.

“Most notably, TPH’s case count is negative following the identification of duplicate cases and there were data corrections for some fields (e.g., long-term care home residents and health care workers). As well, case counts for other PHUs may have been affected by system outages related to the migration. Additional data fluctuations may occur over the next few days,” the release said.

The province is also reporting 2,297 newly resolved cases and 14 additional deaths.

Tuesday’s cases are lower than Monday’s 1,969 which was also affected by TPH merging their data system with the province. Cases are also less than Sunday’s 1,848, Saturday’s 2,063, Friday’s 1,837, Thursday’s 2,093, and Wednesday’s 1,670.

Of the newly announced cases, 334 are in Peel, 124 are in York Region, and 65 are in Niagara.

Ontario is reporting 745 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 28,600 tests completed. Locally, there are 334 new cases in Peel, 124 in York Region and 65 in Niagara.

As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 344,615 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 2, 2021

There are now 69 confirmed cases of the UK COVID-19 variant in Ontario, and the first South African variant was detected on February 1.

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.

Over the weekend, major Canadian airlines, including WestJet and Air Canada, cancelled service to Mexico and the Caribbean until the end of April.

On February 1, mandatory COVID-19 testing began at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. While international travellers await the results of their test they will need to quarantine at an approved hotel at their own expense.

A second State of Emergency was announced by Premier Doug Ford, who also issued a Stay at Home order, effective January 14. This means everyone must stay home and only go out for essential trips, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing healthcare services, exercising, or essential work.

To date, Ontario has seen 270,925 COVID-19 cases and 6,238 virus-related deaths.