Ontario reports over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for fifth day in a row

The Government of Ontario confirmed 1,062 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday morning, a drop from the 1,185 reported on Saturday.

The province is also reporting 1,029 newly-resolved cases and 20 additional deaths.

Today’s cases are lower than Friday’s 1,258 – the highest count in almost two weeks – and Thursday’s 1,138, but higher than Wednesday’s 1,054, Tuesday’s 975, and Monday’s 1,058.

Of the newly announced cases, 259 are in Toronto, 201 are in Peel, and 86 are in York Region.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said nearly 49,200 tests were completed, and 687,271 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

Ontario is reporting 1,062 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 49,200 tests completed. Locally, there are 259 new cases in Toronto, 201 in Peel and 86 in York Region.

As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 687,271 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 28, 2021

On February 19, Premier Doug Ford announced that the Stay at Home orders would be extended for Toronto, Peel Region, and North Bay-Parry Sound until at least March 8. York Region moved into the Red-Control zone on February 22.

Toronto and Peel’s top doctors had previously asked the province to extend the orders due to the emerging COVID-19 variants.

Now, 31 regions have reverted to the updated colour-coded system.

The province announced on Friday that as of 12:01 am on March 1, nine regions will be moved to different levels of the reopening framework.

The changes include activating an “emergency brake” for Thunder Bay District and Simcoe-Muskoka District, which reverts the health units back into the Grey-Lockdown zone in order to interrupt virus transmission.

Cases of the UK, South African, and Brazilian COVID-19 variants have been confirmed in Ontario.

Health officials have called the fast-spreading UK mutation a “significant threat,” and evidence is still emerging on how the vaccines work against the new variants.

To date, Ontario has seen 300,816 COVID-19 cases and 6,980 virus-related deaths.