88 deaths reported as Ontario logs nearly 1600 new COVID-19 cases

The Government of Ontario confirmed 1,563 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday morning and 88 more virus-related deaths.

According to the province, Toronto Public Health is still migrating COVID-19 data to CCM from their local CORES system.

“As data quality checks and remediation activities continue this week, fluctuations may occur.”

The province is also reporting 1,956 newly resolved cases.

Thursday’s cases are more than Wednesday’s 1,172, and Tuesday’s 745, which was low due to a change in the data system that didn’t include Toronto’s numbers.

But the numbers are less than Monday’s 1,969, 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, 584 are from Toronto, 265 are in Peel, and 132 are in York Region.

Health Minister Christie Elliott said 64,500 tests have been completed and 355,055 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

Ontario is reporting 1,563 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 64,500 tests completed. Locally, there are 584 new cases in Toronto, 265 in Peel and 132 in York Region.

As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 355,055 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 4, 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 273,660 COVID-19 cases and 6,393 virus-related deaths.