Ontario reports under 3,000 new COVID-19 cases for first time in over a week

The Government of Ontario confirmed 2,903 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday morning. The last time cases were below 3,000 was on January 3.

Cases had been above 3,000 for over a week, with Monday’s 3,338, Sunday’s 3,945, Saturday’s 3,443, Friday’s record-breaking 4,249, Thursday’s 3,519, Wednesday’s 3,266, Tuesday’s 3,128, and Monday’s 3,270.

The province is also reporting 3,353 resolved cases and 41 new virus-related deaths.

Of the newly announced cases, 837 cases are in Toronto, 545 in Peel, 249 in York Region, and 246 in Niagara.

Ontario is reporting 2,903 cases of #COVID19, including eight new cases of the UK variant. Locally, there are 837 new cases in Toronto, 545 in Peel, 249 in York Region and 246 in Niagara. Over 44,800 tests were completed yesterday.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) January 12, 2021

Health Minister Christine Elliott said that over 44,800 tests were completed.

She added, “As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 133,553 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.”

Elliott also confirmed there are eight more cases of the COVID-19 UK variant in the province, now making the total 14. The fast-spreading virus mutation was first detected in a couple from Durham Region.

Although the new variant of the virus has been found to spread quicker, there is no evidence to suggest that approved vaccines will be any less effective against it.

Ontario is currently under a province-wide lockdown that will be in effect in northern Ontario for 14 days and the southern part of the province for 28 days. The restrictions will be evaluated throughout the lockdown, rather than when they are set to expire.

To date, Ontario has seen 222,023 COVID-19 cases and 5,053 deaths.