Ontario reports under 2,000 new COVID-19 cases due to “technical issue”

The Government of Ontario confirmed 1,913 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, which is due to a technical issue at Toronto Public Health.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said that the local health unit likely contributed to an underreporting of cases on Tuesday.

Today’s cases are less than Monday’s 2,578, Sunday’s 3,422, Saturday’s 3,056, Friday’s 2,998, Thursday’s 3,326, Wednesday’s 2,961, and Tuesday’s 2,903.

The province is also reporting 2,873 newly-resolved cases and 46 virus-related deaths.

Prior to January 12, 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.

Of the newly announced cases, 550 are in Toronto, 346 are in Peel and 235 are in York Region.

Ontario is reporting 1,913 cases of #COVID19 and over 34,500 tests completed. Locally, there are 550 new cases in Toronto, 346 in Peel and 235 in York Region.

Due to a technical issue at Toronto Public Health, there is likely an underreporting of cases today.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) January 19, 2021

Health Minister Christine Elliott said nearly 34,500 tests were completed.

She added, “As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 224,134 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.”

There are now 15 cases of the UK COVID-19 variant in Ontario. 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.

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, the province has seen 242,277 COVID-19 cases and 5,479 deaths.