COVID-19: Ontario reports 170 cases, lowest since September, with 4 in Ottawa
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Ontario reported 170 cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the lowest new case count in nearly 10 months. There was one new death.
Waterloo Region reported 34 new cases, Toronto 27, Grey Bruce 18 and the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit reported 13 cases.
The daily case count was the lowest in Ontario since the 170 cases reported on Sept. 10 and 149 cases on Sept. 9.
The current rate is now slightly higher than the number of new cases reported in Ontario in July and August of 2020, when most days the count was between 75 and 150 new cases a day.
The province completed 12,900 COVID-19 tests and as of 8 p.m. Sunday, some 144,795 doses of vaccines had been administered. Ontario has now administered more than 15.7 million vaccinations.
There are 155 patients in hospital, 228 in intensive care and 157 on ventilators.
Ontario has had 545,973 total cases of COVID-19, of which 534,791 are considered resolved. There have been 9,215 deaths.
Meanwhile, the province opened up its vaccine booking portal on Monday to allow accelerated appointments for youth aged 12 to 17 to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Though some complained on Twitter of difficulty booking their shot, Vaccine Hunters Canada tweeted there were still many appointment times available.
About 78 per cent of Ontarians have had at least one COVID-19 vaccination and 44 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Premier Doug Ford was in North Bay Monday to announce construction of a long-term care home, where he was asked about further lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, including the mandatory mask mandate.
Ontario moved into Step 2 of its reopening plan last Wednesday, which allowed for larger outdoor gatherings and the opening of personal care services like hair salons, among other things.
Ford said the government would follow the advice of its Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore.
“They’re the experts,” Ford said. “We’re going to work day in and day out, No. 1 to get every single business open in this province, get them back on their feet. But we’re going to do it cautiously too. We’ll take directions from the health team.”
Last week, at his first briefing in his new job, Moore urged caution in the face of the more contagious Delta variant, which according to the Ontario COVID-19 science table currently makes up 74 per cent of new cases in the province. Moore said it would be prudent to follow the province’s plan, which calls for waiting 21 days between each stage of reopening to gauge the public health consequences.
At the news conference Monday, Ford also said he’s committed to maintaining a wage increase brought in for personal support workers during the pandemic.
Ford says it’s a “guarantee” that his government will keep the temporary $3 an hour wage bump for the workers who staff long-term care homes and similar facilities. He did not share any further details.
A spokesperson for Ford, Alexandra Adamo, said the province recently extended the pay increase to Aug. 23. However, the “the Premier has said many times in the past that he’s committed to making it permanent,” Adamo said in a statement.
Ottawa Public Health reported four new COVID-19 cases on Monday and no new deaths.
There are 49 active cases in the city and only one COVID patient in hospital in Ottawa with no one in intensive care.
The report brings the city’s total case count to 27,703 with 591 deaths.
The province reported two new cases in Renfrew and one new case in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark and Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington health units. There were no new cases reported in Eastern Ontario.
Meanwhile, Porter Airlines announced it would resume flights on Sept. 8, including its six daily flights from Ottawa to Toronto.
It’s been more than 18 months since the airline suspended operations because of the pandemic.
Last week the airline received more than $20 million in federal loans to help it reimburse passengers whose flights were cancelled.
Porter announced Monday that it will recall 500 employees as it begins operations. Flights to U.S destinations, including New York, Washington, Boston and Chicago, will resume Sept. 17.
COVID-19: Across Canada
Fully vaccinated Canadians returning to the country from abroad expressed relief Monday at no longer having to quarantine for two weeks.
Effective this week, citizens and permanent residents who’ve had a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada can skip the 14-day quarantine. Eligible air travellers also no longer have to spend their first three days in the country at a government-approved hotel.
Julia Dunn, who landed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport from the United States while on her way to Halifax, said she was pleased the restrictions had eased.
“It’s very freeing being able to get home to family without having to spend those two weeks alone,” she said.
Dunn, who is originally from Cape Breton but now lives in Houston, said she booked her trip to Canada after learning about the planned easing of quarantine rules a few weeks ago.
Minraj Sekhon, who was travelling to Vancouver, said he had to quarantine after a previous journey during the pandemic and was pleased he no longer needed to do so.
“Feels like things are getting back to normal,” Sekhon said during a stopover in Toronto. “It’s good that they’re implementing different kinds of things rather than forcing everyone to pay and go to a hotel.”
The Canada Border Services Agency has noted that while the quarantine rules for some travellers have changed, eligibility requirements for crossing the border have not.
Mutual travel restrictions between Canada and the United States — which prohibit all discretionary travel between the two countries while continuing to allow the movement of trade, essential workers and international students — are due to expire July 21.
Travellers must use the ArriveCAN app or web portal prior to departure to log their vaccination details, as well as the results of a negative COVID-19 test that’s less than three days old.
The ArriveCAN portal can be accessed either via the Apple or Android app or online via the federal government’s website at canada.ca. Travellers are required to use the latest version of the app, which will be updated when the regulations change.
Quebec is reported 49 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and one more death.
Health officials are also reporting another 127 cases that had been identified since their last report on Friday.
Officials say that since Friday’s report, hospitalizations dropped by eight, to 102, and 27 people were in intensive care, a drop of seven.
The province says about 71,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on Sunday, with nearly 82 per cent of those 12 and up having received a first dose and 33.9 per cent of the total population considered fully vaccinated.
COVID-19: The rise of the Delta variant around the world
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to set out plans on Monday to end social and economic COVID-19 restrictions in England, in a test of whether a rapid vaccine rollout offers enough protection from the highly contagious Delta variant.
Cases of COVID-19 caused by Delta are rising rapidly in the U.K. but deaths and hospitalizations remain relatively flat.
Delta, which was first identified in India, is sparking concern as it spreads around the globe, providing a real-life test for vaccines and triggering different responses depending on the country.
The U.K. government is stressing the importance of people taking personal responsibility for their safety rather than the authorities imposing legal restrictions.
Johnson is expected to say that people will learn to live with COVID as they do already with flu.
“I must stress that the pandemic is not over and that cases will continue to rise over the coming weeks,” Johnson he said in a statement.
The Guardian reports that changes expected to be announced Monday include making the wearing of face masks voluntary except in hospitals and health-care settings and no longer requiring fully vaccinated adults to self-isolate if they have been in contact with an infected person.
Britain has suffered the seventh highest global death toll from COVID-19, and Johnson has been accused of being too slow to implement each of England’s three lockdowns.
But the take-up of vaccines in Britain has been strong, with 86 per cent of adults receiving a first dose and 64 per cent receiving two doses as of Sunday, according to government data.
Vaccination provides high protection against illness so serious that it requires hospitalization, although one dose provides only 33 per cent protection against contracting COVID-19, according to real-life data from Public Health England.
Scotland, meanwhile, is recording the highest rates of coronavirus cases in Europe.
The regions covering the cities of Dundee and Edinburgh were top of the World Health Organization’s latest heat map, the BBC reported, as the Delta variant rips through the country. Scotland last week reported daily infections exceeding 4,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Despite the rising numbers, Scotland’s government is counting on vaccinations breaking the link between infection and serious illness. So far, the data appears to back up that approach, with hospitalizations rising at a much slower rate than new cases.
The administration in Edinburgh, which is responsible for public health policy, plans to ease restrictions on July 19 in line with the rest of the U.K. before phasing out just about all of them on Aug. 9.
Israel, which lifted pandemic-related social curbs at the start of June, has restored the mandate to wear masks in public spaces after a surge of Delta cases.
The government there is considering reinstating additional restrictions and officials are discussing whether to recommend a third dose of vaccine.
Israel has also recorded a steep drop in the efficacy rate of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in preventing coronavirus infections, due to the spread of the Delta variant and the easing of government restrictions, Ynet news website reported, citing Health Ministry data.
Data gathered in the country showed that the protection conferred by Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine against mild forms of Covid-19 appeared to wane after a few weeks as the Delta variant took hold, although the shot continued to shield users against severe illness.
Many of the new COVID-19 cases in Israel are among vaccinated people, according to Ynet. Last Friday, 55 per cent of the newly infected had been vaccinated, the website said. As of July 4, there were 35 serious cases of coronavirus out of a population of 9.3 million in Israel, compared with 21 on June 19.
Meanwhile in Australia, where case numbers are lower but vaccination has been much slower, officials have been tightening restrictions.
Australian authorities trying to stamp out an outbreak in Sydney of Delta said on Monday that the next two days would be “absolutely critical” in deciding whether to extend a stay-home order beyond July 9. So far, at least 300 people have been infected since the first case was reported in the beachfront Bondi suburb of Australia’s largest city, on June 16.
Bangladesh on Monday extended its strictest lockdown to July 14 to combat a surge in coronavirus cases led by Delta, with areas bordering India taking the brunt of infections.
Norway announced the easing of some COVID-19 restrictions on Monday but delayed the final phase of reopening the economy until the end of this month at the earliest because of concerns about Delta.
Measures that will remain include bars and restaurants being limited to table service, limits of 20 people on gatherings in private homes, and restrictions on adult recreational sports.
“There is a risk that the Delta variant will cause a fourth wave of infection in the unvaccinated part of the population, among those who have only received one dose or are in vulnerable groups,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said.
The World Health Organization has said the Delta strain is becoming the globally dominant variant of COVID-19, raising concerns about whether existing vaccines will work against it.
with files from The Canadian Press, Bloomberg, Reteurs
COVID-19 BY THE NUMBERS
Ontario
170: New confirmed cases
545,973: Total cases
1: New deaths
9,215: Total deaths
155: Currently in hospital with COVID-19 (Approximately 10 per cent of Ontario hospitals did not submit data.)
228: In ICU with COVID-related illnesses
157: On a ventilator with COVID-related illnesses
196,068: Doses of vaccine administered in the 24 hours ending 8 p.m. Saturday
15,705,866: Total doses administered
5,687,477: People fully vaccinated
78.28: Percentage of people with one vaccination
46.29: Percentage of people fully vaccinated
Ottawa
4: New confirmed cases
27,703: Total cases
0: New deaths
591: Total deaths
49: Active cases
1: In hospital
0: In ICU
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