TORONTO – Slight drop in new cases today in Ontario: 3,784 reports, compared to 4,177 on Sunday (when, however, more swabs were carried out), but a sharp increase compared to the 1,536 reports reported just a week ago: now the rate of positivity approaches 10%. With 44,123 tests processed in the last 24 hours, officials report a rate of 9.7%, the highest number since May 3. On Sunday the tests processed were 51,151: the positivity rate, with 4,177 detected, was 8.7% The seven-day moving average of daily cases is now 2,863: last Monday it was 1,328. 

Turning to the territorial distribution of infections recorded today in Ontario, the public health units with the highest number of new cases are those of Toronto (1,056), the Peel region (381), the York region (310), the Ottawa (273) and the Halton region (240).

Of the cases confirmed today, 746 involved unvaccinated people, 119 partially immunized people, 2,781 fully vaccinated people, and 138 people with an unknown vaccination status. Unvaccinated Ontarians account for about 18% of the province’s population and about 20% of new infections today.

The surge in infections – even vaccinated people – is now almost with certainty attributable to the Omicron variant: the Ontario Science Advisory Table estimates that the variant has a doubling time of 2.7 days and the estimated percentage of new cases linked to the Micron is almost 84%. The same scientific table tweeted on Sunday that there is a rapid decline in protection from infection with just two doses of the vaccine, although it appears that vaccination still provides protection against severe disease degeneration.

Even if there is a minimum of protection, infectivity, however, is very high: just think that the number of active and known cases in Ontario now amounts to 23,591 against 11,538 last Monday: 12,053 more in a week. In addition to cases, hospitalizations are also growing: the number of Covid-19 patients receiving treatment in intensive care units has increased to 164, up from 159 on Sunday and 161 on Monday.

On the other hand, no new deaths have been confirmed in Ontario in the last 24 hours: the total number since the beginning of the pandemic has stopped at 10,113.

Quebec is experiencing an even more worrying situation: today, in fact, it registered 4,571 new infections and 21 new hospitalizations. There are now 397 people in hospital with the virus and 82 are in intensive care, up three from the previous day. Most of the new cases reported today involve fully vaccinated people: of the total 4,571 cases, 1,258 involve unvaccinated people, 220 people with one dose, and 3,093 people who received the second dose of the vaccine more than a week ago.

Montreal accounts for 31% of new cases on Monday, when the city recorded 1,455 new cases.

Quebec also set a record for the positivity rate: it is now at 10.1%. Another 3 people died today of the coronavirus, for a total of 11,642 since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of active cases across Quebec has also exploded in the past 24 hours with an additional 6,585 infections, bringing the total to 26,143 cases.

Today, in the afternoon, the Quebec government decided to close – as early as tonight – several public places such as bars, casinos, theaters and gyms. For restaurants, however, capacity at 50%. And schools will likely resume, on January 10, with distance learning.

Photo by Viki Mohamad on Unsplash