TORONTO – 378 new cases today, compared to 331 on Tuesday and 321 on Wednesday last week. The seesaw of infections continues and raises the seven-day moving average which now stands at 379, up from the 366 daily cases of last Wednesday. 

With 32,950 tests processed today, Ontario‘s provincial health officials now report a positive rate of 1.4%, unchanged from a week ago. Another 5 deaths related to the virus have also been confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll in Ontario to 9,886.

Of the cases reported today, 48% involved people who were not vaccinated, 3% people who received only one dose of the vaccine, 38% people who were fully immunized and 11% people with an unknown vaccination status, and this while 85 About% of people 12 years of age and older in the province received two doses of the vaccine.

The largest number of cases reported today in the province are in Toronto (64), the York region (41), the Niagara region (32) and Simcoe-Muskoka (26). The total number of active (known) cases in Ontario is now 3,093, a small increase from 2,978 seven days ago.

The number of patients in Ontario’s intensive care units (ICU) rose to 137, a slight increase from 134 on Wednesday. Officials say 125 of these patients are either not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 12 are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Quebec today recorded another 8 deaths (now 11,510 since the start of the pandemic) and 525 new infections, up from 490 on Tuesday. Of the 525 new cases, 335 (63%) involved unvaccinated people, while 190 (36%) were detected in subjects who received the second dose more than seven days ago.

Overall hospitalizations have dropped by two from the day before. According to provincial data, another 15 people have been hospitalized in the last 24 hours and 17 people have been discharged. 248 people are still hospitalized. Of the 15 people admitted to hospital in the past 24 hours, seven were unvaccinated and eight had their second vaccination more than a week ago but according to provincial health officials the unvaccinated currently in Quebec represent only 10% of the population, which means which are much more represented in hospital admissions. The number of cases in intensive care also decreased – by one – compared to the day before, for a total of 70. 4,678 cases still active (and known) in Quebec, where now the positivity rate is 2.3%.

About 90% of the eligible population (ages 12 and up) received one dose of the vaccine, while 87% received two vaccinations. Taking into account the entire population of Quebec, the vaccination rate for the first doses is approximately 79% and 75% for two doses.

The situation in Manitoba – which recorded 127 cases and 1 death on Tuesday – is starting to worry: the positivity rate continues to rise and now stands at 5%. Of the new cases on Tuesday, 75 involved unvaccinated people, 49 fully vaccinated people and 3 partially vaccinated people. Provincial figures show that there are currently 104 people in hospital due to the virus, most of them unvaccinated. 24 are in intensive care, and fifteen of them are not vaccinated: only three are fully vaccinated. There are now 1,303 active cases of the virus in Manitoba. 1,249 the dead. since the beginning of the pandemic.

In Saskatchewan, where the other major emergency in addition to that of Alberta has occurred in recent weeks, 107 new cases and 5 additional deaths were recorded on Tuesday, leading to 859 Saskatchewan residents who have died since the start of the pandemic. Currently there are 222 patients in hospital, 48 of them in intensive care. Of the 222 patients, 154 (69.4%) are not fully vaccinated. In addition, 26 residents receive intensive care care outside the province. 1,829 cases still active, known, in Saskatchewan.

Instead, the situation in Alberta is still improving, where 315 new cases out of 7,544 tests were recorded on Tuesday. The number of active cases (known) is now 6,911, down from 7,580 on Monday. 691 Alberta residents hospitalized, 159 of them in intensive care. Both of these numbers increased slightly from Monday, when 689 were hospitalized and 157 were in intensive care. Also recorded, on Tuesday, 8 further deaths. At present, 6.6 million doses of the vaccine have been administered: now 87.1% of those 12 years and older have received at least one dose and 80.3% have been fully vaccinated.

Pic by fernando zhiminaicela from Pixabay