For the first time since May 30, when most activities were heavily curtailed under the province’s final stay-at-home order, Ontario, Canada is reporting 1,031 new cases of COVID-19, including a new case of the Omicron variant.
According to CTV News Canada, this past week, officials reported 788 new cases on Monday, 687 new cases on Tuesday, 780 new cases on Wednesday, and 949 new cases on Thursday.
Of the 1,031 new cases reported on Friday, 273 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.
As had been the case recently, the majority of the new cases involve unvaccinated people, with Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table saying that full vaccination reduces the relative risk of infection.
And Reuters is reporting that the town of Durham in the province has recorded a case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the local health authority said in a tweet on Thursday. The announcement brings to 10 the number of people in Canada diagnosed with the new variant.
A total of 39,748 tests were processed in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province stands at about 2.9 percent. The province also recorded four more deaths on Friday, bringing the total death tally in the province to 10,016.
Of the 146 people being treated for COVID-19 in Ontario intensive care units, Health Minister Christine Elliott says that of those patients, 119 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 27 are fully vaccinated.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization concurred Friday with the decision to lower eligibility to 50+ for booster or third doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
The committee went a step further by suggesting that anyone 18 and up should get a third dose if they live in an area with poor healthcare access, high rates of transmission, or other factors making them more vulnerable to infection.
