Public Health Ontario is reporting a record 11,582 new COVID cases today, however, that total is likely an underestimate according to the province.
Increasing COVID case counts driven by omicron have made testing less available, and it has led to the daily totals being an underestimation of actual infections in Ontario. New testing instructions from the province are now limiting testing to certain high-risk groups, leaving symptomatic individuals to isolate but not get a test to confirm whether they have COVID.
The Jan. 5 updates provided by the province's public health agency and the ministry of health also reported the following data:
- 11,669 recoveries and 14 deaths since yesterday's report.
- There are 134,130 active, lab-confirmed cases.
- The new cases reported today include 1,554 unvaccinated people, 386 partially vaccinated people, and 9,255 fully vaccinated people, 387 cases were reported with vaccination status unknown.
- 2,081 people are in hospital testing positive for COVID-19. It's not clear how many people were hospitalized for COVID-19. The province has said changes will be made in how these numbers are reported in the coming days.
- Among the hospitalized COVID patients are 417 unvaccinated cases, 108 partially vaccinated cases, and 1,073 fully vaccinated cases.
- The seven-day average by vaccination status indicated 60 cases per 100,000 unvaccinated people, 50.5 cases per 100,000 partially vaccinated people, and 81.3 cases per 100,000 fully vaccinated people.
- 288 people are in ICU due to COVID-19. Of those, 276 people are testing positive and 12 are testing negative. There are 138 people in an intensive care unit (ICU) on a ventilator because of COVID.
- Included in the ICU cases are 109 unvaccinated cases, 86 fully vaccinated cases, and 14 partially vaccinated cases.
- 11.4 million people in Ontario (77 per cent of the population) are fully vaccinated, and five per cent of the province has one dose of COVID vaccine.
- The province reported 59,137 tests were processed yesterday, resulting in a 28.1 per cent positivity rate.
- Today's new cases include 293 children under five, 554 kids ages five to 11 years old, 966 youth between 12 and 19 years old, 4,788 people between 20 and 39 years old, 3,374 people between 40 and 59 years old, 1,242 people between 60 and 79 years old, and 354 people over 80 years old.
Public Health Ontario has confirmed 828,032 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and reported 683,750 recoveries and 10,252 deaths.
The cumulative average incidence rate in the province is 5,619.9 cases per 100,000 people in Ontario.
Ontario's average seven-day incidence rate from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 was 657.2 cases per 100,000 people, which increased 69.9 per cent over the seven-day period starting on Dec. 20.
For more on the province's breakdown of vaccination status, click here.
Northern Ontario
According to provincial data, in the north there are currently 60 people with COVID-19 in hospital, up from 45 yesterday. There are 11 people in ICU and six people on ventilators.
In Northern Ontario, the breakdown of Public Health Ontario data for cases and vaccination is:
- Algoma Public Health: 2,337 cases, weekly rate of 403.9 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 2,345 cases. There are 611 known active cases. Of the eligible population five years and older, 86 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 80 per cent have both doses.
- North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit: 1,775 cases, weekly rate of 361.2 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 1,779 cases. There are 419 known active cases. Of the eligible population five years and older, 84 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 79 per cent have both doses.
- Porcupine Health Unit: 3,293 cases, weekly rate of 708.2 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 3,245 cases. The number of active cases has not been updated since Dec. 31. Of the eligible population five years and older, 86 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 78 per cent have both doses.
- Public Health Sudbury and Districts: 6,183 cases, weekly rate of 511.6 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 6,281 cases. There are 1,184 known active cases. Of the eligible population five years and older, 87 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 81 per cent have both doses.
- Timiskaming Health Unit: 708 cases, weekly rate of 436.8 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 766 cases. There are 217 known active cases. Of the eligible population five years and older, 84 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 78 per cent have both doses.
- Northwestern Health Unit: 2,073 cases, weekly rate of 560.4 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 2,123 cases. There are 438 known active cases. Of the eligible population five years and older, 93 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 85 per cent have both doses.
- Thunder Bay District Health Unit: 4,636 cases, weekly rate of 354.5 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 4,609 cases. There are 350 known active cases. Of the eligible population five years and older, 87 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 81 per cent have both doses.
The data from Northern Ontario health units is based on what was available at 10:30 a.m. today.