Ontario reports 1,563 new COVID cases Thursday

Public Health Ontario has reported 1,563 new cases of COVID-19 today. 

Today's report includes 1,956 new recoveries, and 88 deaths, 36 of whom were residents at long-term care homes.

The deaths reported today include one person between 20 and 39 years old, two people between 40 and 59 years old, and 32 people between the ages of 60 and 79 years old, and 53 people over the age of 80.

The province has reported 114 new hospitalizations since yesterday, and 12 new admissions of COVID-19 patients to intensive care units.

The Feb. 4 update provided by the province's public health agency also reported the following data:

• 16,330 active cases, which is down from 16,811 yesterday
• 1,101 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario, up from 1,066 reported yesterday. 
• There are 323 COVID patients in intensive care units (down from 336 yesterday) and 241 COVID patients on ventilators (down from 254 yesterday).
• The province reported 64,467 tests were processed yesterday resulting in a 2.6 per cent positivity rate.
• Another 47,282 tests are still under investigation and/or being processed. To date, 9.84 million tests have been completed.
• Of the 1,563 new cases reported today, 584 are from Toronto*, 265 cases are from Peel, 132 are from York Region, and 55 are from Simcoe-Muskoka
• There are 226 active outbreaks at long-term care homes, 129 at retirement homes and 75 at hospitals. 
• Of the cases reported today there are 198 people under 19 years old, 534 people between 20 and 39 years old, 478 people between 40 and 59 years old, 241 people between 60 and 79 years old, and 108 cases people over the age of 80. 

*Due to a migration of data to a new system by Toronto Public Health, the province has indicated there could be continued fluctuations in daily case counts due to corrections and updates.

Variant of concern

• The province has reported 152 lab-confirmed cases of the UK variant strain of COVID-19 (B.1.1.7). 
• The province has reported one case of B.1.351 (also known as the South African variant.
• According to Public Health Ontario, there are delays between specimen collection and the testing required to confirm a variant of concern. As such, the reports can change and can differ from past case counts publicly reported.

Vaccine update for Feb. 4:

• There were 6,724 doses of vaccines against COVID-19 administered on Feb 3, up from 3,716 on Feb. 2.
• As of 8 p.m. on Feb. 3, the province reports 355,055 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 have been administered.
• In total, 80,977 people have been fully vaccinated, having received two doses of vaccine, which are to be given a few weeks apart.

Public Health Ontario has confirmed 273,660 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and reported 250,937 recoveries and 6,393 deaths, of which 3,683 were individuals living in long-term care homes.

The cumulative average incidence rate in the province is 1,841 cases per 100,000 people in Ontario.

The weekly incidence rate in Ontario is 83.5 cases per 100,000 people from Jan. 25 to Jan. 31, which is a decrease of 19.1 per cent compared to Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 when the average weekly incidence rate was 103.2 cases per 100,000 people.

In Northern Ontario, the breakdown of Public Health Ontario data is:

• Algoma Public Health: 174 cases, rate of 152.1 per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 175 cases. There are 27 known active cases.
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit: 192 cases, rate of 148 per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 195 cases. There are seven known active cases.
• Porcupine Health Unit: 285 cases, rate of 341.6 per 100,000 people. There are 65 known active cases. 
• Public Health Sudbury and Districts: 528 cases, rate of 265.3 per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 522 cases. There are 64 known active cases. 
• Timiskaming Health Unit: 91 cases, rate of 278.4 per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 91 cases. There is one known active case.
• Northwestern Health Unit: 266 cases, rate of 30.4 per 100,000 people. There are 15 known active cases. 
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit: 1,012 cases, rate of 674.8 per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 1,017 cases. There are 134 known active cases.

The Ontario government has declared a state of emergency, the second since the start of the pandemic, and a stay-at-home order is in effect until at least Feb. 11, 2021. There are additional measures in place for the shutdown, all of which can be found in this provincial breakdown.