Ontario Reports Fewer New Cases of COVID-19 in 2 Weeks

Ontario is reporting 119 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths on Monday.

This is the smallest daily increase in new infections in two weeks. The province has reported fewer than 200 cases for 18 consecutive days.

The test positivity rate is 1.0%, the same as a week ago.

Over 11,930 tests have been performed in the past 24 hours.

Locally, there are 22 new cases in Toronto, 15 in Hamilton, 14 in Waterloo region and 13 in Peel region.

The number of active cases in the province has fallen by 18 – there have been 137 resolved cases.

The seven-day moving average is 157 cases, down slightly from a week ago.

the the province has reported 172 cases and two deaths on Sunday.

There are now 131 people in intensive care with complications from COVID-19 and 79 patients in intensive care on a ventilator.

Graphics courtesy of @jwan_md

There have been 65,920 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in the past 24 hours.

By 8 p.m. as of Sunday, 80.4 percent of Ontario residents 12 and older had received at least one dose, while 66.7 percent were now fully immunized.

The biggest remaining obstacle in the fight to get more residents to receive their first dose, according to the CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, is reluctance to get vaccinated.

Justin Bates says the hesitant group is divided between people who are anti-vaccine and those who are guarding the fences. He says the province must make a point of targeting the latter.

“These are really the fence guards that we are targeting with education,” says Bates. “Having this conversation with a trusted health care provider to try and give them confidence in science and technology, safety and efficacy.”

“We are unlikely to be able to convert anti-vaccines, which could represent around 10% of the population, but we are still aiming for a threshold of 90% fully vaccinated that will allow us to achieve herd immunity. “

Since the end of June, the number of doses administered in the province has been decreasing.

the the federal government expects about five million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week – enough to fully immunize all eligible Canadians.

This week’s shipments will bring the total number of doses received to 68 million.

Officials say this will be enough to deliver two doses to the 33.2 million Canadians aged 12 and older.

As of Sunday, more than 62 percent of Canadians aged 12 and over had been fully immunized and more than 80 percent had received at least one dose.

It is estimated that six million Canadians have yet to roll up their sleeves for either dose.

Graphics courtesy of @jwan_md