Public Health Ontario has reported 958 new cases of COVID-19 today (March 3).
Today's report includes 17 new deaths, of which, two were long-term care residents.
The deaths reported today include three people between 40 and 59 years old, seven people between 60 and 79 years old, and seven people aged 80 or older.
The province has reported 37 new hospitalizations since yesterday, and three new admissions of COVID-19 patients to intensive care units.
The March 3 update provided by the province's public health agency also reported the following data:
- 1,090 recoveries
- 10,397 active cases, which is down from 10,546 yesterday
- 668 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario, down from 677 reported yesterday.
- There are 274 COVID patients in intensive care units (down from 284) and 188 COVID patients on ventilators (down from 189 yesterday)
- The province reported 52,613 tests were processed yesterday resulting in a 2.4 per cent positivity rate.
- Another 43,139 tests are still under investigation and/or being processed. To date, 11.1 million tests have been completed.
- Of the 958 new cases reported today, 249 are from Toronto, 164 cases are from Peel, 92 are from York Region, and 18 are from Simcoe-Muskoka
- There are 88 active outbreaks at long-term care homes, 54 at retirement homes, and 28 at hospitals.
- The new cases reported today include 175 individuals aged 19 and under, 370 people between 20 and 39 years old, 256 people between 40 and 59 years old, 129 people between 60 and 79 years old, and 29 people aged 80 and over.
Variants of concern
- The province has reported 552 lab-confirmed cases of the UK variant strain of COVID-19 (B.1.1.7).
- The province has reported 27 cases of B.1.351 (also known as the South African variant).
- The province has reported 3 cases of P.1, which is the variant strain that originated in Brazil.
- 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.
Vaccines
- There were 27,398 doses of vaccines against COVID-19 administered on March 2, which is up from 22,326 administered on Mar. 1.
- As of 8 p.m. on March 2, the province reported 754,419 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 have been administered.
- In total, 266,710 people have been fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine.
Public Health Ontario has confirmed 303,763 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and reported 286,352 recoveries and 7,014 deaths, of which 3,867 were individuals living in long-term care homes.
The cumulative average incidence rate in the province is 2,043.6 cases per 100,000 people in Ontario.
The weekly incidence rate in Ontario is 50.9 cases per 100,000 people, which is up by 1.6 per cent from last week (Feb. 15-21).
The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported 32 new cases yesterday.
There are currently 468 active, lab-confirmed cases in the region, most of which are in Simcoe County. Eighteen people are currently hospitalized.
There have been 191 confirmed instances of the B.1.1.7 variant strain that originated in the UK in cases reported in Simcoe County and Muskoka. Another 352 cases in the region have screened positive for variant strains.
Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 6,525 cases of COVID-19 with 5,816 of those cases recovered and 189 cases ending in death.
The weekly incidence rate for Simcoe-Muskoka region is 41.2 cases per 100,000 people, which is down by 13.3 per cent compared to 47.5 cases per 100,000 people for the week of Feb. 15 to 21.
