Ontario reports 1,631 COVID cases due to data 'catch up'
568 of the cases are in Toronto and 322 are in Peel Region
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A sudden u-turn in daily COVID-19 case numbers was blamed Monday on a data “catch up” issue.
“Ontario is reporting 1,631 cases of COVID-19 and nearly 38,100 tests completed,” Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted Monday. “Locally, there are 568 new cases in Toronto, 322 in Peel and 119 in York Region. As of 8 p.m. yesterday, 912,486 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.”
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There were 91 new cases in Thunder Bay, 68 in Durham, 57 in Ottawa, 51 in Halton and 51 in Waterloo.
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Ten additional deaths were reported — none were long-term care (LTC) residents.
The last time the province reported more than 1,600 new cases in a single day was Feb. 5, but a provincial health ministry spokesperson later clarified that the number was not a true reflection of one day’s testing results.
Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said the actual number of new cases Monday was around 1,300.
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There were 990 new cases and six deaths recorded Saturday, while Sunday saw an increase of 1,299 new cases and 15 deaths.
Pandemic modelling by the province’s science table released Feb. 25 had predicted an uptick in cases as variants of concern (VOC), mutations of the virus that are more contagious, became a more common source of infection.
“Variants of concern such as B.1.1.7 continue to spread across Ontario,” the modelling documents say. “Cases, hospitalizations, and ICU admissions will likely soon increase.”
All three VOC have been confirmed in the province with a total of 879 cases of the United Kingdom or B.1.1.7 variant, 39 cases of the South African or B.1.351 variant and 17 cases of the Brazilian or P.1 variant.
The two-step VOC testing process identified 51 additional UK variant cases Monday, 8 South African and four Brazilian.
The most common source of the VOC infections has been an outbreak or close contact with a known case, responsible for 73% of cases, or no known link which indicates possible community spread at 20% of cases.
Public health officials have said that public health measures in combination with a robust vaccination program is the best defence against a possible third wave caused by the VOC.
“We’re in a race against time here,” Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said.
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