Ontario confirms 325 new COVID-19 cases as 7-day average continues upward creep

Ontario reported 325 new cases of COVID-19 this morning, the most on a Monday since June 14 and nearly double the number logged on the same day last week.

Because testing levels fluctuate on a weekly basis in the province, it is usually most informative to compare the same day of the week.

Ontario saw 168 additional infections last Monday, and 119 on the Monday previous.

The seven-day average of daily cases increased for a fourth straight day, up to 269 — a level last seen in late June.

The reproduction number — a measure of how many other people a single infected person will go on to infect — sits at 1.18, according to Public Health Ontario. Values above 1 mean that a pandemic is spreading, rather than contracting. 

Today's total includes 90 new cases in Toronto, 47 in Peel Region, 29 in Hamilton and 26 in Windsor-Essex.

Majority of York Region cases in unvaccinated young people

There were also 29 further infections reported in York Region, where the local medical officer of health compared the current spread of the virus to the peak seen during the first wave of the pandemic. 

"We are expecting this increase will continue into the fall," said Dr. Karim Kurji during a morning briefing. 

Children, youth and younger adults are being disproportionately impacted by the resurgence, he added, with 53 per cent of new cases in the last week in people 29 and under.

"The majority of these cases are in unvaccinated individuals," he said.

Moreover, 44 of 238 recently reviewed cases were in children under 12 who are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, and "many of whom were household contacts of unvaccinated adults," Kurji said.

The impacts are starting to show in hospital admissions.

"Unvaccinated people in their 40s are now being admitted to our [intensive care units]," he continued. "Please do your part and get vaccinated as soon as possible."

As of Sunday evening in Ontario, 52.2 per cent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 had gotten both doses of vaccine, while 58.1 per cent of younger adults 18 to 29 had both shots. 

2.3% positivity rate

Here are some other key pandemic indicators and figures from the Ministry of Health's daily provincial update:

Tests completed: 15,805.

Provincewide test positivity rate: 2.3 per cent, the highest since June 15.

Active cases: 2,375.

Patients in ICU with COVID-related illnesses: 113, with 70 needing a ventilator to breathe.

Deaths: No new deaths. The official toll stands at 9,407.

Vaccinations: 29,949 doses were administered Sunday, the fewest on a single day in Ontario since March 7. Roughly 71.6 per cent of those aged 12 and older have had both shots.