COVID-19 Update

More than 80 per cent of people in the province aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says that that means one of three conditions the province has set for moving beyond Step 3 of its reopening plan has now been met.

The government has also said 75 per cent of people 12 and older must have received their second dose, and no public health unit can have fewer than 70 per cent of eligible people fully vaccinated.

Other key health indicators must also be stable, Elliott said. Ontario has administered 19,293,7091 vaccine doses across the province, including 89,157 doses on Wednesday. According to the latest data, 80.8 per cent of eligible Ontarians (12-plus) have received at least one dose and 68.5 per cent are fully immunized with both doses.

The province has said that if all of those conditions are met, the majority of restrictions can be lifted as early as 21 days after entering this phase, but some are calling for more details on what a post-Step 3 Ontario will look like.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is calling on the government today to communicate its plan for lifting business restrictions and ensure they won’t be subject to lockdowns in the event of a fourth wave.

Ontario is reporting 218 new laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases and three related deaths Thursday, with daily case counts showing steady increases this week.

There were 19,425 tests conducted in Ontario Wednesday with a 1.3 per cent positivity, another key indicator that has been trending up this week.

There were 38 cases identified in Toronto, 38 in Peel, 25 in Hamilton, 19 in Waterloo and 13 in the Grey Bruce region.

There were eight cases in Ottawa, according to provincial data. Ottawa Public Health reports its own data later in the day, which can differ from provincial statistics because the data are collected at different times of the day.

Source: Ottawa Citizen