ontario reports 3,510 new cases, record 877 patients in icus
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brianna grant receives a vaccine from renée larocque during an ottawa public health catch up vaccination clinic, march 11, 2015. (jean levac/ ottawa citizen)
ontario reported 3,510 new covid-19 cases on monday and 24 deaths.
toronto, with 1,015 new cases, peel, with 909, and york, with 391, remained the province’s worst-hit regions. durham reported 244 new cases.
the new figures raise ontario’s total number of covid cases since january 2020 to 448,861 and its death toll to 7,935.
there are 2,271 covid patients currently in ontario hospitals. however, more than 10 per cent of hospitals did not submit data over the weekend so that number will probably go up when those reports are received.
the number of patients in icu hit a record 877 reported monday, with 605 people on ventilators. there were 851 patients in icu reported on sunday.
additionally, 69,308 vaccine doses were administered in the province in the 24-hour period ending sunday afternoon, for a province-wide total of 4,696,211. the number of ontarians who have been fully vaccinated increased by 812, to 360,354.
also in ontario, a 13-year-old girl’s death from covid-19 at her home in brampton while her mother lay in hospital with the disease sparked an outpouring of grief, anger and community generosity on monday.
emily viegas died last thursday after her father, an essential worker, tried to care for her in the family apartment.
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premier doug ford, who has come under scathing criticism for his past refusal to implement paid sick leave for essential workers, expressed condolences for the “terrible loss of this young life.” ford called it a “heart-wrenching and a devastating reminder” of the what the virus can do.
according to the globe and mail newspaper, emily had for a week been showing symptoms similar to those that had put her mother in hospital. her vaccinated father, the family bread winner who worked in a warehouse, feared the strapped local hospital would be unable to treat his daughter and opted to keep her at home, where her brother also lives, and try to nurse her back to health.
instead, emily became one of the country’s youngest pandemic victims.
“it felt real when i found her in bed,” carlos viegas told the globe. “i put my head to her chest and i couldn’t feel nothing. no heartbeat. no nothing. no breathing.”
brampton has been particularly hard hit by covid-19 due to several workplace outbreaks. several area politicians took to social media to express their condolences.
“this is beyond heart wrenching,” said patrick brown, mayor of brampton. “as a parent, i am lost for words. horrifying. we can never underestimate the seriousness of covid-19 and the variants.”
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ontario conservative politicians were once again under fire in the legislature on monday from opposition mpps asking when the government will implement paid sick leave. ontario’s covid-19 science advisory table recommended that easy-to-access paid leave to help ensure essential workers can stay home when they are sick or exposed to the virus is needed to fight rising case counts.
house leader paul calandra said the government will be announcing something soon, while labour minister monte mcnaughton continued to say the federal government must “step up” and improve its covid-19 leave benefit.
covid-19 in ottawa: 190 new cases
ottawa public health reported 190 new covid-19 cases on monday and five new deaths.
the new figures bring the total number of covid cases in the city to 23,503 since the pandemic started, and 495 deaths.
there are currently 2,682 active cases. of those, 108 people are in ottawa hospitals with covid, 27 of them in icu.
the number of cases reported in the last seven days, meanwhile, is 143.4 per 100,000 population.
the latest seven-day positivity rate, from april 19-25, is 10.5 per cent. the most recently reported seven-day reproduction rate (r(t)) is 0.55. a reproductive rate below 1.0 means the spread of the virus is slowing and the epidemic is coming under control.
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three new institutional and three new school outbreaks were reported monday, as well as one new community outbreak. the institutional outbreaks were all at group homes.
a total of 1,405 tests, outside of long-term care homes, were conducted in the previous 24 hours.
the number of confirmed variant cases in ottawa, according to public health ontario, is 2,794 confirmed b.1.1.7 cases, the variant that originated in britain, and seven cases of b.1.351, which originated in south africa.
in other health units in the region, leeds, grenville and lanark reported seven new cases, while kingston confirmed 17. eastern ontario health unit saw its case numbers go up by 11, while renfrew county reported eight new cases.
covid-19: across the country
the number of new daily covid-19 infections reported in
quebec
on monday dropped below 1,000 for the first time this month, while hospitalizations increased.
the province reporting 889 new cases — the lowest number since march 29 — along with eight additional deaths, including one within the past 24 hours.
the health department says hospitalizations rose by 10, to 664, and 167 people are in intensive care, an increase of two.
additionally, the province administered 41,731 vaccine doses in the most recent 24-hour reporting period, for a province-wide total of 2,871,140.
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in the outaouais, meanwhile, 50 new covid-19 cases and one new death were reported monday. overall, there have been 11.020 confirmed cases in the region, and 192 deaths.
nova scotia health officials are again reporting a record number of new covid-19 cases. the health department tweeted monday that the province has 66 new cases, surpassing the 63 reported sunday.
fifty-eight of the new cases are in the central health zone that includes halifax, while there are five in the eastern zone, two in the western zone and one in the northern zone.
the province now has 323 confirmed active cases of covid-19.
federal conservative party leader erin o’toole said canada needs to bar incoming flights from all “hot spot” countries, not just india and pakistan.
he said monday that canada should “perhaps” go as far as to stop all international flights “until we can rectify and secure our border.”
the public health agency of canada says 100 flights landed in the country between april 11 and april 22 carrying at least one passenger who tested positive for covid-19 after landing.
covid-19: the vaccination rollout
the federal government says it expects canada to receive around 1.9 million doses of covid-19 vaccine this week, including its very first shipment of shots from johnson & johnson.
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the government says the country will receive about 300,000 of the single-dose jabs in the coming days, in addition to more than 1 million pfizer-biontech shots and around 650,000 doses from moderna.
canada is not currently expecting any more deliveries of the oxford-astrazeneca vaccine.
those doses have been in heavy demand after the eligible age for the shot was dropped to 40-plus in several provinces, including ontario.
federal public procurement minister anita anand said last week that canada is in talks with the us for some of its astrazeneca supply after president joe biden suggested it might share the vaccine.
the us has stockpiled tens of millions of astrazeneca shots, but health officials there have not approved the vaccine for use.
pregnant women in ottawa, meanwhile, will be able to pre-register for covid-19 vaccination starting on monday, april 26 at 2 p.m., at http://bit.ly/3dnwpza. city officials remind residents that walk-ins are not allowed at vaccination clinics.
covid-19 testing and vaccination in ottawa
updated information on covid-19 testing:
ontario vaccination portal:
provincial call centre: 1-888-999-6488. the vaccine information line is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is capable of providing assistance in 300 languages.
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vaccine eligibility in ottawa:
vaccine eligibility screening tool, from ottawa public health
to find a pharmacy vaccine: eligible adults aged 40 and over who are interested in getting vaccinated via pharmacy can visit
to find a participating locations. contact the pharmacy directly to ask if they’re offering appointments, walk-in vaccination or both.
by the numbers
ontario
(as of sunday afternoon)
3,510:
new confirmed cases
448,861:
total cases
54,436:
total b.1.1.7 variant cases confirmed
162:
total b.1.351 variant cases confirmed
351:
total p.1 variant cases confirmed
24:
new deaths
7,935:
total deaths
2,271:
currently in hospital
877:
in icu
605:
on a ventilator
69,308:
doses of vaccine administered in the 24 hours ending 8 p.m. sunday
4,696,211:
total doses administered
360,354:
people fully vaccinated
33,822:
tests conducted in previous 24 hours
13,911,631:
total tests conducted
with files from the canadian press
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