Testing captures 9,706 new COVID cases in Ontario on Monday, at least 438 in ICU

Public Health Ontario is reporting 9,706 new COVID cases today, however, that total is likely an underestimate according to the province. 

Increasing COVID case counts driven by omicron have made testing less available, and it has led to the daily totals being an underestimation of actual infections in Ontario. New testing instructions from the province are now limiting testing to certain high-risk groups, leaving symptomatic individuals to isolate but not get a test to confirm whether they have COVID. 

The Jan. 10 updates provided by the province's public health agency and the ministry of health also reported the following data:

Cases

• 6,993 recoveries and 12 deaths since yesterday's report.
• There are 140,523 active, lab-confirmed cases.
• The new cases reported today include 1,307 unvaccinated people, 263 partially vaccinated people, and 7,789 fully vaccinated people, 347 cases were reported with vaccination status unknown. 
• The seven-day average by vaccination status indicated 62 cases per 100,000 unvaccinated people, 50 cases per 100,000 partially vaccinated people, and 83 cases per 100,000 fully vaccinated people. 

Hospitalizations

• 2,467 people are in hospital testing positive for COVID-19, however that number is incomplete as more than 10 per cent of Ontario hospitals don't report to the bed census for the Sunday and Monday reports. It's not clear how many people were hospitalized for COVID-19. The province has said changes will be made in how these numbers are reported in the coming days.
• As of Saturday, hospitalized COVID patients included 457 unvaccinated cases, 115 partially vaccinated cases, and 1,353 fully vaccinated cases.
• 438 people are in ICU due to COVID-19 (this total is also missing data from more than 10 per cent of Ontario hospitals). Of those, 423 people are testing positive and 15 are testing negative. There are 234 people in an intensive care unit (ICU) on a ventilator because of COVID. 
• Included in the ICU cases are 123 unvaccinated cases, 18 partially vaccinated cases, and 137 fully vaccinated cases. 

Testing

• The province reported 40,692 tests were processed yesterday, resulting in a 26.7 per cent positivity rate. Another 95,540 tests are still being processed. 

Case geography and age range

• Among the new cases reported today, 508 were from Simcoe-Muskoka, 965 were from York Region, 2,405 were from Toronto, 127 were from Grey-Bruce, and 1,745 were from Peel. 
• Today's new cases include 230 children under five, 359 kids ages five to 11 years old, 694 youth between 12 and 19 years old, 3,776 people between 20 and 39 years old, 2,913 people between 40 and 59 years old, 1,225 people between 60 and 79 years old, and 512 people over 80 years old.

As of today's report, 11.4 million people in Ontario (77 per cent of the population) are fully vaccinated, and five per cent of the province has one dose of COVID vaccine. There are 4.2 million people in Ontario with three doses of vaccine.

Public Health Ontario has confirmed 888,297 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and reported 737,396 recoveries and 10,378 deaths.

The cumulative average incidence rate in the province is 6,028.9 cases per 100,000 people in Ontario.

Ontario's average seven-day incidence rate from Dec. 31 to Jan. 6 was 639.7 cases per 100,000 people, which increased 2.4 per cent over the seven-day period starting on Dec. 25.

For more on the province's breakdown of vaccination status, click here.

Northern Ontario 

According to provincial data, in the north there are currently 62 people with COVID-19 in hospital, up from 55 yesterday. There are 15 people in ICU, up from 13 yesterday, and nine people on ventilators, up from eight yesterday.

In Northern Ontario, the breakdown of Public Health Ontario data for cases and vaccination is:

• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit: 2,034 cases, weekly rate of 292.3 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 1,959 cases. There are 397 known active cases and one hospitalization. Of the eligible population five years and older, 84 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 79 per cent have both doses.
• Algoma Public Health: 2,631 cases, weekly rate of 345.4 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 2,632 cases. There are 702 known active cases. There are 12 people in hospital, including one person who is from out of region but in Algoma. Of the eligible population five years and older, 86 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 80 per cent have both doses.
• Porcupine Health Unit: 3,560 cases, weekly rate of 512.9 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 3,429 cases. The health unit hasn’t updated its active cases since Friday. The health unit does not report hospitalizations. As of Jan. 7, there were 13 people hospitalized at Timmins and District Hospital with COVID-19, two of whom were admitted for COVID-related reasons. Of the eligible population five years and older, 86 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 79 per cent have both doses.
• Public Health Sudbury and Districts: 6,810 cases, weekly rate of 477 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 6,687 cases. The health unit has not updated its numbers since Friday. There are 27 COVID-positive patients at Health Sciences North, including four in ICU. Of the eligible population five years and older, 87 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 81 per cent have both doses.
• Timiskaming Health Unit: 769 cases, weekly rate of 301 cases per 100,000 people.  The health unit has reported 823 cases. There are 212 known active cases and four hospitalizations. Of the eligible population five years and older, 84 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 78 per cent have both doses.
• Northwestern Health Unit: 2,392 cases, weekly rate of 561.7 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 2,439 cases. There are 419 known active cases and seven hospitalizations. Of the eligible population five years and older, 93 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 85 per cent have both doses.
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit: 5,906 cases, weekly rate of 398.8 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 4,885 cases. There are 265 known active cases and seven hospitalizations, with one person in ICU. Of the eligible population five years and older, 87 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 81 per cent have both doses.

The data from Northern Ontario health units is based on what was available at 10:30 a.m. today.

Simcoe-Muskoka 

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit reported 480 new COVID cases in its Jan. 7 report. The next local COVID update will be published by the health unit this afternoon (Jan. 10)

As of Friday, 36  Simcoe-Muskoka residents were hospitalized because of COVID-19, and nine patients were in an ICU. 

Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 24,880 cases of COVID-19 with 17,562 of those cases recovered and 292 cases ending in death.