Public Health Ontario is reporting a record 11,352 new COVID cases today, however, that total is likely an underestimate according to the province.
Increasing COVID case counts driven by the omicron variant have made testing less available and daily totals are an underestimation of actual infections in Ontario. Testing is now limited to certain high-risk groups.
The Jan. 4 updates provided by the province's public health agency and the ministry of health also reported the following data:
- 7,519 recoveries and 10 deaths since yesterday's report.
- There are 130,307 active, lab-confirmed cases.
- The new cases reported today include 1,647 unvaccinated people, 445 partially vaccinated people, and 9,040 fully vaccinated people, 219 cases were reported with vaccination status unknown.
- 1,232 people are in hospital testing positive for COVID-19. 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.
- Among the hospitalized COVID patients are 303 unvaccinated cases, 64 partially vaccinated cases, and 667 fully vaccinated cases.
- The seven-day average by vaccination status indicated 63.3 cases per 100,000 unvaccinated people, 59 cases per 100,000 partially vaccinated people, and 79.5 cases per 100,000 fully vaccinated people.
- 248 people are in ICU due to COVID-19. Of those, 235 people are testing positive and 13 are testing negative. There are 125 people in an intensive care unit (ICU) on a ventilator because of COVID. Hospitalization data is incomplete as more than 10 per cent of hospitals did not report to the bed census over the long weekend. So these numbers are also likely an underestimation.
- Included in the ICU cases are 86 unvaccinated cases, 54 fully vaccinated cases, and nine partially vaccinated cases.
- 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.
- The province reported 54,346 tests were processed yesterday, resulting in a 30.9 per cent positivity rate.
- Today's new cases include 308 children under five, 665 kids ages five to 11 years old, 1,030 youth between 12 and 19 years old, 4,431 people between 20 and 39 years old, 3,298 people between 40 and 59 years old, 1,300 people between 60 and 79 years old, and 418 people over 80 years old.
Public Health Ontario has confirmed 805,098 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and reported 664,562 recoveries and 10,229 deaths.
The cumulative average incidence rate in the province is 5,541.3 cases per 100,000 people in Ontario.
Ontario's average seven-day incidence rate from Dec. 25 to Dec. 31 was 617.5 cases per 100,000 people, which increased 76.5 per cent over the seven-day period starting on Dec. 19.
For more on the province's breakdown of vaccination status, click here.
Northern Ontario
According to provincial data, in the north there are currently 34 people with COVID-19 in hospital, up from 27 yesterday. There are 12 people in ICU and five people on ventilators.
In Northern Ontario, the breakdown of Public Health Ontario data for cases and vaccination is:
- Algoma Public Health: 2,275 cases, weekly rate of 381 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 2,281 cases. There are 571 known active cases. 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.
- North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit: 1,739 cases, weekly rate of 364.2 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 1,613 cases. There are 460 known active cases. 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.
- Porcupine Health Unit: 3,231 cases, weekly rate of 700 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 3,229 cases. The number of active cases has not been updated since Dec. 31. Of the eligible population five years and older, 85 per cent of people have at least one dose of the vaccine and 78 per cent have both doses.
- Public Health Sudbury and Districts: 6,078 cases, weekly rate of 462.3 cases per 100,000 people. The local data has not been updated since Dec. 31. 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: 691 cases, weekly rate of 389.6 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 726es cas. There are 199 known active cases. 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: 2.038 cases, weekly rate of 513.6 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 2,074 cases. There are 418 known active cases. 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: 4,577 cases, weekly rate of 336.1 cases per 100,000 people. The health unit has reported 4,570 cases. There are 387 known active cases. 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.