Ontario reports 3,301 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, highest 1 day total since early May
CBC
As Ontario prepares for a "circuit breaker" spate of new pandemic restrictions, the province reported 3,301 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday — the largest single day total since May 6.
That's up from 3,124 new cases reported on Friday, which was up from 2,421 new cases reported on Thursday. Cases connected to Omicron are doubling every two days — an unprecedented rate for variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
On Thursday, Ontario's COVID-19 science table set the tone for the holiday season, warning that the highly infectious Omicron variant could overwhelm hospitals in the coming weeks.
On Friday, the government moved to implement restrictions. The new restrictions will take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday. These include reducing the limit for indoor social gatherings from 25 to 10 and reducing the limit for outdoor social gatherings from 100 to 25, as well as business-related reductions.
"We need to meet this variant head on," Premier Doug Ford said. "We need to do everything we can to push it back."
WATCH | To 'blunt' the impact of Omicron, Ontarians need to reduce contacts, Adalsteinn Brown says:
Here are some key pandemic indicators and figures for Saturday from the Ministry of Health's daily provincial update:
Tests completed: 54,407.
Provincewide test positivity rate: 8.9 per cent, up from 8.2 per cent the day before.
Active cases: 17,882.
Patients in ICU with COVID-related illnesses: 154; 99 needed a ventilator to breathe.
Deaths: Four, pushing the official toll to 10,111.
Vaccinations: 25,174,953 doses have been administered to date. Currently, 90.4 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 or older have had one dose of a vaccine. Meanwhile, 87.8 per cent have had two doses.
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Emily Walstrom was expecting to lay her father to rest this month, but instead, she says his cremated remains are stuck in a Canada Post facility in B.C., delayed by the ongoing national postal strike.
A Friday night fire hasn't caused any impact to operations at the Dryden mill, the company said.
With around 55,000 Canada Post workers on strike since Nov.15 and no deal in sight, Toronto businesses say they're gearing up for a tough holiday season.