Ontario is reporting more than 300 new COVID-19 cases today as the average daily case count continues to rise in the province.
Ontario health officials confirmed 325 new COVID-19 infections today, down from 423 cases on Sunday and 378 on Saturday but up significantly from 168 last Monday.
The rolling seven-day average of new infections now stands at 283, up from 196 one week ago.
Of the new cases confirmed today, 90 are in Toronto, 47 are in Peel Region, 29 are in York Region, 29 are in Hamilton and 26 are in Windsor-Essex.
No new deaths were reported today.
With 15,805 tests processed over the past 24 hours, Ontario is reporting a provincewide positivity rate of at least 2.3 per cent, the highest that number has been since late June. For comparison, at this point last week, Ontario was reporting a positivity rate of 1.3 per cent.
The Ministry of Health says there has been a slight dip in the number of patients in intensive care in Ontario.
There are currently 113 COVID-19 patients in the ICU, down from 115 on Sunday but up from 108 last week.
The uptick in case numbers in the province comes as the federal government reopened the border to fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents today.
Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases specialist, told CP24 that reopening the border to vaccinated U.S. travellers comes with a "small degree" of risk.
"You are using travellers that are fully vaccinated. By definition these travellers a.) have a lower likelihood of acquiring COVID-19, b.) have a lower likelihood of transmitting COVID-19," he said.
"I think the other thing that gets lumped into travel is that it is a major risk factor. It is a risk factor but remember people can get infected at any time."
He noted that about two to three per cent of people who land in Canada walk off of the plane with COVID-19, according to airport screening studies.
"Our major issue here is particularly spread among unvaccinated individuals that we really need to get under control," Chagla said.
The province says 19,902,159 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province to date, including 29,949 doses on Sunday.
Close to 82 per cent of people 12 and older in the province have received one dose and more than 72 per cent are fully immunized.
The numbers used in this story are found in the Ontario Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from what is reported by the province, because local units report figures at different times.
