COVID-19 Update April 18: Ontario eclipses 10,000 cases, reports 485 new cases, 36 more deaths

TORONTO, ON. APRIL 17, 2020 – As of 10:30 am today, Ontario has now exceeded 10,000 cases and 500 deaths due to COVID-19. The official numbers of 10,010 total cases and 514 total deaths do not include Toronto Public Health reports from yesterday due to a technical glitch.

The increase in cases dropped 1.2% from yesterday as a 5.1% increase resulted in 485 new cases of COVID-19 as of 10:30 am today. In addition to the new cases, there have been 36 more deaths in Ontario, increasing the province’s death toll to 514.

Province-wide 234 of the 514 deaths have occurred at long-term care centres and the total number of cases in the care homes has risen by 119 to 1,963. Not all of the cases are elderly, as 637 of the confirmed cases are members of staff. There have now been 108 outbreaks in long-term care homes and 31 outbreaks in Ontario hospitals.

More than 9,462 tests were carried out yesterday, marking another record. The plan is to steadily increase that number of tests. Causing part of the delay is that the data is not automated, it is rather manually entered in to the system.

In terms of true stats from today’s numbers, which are really from April 17 as of 4 pm, Ontario Public Health officials said today there are 6,833 cases under investigation. The number of hospitalized patients in Ontario due to the virus has dropped by 1 to 828 , while the number of patients in ICU has risen from 245 to 250. Today, there are 197 patients currently on ventilators, which are three fewer than yesterday. 1,139 of the total cases are healthcare workers.

Greater Toronto Area COVID-19 case numbers

Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 56.5 % of cases, of which 1,328 exist in Peel, 366 in Halton, 537 in Durham, 930 in York, 3,145 in Toronto (as of 3:45 pm April 17), and 43% of all Ontario cases are 60 years of age or older.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health said yesterday that within the City there are 244 cases hospitalized, and there are 97 in intensive care units. Sadly, de Villa said that 154 people have now died of COVID-19 in our community.

“The province’s plan to expand COVID-19 testing is now underway, and while this is good news, we can expect that our confirmed COVID-19 case numbers will continue to increase,” said Dr. de Villa.

Toronto COVID-19 case data as of yesterday

To-date approximately 23% of our local COVID-19 cases have been among residents over the age of 80 years. But this is not just affecting the elderly as 35% of those who have been hospitalized for COVID-19 are aged 40-59 years, residents of our city who are in the prime of their life.

Also important to note, Dr. de Villa says that “approximately 35% of COVID-19 infections in Toronto are the result of being a close contact of a confirmed case. This trend continues and underscores the need for strict self isolation of everyone who is ill and their close contacts.”

Toronto’s medical officer of health adds that “Staff are working tirelessly to keep our loved ones safe in long-term care and retirement homes. In addition to the measures already in place, new provincial measures including increased testing of staff and residents, and restrictions for staff to only work in only one facility will help reduce the risk of infection.”

Total COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada Friday, April 18 at 11 am – 32,412 cases, 1,346 deaths

Canada has reported a total to 32,412 cases of COVID-19 including 96 more deaths, bringing the national total of deaths up to 1,250. With 688, Quebec has sustained the most COVID-19 related deaths in Canada while Ontario has now had 514 coronavirus-related deaths. British Columbia had one recorded death yesterday and now has 78 deaths due to COVID-19. Quebec by far also has the most cases of COVID-19 with 16,798. Ontario is second highest at 10,010 and Alberta is ahead of BC with 2,3,97 cases while BC now has 1,618. Saskatchewan now has 307 reported cases while the rest of the Canadian provinces have well below 300.

Number of COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world Saturday April 18, 2020 2:30 pm

Worldwide today, there was a smaller jump than yesterday with 63,603 more cases since 6:30pm Friday bringing the total up to 2,297,712 cases of COVID-1 as reported by the Johns Hopkins University. Of those cases there have been 4,823 more deaths since 6:30 pm yesterday, sadly bringing the death toll to to over one hundred-fifty-five thousand worldwide with 158,202 deaths.

The United States by far has the most cases of COVID-19 worldwide jumping from 666,105 to 716,883 followed by Spain with 191,726 while Italy has the third most cases with 175,925 and France has jumped ahead of Germany with 149,146 reported cases of novel coronavirus. Germany now has 142,872 cases followed by the United Kingdom that saw another huge jump of 5,531 cases to 115,300. China only reported 27 more cases so they now have 83,787 reported while Iran now has 80,868. Turkey is now at 82,329 cases and Belgium is at 37,183. Meanwhile, Russia now has 36,793 cases moving ahead of Brazil with 35,025 while Canada follows Brazil now with 33,625. Netherlands is still slowing with 31,766 followed by Switzerland which is also slowing in case count with 27,404 cases. The rest of the world has reported fewer than 20,000 cases of COVID-19.

In terms of deaths, the United States reported 38,244 coronavirus-related deaths. New York City alone has reported 13,202 deaths. Italy has had 23,227 deaths followed by Spain with 20,043, France with 19,323 and then the United Kingdom with 15,464 deaths caused by COVID-19.

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