Ontario COVID-19 case counts increase by 477, with 180 from Toronto
TORONTO, ON., May 8, 2020 — Today, Ontario public health officials reported 477 new COVID-19 infections up by 78 from yesterday’s report. Sadly, the province also reported 63 deaths, 15 more than yesterday’s death count. Ontario’s total case count including recoveries has now risen to 19,598 while the total number of Ontarians who have lost their lives to COVID-19 is now 1,540. There have been 13,569 recoveries with 421 reported yesterday.
This week’s seven-day numbers are 511, 434, 370, 387, 412, 399 and 477 respectively, whereas last week the province was reporting between 500 and 640 cases.
Ontario conducted 14,631 tests, 548 fewer tests than previous day
Today, the province completed 14,631 tests, which is slightly fewer than the 15,179 tested yesterday but still an improvement on the much lower numbers over the past several days. With increased testing capacity and continuing improvement to physical distancing measures, the cases of COVID-19 are slowly coming down, which has prompted the province to ease restrictions today allowing garden centres and nurseries to open up with certain restrictions, followed by hardware stores on Saturday and retail stores that can operate curbside on Monday.
The province has also granted permission for Ontario professional sports teams to resume training but under strict guidelines handed down by both the province as well as each respective pro league including the NHL, NBA, MLB, MLS and CFL. Premier Ford affirmed that each league is very stringent with strict rules from their own medical advisors.
Long-term care homes report 48 more deaths
Sadly, things are not improving at long-term care homes as 1,150 residents have died which is 39 more since yesterday. Five staff members at long-term care centres have also lost their lives due to the virus. The total number of active cases in the care and retirement homes is 2,782 along with 1,707 staff members. 234 outbreaks, nine more than yesterday have been reported in long-term care homes.
Hospitals have also reported 291 staff cases of COVID-19 which is fourteen more since yesterday. There have also been two more deaths among hospital staff raising the death toll to 47. There now have been 70 outbreaks in Ontario hospitals, which is one more than yesterday.
Some encouraging news according to hospital stats provided by the Ontario Ministry of Health from May 7 as of 4 pm, the number of hospitalized patients in Ontario due to the virus has dropped by five to 1,028. Meanwhile, the number of patients in ICU has dropped by 7 since yesterday to 213 patients in ICUs. Today, there are also 166 patients currently on ventilators. Also of note, 3,230 of the total 19,598 cases are healthcare workers.
Ontario daily COVID-19 case counts past 17 days
If you take a look at the numbers over the past 14 days you will see that this past week saw an average of 427 new cases a day while the previous 7 days, the daily average was 441. So although, it doesn’t seem now like the number of cases has reduced that much, it is important to keep in mind that the number of tests being conducted has greatly risen.
April 20 – 606, April 21 – 551, April 22 – 510, April 23 – 634, April 24 – 640, April 25 – 476, April 26 – 437, April 27 – 424, April 28 – 525, April 29 – 347, April 30 – 459, May 1 – 421, May 2 – 511, May 3 – 434, May 4 – 370, May 5 – 387, May 6 – 412, May 7 – 399, May 8 – 477
Greater Toronto Area and Toronto COVID-19 case numbers
Greater Toronto Area public health units now account for 60.8% of cases a percentage which has been going up steadily by .2% over the past several days. 12.2% of those people are hospitalized. of which 6,845 exist in Toronto, 2,750 in Peel, 508 in Halton, 1,128 in Durham, and 1,778 in York.
Meanwhile as of 3:45 pm today, Toronto Public Health says there were 180 more cases reported. Toronto now has 7,114 confirmed cases and 4,717 recoveries. Sadly, in total, 532 Torontonians have lost their lives to this coronavirus.
Toronto COVID-19 case report
Today, Toronto Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa said that a man in his 60s who was a personal support worker sadly died on May 6. The individual was a personal support worker who worked for an agency serving clients in a local Toronto Community Housing Corporation building.
“Over the past weeks I have observed many forms of inspiration in our city,” said Dr. de Villa. We have witnessed our city coming together and people supporting each other during these very difficult and unprecedented times.”
Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa gives a shout-out to Toronto organisations, restaurants, musicians, gyms, fitness centres and zoo
“First, I would like to extend a special thank you to every person in our community who is working hard to keep our city clean during this pandemic. Whether you are working in a hospital, shelter, long-term care home, on public transit or in a grocery store, on behalf of my team and our whole city, thank you for your dedication.”
“There are also many meaningful examples of people and organizations across our city rising to the challenge under these stressful circumstances and demonstrating positive leadership in our community.
For example:
• Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment has transformed Scotiabank Arena into a giant kitchen to prepare thousands of meals for our community. —
• Some Toronto Public Library branches have opened their doors to distribution sites for food banks,making local food access easier for those in need.–
• People have built free pantries on their lawns to offer non-perishable free food for those in need and invited others to contribute what they can.
• Restaurants are making meals for frontline workers who may not have time to shop for groceries or to cook.
• Musicians are playing outside long-term care homes to bring joy to residents, and music schoolsacross our cityare offering free live streamed music classes for children on their social media channels.
• Gyms and fitness studios have been offering free or pay what you can classes on social media.
• The Toronto Zoo has brought the “Zoo to You” bylivestreaming many animals on their website.
Dr. Eileen de Villa also offered a big ‘Thank you’ to “everyone who unites at 7:30 each night on their balconies and front porches to say thank you to our frontline workers. This daily gesture is a powerful show of community spirit and support, and for this, I say thank you.”
This report includes the most current information available from the integrated Public Health
Information System (iPHIS) as of 4 p.m. May 6, 2020, from the Toronto Public Health Coronavirus Rapid Entry System (CORES) and the Ottawa Public Health COVID-19 Ottawa Database (The COD) as of 2 p.m. May 6, 2020.
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