Here are the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Saturday.
Toronto, Peel, York will likely be last to reopen
Ontario is expected to begin gradually reopening its economy next week, according to a report from The Canadian Press citing a government source.
The state of emergency is expected to expire, as scheduled, on Feb. 9, though the stay-at-home order will likely remain in place in much of the province until each region moves back into the colour-coded COVID-19 response framework.
Some could move to the least restrictive green zone on Wednesday, with all other areas — except for Toronto, Peel and York — expected to move into the framework based on local case rates on Feb. 15.
Toronto, Peel and York regions will likely follow the week on Feb. 22.
Any spike in cases could cause plans to change.
Read more:
Coronavirus: Ontario to begin phased reopening of economy next week, government source says
Status of cases in the GTA
Ontario reported a total of 1,388 new cases on Saturday.
Of those:
- 455 were in Toronto
- 288 were in Peel Region
- 131 were in York Region
- 46 were in Durham Region
- 42 were in Halton Region
Ontario reports 1,388 new cases, 45 deaths
Ontario reported 1,388 cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 276,718.
Forty-five additional deaths were also reported, bringing the provincial death toll to 6,483.
The province indicated that the positivity rate for the last day was 2.6 per cent, which is up slightly from Friday’s report, when it was 2.5 per cent, and is down from last Saturday’s report, when it was 3.3 per cent.
Provincial figures showed there are 1,021 people hospitalized with the virus (down by 22), with 325 in intensive care (no change), 228 of whom are on a ventilator (up by three).
Read more:
Ontario reports 1,388 coronavirus cases, 45 deaths
Almost 10K more vaccine doses administered in Ontario
As of 8 p.m. Friday, 372,666 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Ontario, which is up by 9,917.
So far, 96,573 people have received both required doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
— With files from The Canadian Press