Ontario’s daily COVID-19 cases hit March high
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Variants of concern are impacting younger individuals, Elliott says
Author of the article:
Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:
Mar 19, 2021 • 29 minutes ago • 1 minute read • 
5 Comments 
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott speaks at a Shoppers Drug Mart at Sherway Gardens in Etobicoke March 19, 2021. Photo by Jack Boland /Toronto Sun Article content
The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ontario hit 1,745 Friday — the highest daily tally since Feb. 2.
Ten more people died and 759 COVID-19 patients were in hospital, including 309 in intensive care and 176 on ventilators.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said variants of concern (VOC), like the United Kingdom-identified mutation, are impacting younger individuals.
“We’re following that very closely,” Elliott said Friday.
The province is also watching capacity in hospitals because if the VOC expand exponentially there will be a need for more beds and ventilators, she said.
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Testing done for a COVID-19 mutation turned up 704 cases Friday, evidence of VOC spread.
The province performed 56,134 COVID-19 tests with a positivity rate of 3.3%.
“Locally, there are 478 new cases in Toronto, 344 in Peel, 174 in York Region and 116 in Hamilton,” Elliott tweeted Friday. “As of 8 p.m. yesterday, 1,420,599 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.”
Another 1,296 cases were considered resolved as the person had either recovered or did not need hospital care two weeks after the beginning of symptoms.
None of the new deaths were in residents of long-term care, where the province focused its initial vaccination efforts.
aartuso@postmedia.com
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