Ontario’s COVID-19 case count surpasses 1,000,000, deaths top 11,000

The number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario has passed 1,000,000 as deaths related to the disease total more than 11,000.

The news comes as officials report that 3,861 people are currently in hospital with COVID-19 –up from the 3,797 reported on Sunday– and 615 are being treated in the ICU, an increase of 11 patients in the last 24 hours. However, not all hospitals report patient data on the weekends.

Information on the vaccination status of those in hospital and incidental hospitalizations was not immediately made available by the provincial government. 

It’s worth noting that due to limited testing availability in the province, public health officials have said recent case counts are likely an underestimate of the true number of infections in Ontario.

At least 4,790 new cases were reported on Monday, according to the Ministry of Health.

Labs across Ontario processed 20,716 tests since yesterday, which produced a positivity rate of 18.4 per cent, according to the province.

With 37 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Ontario’s COVID-19 death toll sits at 11,004, though this number only includes deaths that have occurred in the last month.

One additional death that occurred more than one month ago was removed due to a “data cleaning” resulting in a net 36 deaths being reported today.

This is a breaking news story. More to come.