Just under 500 new COVID-19 cases in Peel today as Toronto and Ontario set new records

Published December 29, 2020 at 5:06 pm

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Peel Region is reporting almost 500 new cases of COVID-19 today as numbers across Ontario continue to rise.

Peel’s numbers show 496 new cases while Ontario again sets a single day record with 2,553 new infections. With 895 cases today Toronto has also set a new daily record.

Numbers in other areas show 144 in Hamilton, 142 in York Region and 147 in Windsor-Essex.

Over the past two days, 78 people have died in Ontario.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 34,112 tests were completed on Monday and 39,565 the previous day.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccinations in Ontario are expected to return to full operations today after being scaled down over the holidays.

The province says five vaccination clinics were open on Sunday, 10 were back in action Monday and all of them are set to resume immunizations today.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health says that more than 13,200 vaccines have been administered to Ontarians as of Monday afternoon.

Alexandra Hilkene says that the ministry expects to get through 90,000 doses at 19 hospitals in the next several days.

The storage requirement for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine means it will be used primarily in hospitals, while the more recently approved Moderna vaccine will go to long-term care homes, congregate settings and more rural communities.

Critics have taken issue with the pause in vaccinations over the holidays, saying the province can’t afford to delay immunizations.

Hilkene said that COVID-19 has created staff issues at long-term care homes and hospitals across Ontario.

“As a result, over the holidays hospital sites administering the vaccines requested to operate on slightly amended schedules, recognizing the challenges that the holidays can have on staffing levels in hospitals and long-term care homes,” she said.

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