New Ontario cases almost double Friday

Two-thirds of the people now testing positive are under the age of 40

New cases of COVID-19 in Ontario almost doubled in the past day, with the majority in people under 40, the Ministry of Health reported Friday as health authorities keep a close watch on several hot spots.

There were 195 more infections of the coronavirus, up from 103 the previous day and marking the second-highest level since 257 cases were recorded on June 29.

The new cases were largely concentrated in a handful of areas, with 27 in Ottawa, 18 in Peel, 57 in Windsor-Essex, 31 in Toronto and 13 in ChathamKent, where just six cases were identified the day before, according to the ministry report using numbers collected at 4 p.m. the previous day.

“Locally, 26 or 34 public health units in Ontario are reporting five or fewer cases, with 15 of them reporting no new cases,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter.

She noted128 or 66 per cent of the new infections were in people 39 and younger.

Earlier in the week, health authorities flagged a trend that has seen young adults catching the virus at higher rates after going to parties and giving in to what Elliott called “Covid fatigue” by not taking precautions such as wearing a mask, physical distancing from others and frequently washing hands.

“It’s disturbing,” Premier Doug Ford said Friday.

“It’s not little Johnny I’m worried about, it’s little Johnny’s grandparents,” he added, explaining that young adults may have no or mild symptoms and unknowingly pass it on to older family members or co-workers who could become seriously ill.

Ford encouraged local public health officers to implement any restrictions they deem necessary in bars or other settings to slow the spread. “I welcome it.” Hospitalizations for COVID-19 declined by 13 to 141 — still the second-highest level since July 4 — with 31 patients in intensive care and 20 of them on ventilators.

To date, 4,643 Ontarians have been hospitalized for the virus that first arrived in late January. About 12 per cent of total cases have been serious enough to require admission.

Infections continued to spread in nursing homes, with four more residents and two more health-care workers testing positive for the infection that has hit 5,881 residents and killed almost 1,800. More than 2,500 nursing-home workers have caught the virus and eight have died.

Outbreaks remain a problem in 38 of the province’s 626 nursing homes, where there have been 385 outbreaks since the virus began spreading in the confines of long-term care.

In total, almost 40,300 Ontarians have contracted COVID-19 with deaths approaching 2,800, according to a Star compilation of data from health units.

“It’s not little Johnny I’m worried about, it’s little Johnny’s grandparents.”

PREMIER DOUG FORD ON RISING CASES AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE