Ontario logs 694 new COVID-19 cases, no further deaths

Ontario reported 694 new cases of COVID-19 and no further deaths from the illness on Monday, while the province removeda runny nose from its list ofsymptoms requiring a child to stay home from school or daycare.

The updated online COVID-19 screening tool lists five categories of symptoms "most commonly associated with COVID-19."

Those are fever and chills, cough or barking cough, shortness of breath, losing taste or smell and nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

Children reporting any of those symptoms are to stay home, isolate and seek COVID-19 testing.

A spokeswoman for the health minister confirmed a runny nose was removed from the daily screening but said anyone with symptoms of illness should stay home.

Alexandra Hilkene says health units can give further advice on isolation requirements based things like the local COVID-19 situation and whether an individual was in contact with a confirmed case.

Meanwhile, of the 643 new cases reported today with a known vaccination status:

• 403, or nearly 63 per cent, were unvaccinated.
• 73, or 11.4 per cent, had a single dose.
• 167, or 26 per cent, had two doses.

Notably, the province's data on the vaccination status of cases does not include breakdowns by age, or indicate how long after a first or second shot of a COVID-19 vaccine a person contracted the virus, or whether they were symptomatic at the time of testing.

A total of 18,561 tests for the virus were completed on Sunday, according to the health ministry, and Public Health Ontario reported a provincewide positivity rate of 3.6 per cent.

Throughout the pandemic in Ontario, weekends have brought a lull in overall testing levels, so it is not surprising to see a higher positivity ratefrom relatively fewer tests. Though it is notable that 3.6 per cent is the highest positivityrate since June 1.

Today's total case count is up somewhat from the 639 new infections logged last Monday. That said, there are positive signs that the spread of the virus has continued to slow. The doubling time for daily cases is currently about three and a half weeks. In early August, doubling period for caseswas as few as eight days.

This week will see revised projections for the fall from Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. A spokesperson said last week that the group was working to finalize its latest consensus modelling before the results are released publicly.

CBC Newsreported on Friday that, according to sources with knowledge of the deliberations, Premier Doug Ford is likely to announce some form of a vaccine passport or certificate system this week. Ford's cabinet is slated to meet on Tuesday to discuss the plan before going public with the details.

Here are some other key pandemic indicators and figures from theMinistry of Health's daily provincial update:

Seven-day rolling average of daily cases: 696.

Active cases: 6,028.

Patients in ICUwith COVID-related illnesses: 160; 93needed a ventilator to breathe.

Death toll: 9,498.

Vaccinations: 17,767 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered by public health units on Sunday. Slightly more than 76 per cent of eligible Ontarians, or those aged 12 and older, have now had two doses. That equivalent to roughly 67.3 per cent of the province's total population.