Big city mayors call for proof of vaccination system as Ontario sees 510 new COVID-19 cases

Ontario reported 510 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, while the number of patients with the illness in critical care fell slightly.

The Ministry of Health says that 368, or about 72 per cent, of today's additional infections are in unvaccinated individuals. Another57of the cases were people who had only one shot of vaccine, she said, while 85were fully vaccinated.

Importantly, the data on the vaccination status of individual cases does not include breakdowns by age, or indicate how long after a first or second shot of COVID-19 vaccine a person contracted the virus.

This morning's case count is up from 340 reported last Friday. Because testing levels in Ontario follow a weekly cycle, it's usually most informativeto compare same days of the week.

The total includes 129cases in Toronto, 61in Peel Region, 51 in Hamilton, 41 in Windsor-Essex, 33 in York Region and 26 in Halton Region.

The seven-day average of daily cases climbed to 403, the first time it has surpassed the 400 mark since June 18.

Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table estimates that the reproduction number a measure of how many other people a single infected person will go on to infect sits at 1.62.Values above 1 mean that a pandemic is spreading, rather than contracting.That means that daily cases are expected to double every 8 days or so,the table calculates.

Dr.Peter Juni, director of the province's Science Advisory Table, told CBC News Friday that Ontario is now seeing exponential growth of the virus, and people need to understand the pandemic is not over.

"There's really no time to lose now to get fully vaccinated," Juni said, adding that unvaccinated people over the age of 50 are most at risk of ending up in the ICU.

"Right now, yes, we're extremely successful with our vaccine rollout, but no, there are not enough people vaccinated, especially those at a high risk of being admitted to an ICU, that we're out of the woods yet."

Mayors call for proof of vaccination system

As cases continue to rise, Ontario's Big City Mayors (OBCM) a group that includes mayors of 29 single and lower-tier cities with a population of 100,000 or more called on the province today to establish a COVID-19 proof of vaccination system.

Though calls have mounted for the province to institute such a system, officials have said it is not part of the government's plan. Quebec, meanwhile, has instituted a vaccine passport plan that will come into effect on Sept. 1.

In a news release, OBCM said certified vaccination record systems are helping businesses and event spaces open safely while encouraging people to get vaccinated. The group notesthe Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the province's science table, and the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses are calling for a similar system.

"The faster we can enact a proof of vaccination system, the faster we can protect more Ontarians from the effects of the delta variant," said Jeff Lehman, the chair of OBCM and the mayor of Barrie, in a statement. "This will support the safe reopening of our economy and protect our residents."

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

Tests completed in the last 24 hours: 23,586.

Provincewide test positivity rate: Two per cent.

Active cases: 3,110.

Patients in ICU with COVID-related illnesses: 111, down two from yesterday. Overall ICU admissions levelled at about 105 after the third wave of the pandemic, and have been fluctuating between 105 and about 115 since.

Deaths: Four, though two "occurred more than two months ago," the ministry said, and were included in today's update after a data cleaning effort at Public Health Ontario.

Vaccinations: 48,682doses were administered by public health units on Thursday. Roughly 72.8 per cent of eligible Ontarians, those aged 12 and older, have had two shots, or about 64.5 per cent of the province's total population.