Ontario reports more than 16,700 new cases of COVID-19 on last day of 2021

Ontario set a single-day COVID-19 case count record for the third day in a row as more than 16,700 new infections were reported on New Year’s Eve.

The province said there are 16,713 new cases of the virus on Friday (Dec. 31), a sharp increase from the 13,807 new cases were tallied just a day earlier.

Another 15 deaths were also reported on Friday, bringing the total number of coronavirus deaths in Ontario to 10,194.

Hospital and ICU admissions also took a jump on Friday, with the province reporting 205 people in intensive care with and some 1,140 people in other hospital units due to COVID-19.

Friday’s new cases made for the third straight day of new infection records set in the province.

On Thursday, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore announced sweeping changes to the province’s PCR testing eligibility and COVID-19 isolation requirements following a meteoric rise in case counts in recent weeks due to the Omicron variant of the virus.

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Starting Friday, PCR testing will be limited to only certain high-risk individuals, like healthcare workers and residents in the high-risk settings and vulnerable populations.

Members of the public with mild symptoms are asked not to seek testing, and a full list of eligible individuals can be found here.

The back-to-school start date for much of the province was pushed to Jan. 5, and third dose vaccine mandates are now in effect for Ontario long-term care and retirement home staffers.

Residents at long-term care, retirement homes, Elder Care Lodges and other congregate settings who received a third dose of a COIVD-19 vaccine three months or 84 days ago are eligible to receive a fourth shot of an mRNA vaccine.

While case counts continue to surge in Ontario, a new study suggests the Omicron variant is less likely to cause hospitalization or death than the Delta variant.

But the study said the new variant could still significantly impact healthcare systems across the province due to its high transmissibility.