TORONTO — A child under the age of 12 has York Region’s first confirmed case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Public health officials in the region say the child returned from a southern African country on Nov. 22, and has been isolating at home since then, as have their close contacts.
There are at least seven confirmed Omicron cases in Ontario and several suspected cases across various health units.
Toronto is also investigating a suspected case of the Omicron variant — in a restaurant employee public health officials say recently travelled to South Africa.
Toronto Public Health is asking patrons of the restaurant Piccolo Caffe E Vino who may have been exposed to the employee to get tested for COVID-19.
The Omicron variant has emerged in Ontario as the province deals with a spike in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant.
The province reported more than 1,000 new infections of COVID-19 on Friday — the highest the daily case count has been in six months.
The province logged 1,031 new cases and four more deaths. The last time the daily case count climbed above 1,000 was May 30, when the tally was 1,033.
While the high number may seem alarming, Health Minister Christine Elliott said it’s not unexpected.
“We did anticipate when we developed the roadmap to reopen that there would be an increase in the case counts,” she told a news conference in Ottawa.
“But I think the other really important factor is that even as cases are growing — which are primarily the Delta variant at this point — that our hospitalization rates remain low and our intensive care units remain low.”
As of Friday, 286 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, including 146 in intensive care units.
The seven-day average of new cases now sits at 866, up from 711 a week ago.
Provincial data shows 469 of Friday’s new cases were in people who are not fully vaccinated, while 61 have an unknown vaccination status and 429 are fully vaccinated.
It also shows 84.2 per cent of Ontarians aged five and older have had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and 80.5 per cent have had two.
Also on Friday, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued updated recommendations for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots after a federal request for guidance in light of the new variant, saying anyone aged 50 and older is advised to get one.
That’s in line with Ontario’s announcement Thursday that anyone 50 and over would be eligible to book a booster starting Dec. 13.
“We are taking our approach to the booster shot very seriously,” Elliott said Friday.
NACI also strengthened its recommendation for several other groups, and now strongly suggests boosters for people who received a full series of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Janssen vaccine, those in or from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and front-line health workers.
NACI has also suggested a booster dose may be offered to people 18 to 49 years old at least six months after they receive their first two doses.
The province has said it plans on further expanding age group eligibility next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2021.
Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press
