News Release
February 24, 2021

The City of Toronto continues to respond to COVID-19. Today, Mayor John Tory and Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa provided an update on the City’s measures to combat the resurgence of the virus in Toronto.

Since the start of the pandemic there have been a total of 96,007 cases of COVID-19 in the city, an increase of 389 new cases today. There are 351 people hospitalized. To date, there have been 2,620 COVID-19 deaths in Toronto. In total, 89,474 people have recovered. Case status data can be found on the City’s reporting platform.

Today, Dr. de Villa provided an update on variants of concern in the city:

  • there are 72 confirmed variant of concern cases in Toronto (71 are the U.K. variant B.1.1.7 and one is the Brazilian variant)
  • 710 cases have screened positive for mutations of interest and are expected to be confirmed as variants of concern (up from 511 cases on Monday)

Toronto Public Health also confirmed the reproductive number for Toronto is 1.1. This means that right now in Toronto, each new case of COVID-19 is giving rise to more than one new case of COVID-19 thereafter. Residents are urged to keep following public health advice to help bring that reproductive number below 0.7.

Toronto remains in the Shutdown Zone under the provincial Lockdown Regulation and subject to a Stay-at-Home Order until at least March 9. Please review the City’s simple “Dos” and “Don’ts” guide for recommended and mandatory public health measures. The guide communicates some of what is and what is not permitted under provincial regulations and City bylaws. The guide can be found at toronto.ca/lockdownguide.

Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit the City’s website or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Media Relations