A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario | |
|---|---|
(clockwise from top)
| |
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Ontario, Canada |
| First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China |
| Index case | Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto |
| Arrival date | January 25, 2020 (4 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 1 day) |
| Confirmed cases | 1,123,709[a] |
| Active cases | 16,241 |
| Suspected cases‡ | 2,500,000 - 5,000,000 (Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table)[3] |
| Recovered | 1,095,221 |
Deaths | 12,247 |
| Fatality rate | 1.09% |
| Vaccinations |
|
| Government website | |
| Government of Ontario | |
| ‡Suspected cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests as being due to this strain, although some other strains may have been ruled out. | |
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario was a viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Canada was announced on January 25, 2020, involving a traveller who had recently returned to Toronto from travel in China, including Wuhan.[4] Ontario has had the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among Canada's provinces and territories, but due to having the largest population, only ranks sixth adjusted per capita.[5] Ontario surpassed one million lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on January 24, 2022; one day before the anniversary of the first confirmed case on January 25, 2020.
On March 17, 2020, a state of emergency was declared by Premier Doug Ford.[6] This included the gradual implementation of restrictions on gatherings and commerce.
From late spring to early summer, the majority of the deaths were residents of long-term care homes.[7] In late April 2020, one out of five of all long-term care homes in Ontario had an outbreak[7] and 70 percent to 80 percent of all COVID-19 deaths had been in retirement and long-term care homes.[8] Following medical assistance and observation by the Canadian Armed Forces, the military released a report detailing "a number of medical, professional and technical issues" amongst for-profit long-term-care homes including neglect, lack of equipment and allegations of elder abuse.[9]
Following a decline in cases, in May through August 2020, the province instituted a three-stage plan to lift economic restrictions. The state of emergency was lifted on July 24, 2020.[10]
In early September 2020, the province showed a significant increase in new cases, beginning the second wave of the pandemic.[11] Ontario began to reintroduce some restrictions and in early November, created a new five-tiered colour-coded "response framework".
From late November to mid-December 2020, the province began placing regions in rolling lockdowns, culminating in a province-wide shutdown beginning Boxing Day.[12] In the post-winter holiday surge of new infections, Premier Ford declared Ontario's second state of emergency on January 12, 2021,[13] which was lifted February 10, 2021,[14] and a stay-at-home order effective January 14, 2021,[13] which was phased out regionally between February 10 and March 8, 2021.[14]
Following Health Canada's approval of various COVID-19 vaccines, widespread plans for vaccinations began during the week of December 14, 2020.[15] Early vaccination efforts were highly criticized and a shortage of vaccine supply in late January and early February slowed immunization rollout significantly for a number of weeks.[16] The rollout continued to be highly criticized for lack of equitability and clarity, which was significantly helped by volunteer groups like Vaccine Hunters Canada.
In mid-March 2021, the Ontario Hospital Association, and Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health[17] declared the province was experiencing a third wave of the virus.[18][19] Following the third wave surge, ICU numbers in late March climbed to their highest numbers since the beginning of the pandemic.[20] On April 1, 2021, the government announced a second province-wide shutdown beginning April 3.[21] Ford later issued a third state of emergency and stay-at-home order for the province beginning April 8, 2021,[22] and ordered all schools to close on April 12, 2021 (public schools were in the middle of spring break, delayed from March to April).[23] In order to ensure greater decline in the number of reported daily infections, the stay-at-home order was extended yet again to June 2, 2021, at which point it expired.[24] Following the expiration of the stay-at-home order, on May 20, 2021, the provincial government released a three-step roadmap to reopen the economy based on vaccination rate goals.[25]
In late summer 2021, the province began preparing for a fourth wave of the virus, which was now largely affecting unvaccinated individuals.[26] After hitting a stand-still on vaccination rates, on September 1, 2021, Ontario became the fourth province to implement a proof of vaccination mandate for various non-essential functions, which went into effect on September 22, 2021.[27] In January 2022, Ontario entered a partial lockdown (termed as a rollback to "Step 2" of the previous roadmap) due to record cases caused by Omicron variant, ordering the closure of most non-essential indoor facilities.
Face mask mandates and vaccination mandates were lifted on March 21, 2022, due to the decreasing number of new cases, unofficially ending the pandemic.[28]
Timeline
 | This section needs to be updated. (April 2022) |