Mississauga and Brampton have worst COVID-19 positivity in Ontario; cases rising among school children and young adults

 

For two weeks in a row, Peel Region (Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon) is the region with the highest COVID-19 percent positivity rate (percentage of positive COVID-19 tests in the area) in Ontario.

Toronto-based research group ICES ranked all 34 public health units in Ontario based on their percent positivity for the week of March 21 to 27.

Peel topped the list at 8.92%, followed by Toronto at 7.17% and York at 7.01%.

Ontario overall is listed sixth, at 4.94%.

The top 15 public health units are listed above

Peel's percentage is up from the previous week, where it reported 8.38%.

ICES says percent positivity reflects both the number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed and the number of people who were tested, and the numbers may fluctuate based on these factors.

The same data for the week shows that of the 50 areas in Ontario with the highest COVID-19 percent positivity, one is in Mississauga and nine are in Brampton.

Additionally, ICES says there has been a steady rise in incidence of COVID-19 among all groups of school-aged children in Peel, Toronto, York, and Ottawa.

“There have also been steady and steep increases among young adults aged 18-22 years (a group including undergraduate university/college students as well as many individuals in the public-facing workforce) in Toronto, Peel, York, Ottawa, Durham, Hamilton, Middlesex-London, and Sudbury,” ICES added.

The full data is available to read here.

Data courtesy of ICES