Ontario school-related COVID-19 cases jump by 74 in its latest report, including 49 students

The number of new cases in public schools across Ontario has jumped by 74 from the previous day, to a total of 795 in the last two weeks.

, the province reported 49 more students were infected for a total of 444 in the last two weeks; since school began there have been overall total of 920.

The data shows there are five more staff members for a total of 101 in the last two weeks — and an overall total of 241.

The latest report also shows 20 more infections among individuals who weren’t identified for a total of 230 in that category — and an overall total of 480.

There are 501 schools with a reported case, which the province notes is about 10.4 per cent of the 4,828 public schools in Ontario.

Five schools are currently closed, according to the Ministry of Health figures, one more than Wednesday.

There is a lag between the daily provincial data at 10:30 a.m. and news reports about infections in schools. The provincial data on Thursday is current as of 2 p.m. Wednesday. It also doesn’t indicate where the place of transmission occurred.

The Toronto District School Board updates its information on current COVID-19 cases throughout the day . As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, there were 134 TDSB schools with at least one active case — 173 students and 46 staff.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board also updates its information. As of Wednesday at 4:20 p.m., there were 78 schools with a COVID-19 case, with 70 students and 17 staff infected.

Epidemiologists have that the rising numbers in the schools aren’t a surprise, and that the cases will be proportionate to the amount of COVID that is in the community. Ontario reported 841 new cases overall on Thursday — 335 in Toronto, 162 in Peel, 106 in York Region and 72 in Ottawa.

Breanna Xavier-Carter is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email: