Fewer than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in Ontario for second straight day

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TORONTO — For the second day in a row, Ontario has logged fewer than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases.

Health officials are reporting 1,588 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, the lowest single-day case count since March 24.

There were 1,616 infections reported Tuesday, 2,170 on Monday, 2,199 on Saturday and 2,584 on Sunday.

Wednesday’s new infections bring the seven-day rolling average of daily cases to 2,183, down from 2,370 a week ago.

Nineteen additional deaths related to COVID-19 were logged in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death count in Ontario to 8,525.

Of those deaths, the majority are people over the age of 80. There have been 5,394 COVID-19 deaths in people within that age group.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, 2,599 of deaths related to COVID-19 were people between the ages of 60 and 79. An additional 462 deaths were people between the ages of 40 and 59, while 65 deaths were people between the ages of 20 and 39.

Four people under the age of 19 have died after contracting COVID-19.

Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in Ontario continue to decline. As of Wednesday, there are at least 1,401 people in hospital being treated for the novel coronavirus.

Of those hospitalized, 745 are in the intensive care unit and 483 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

On Wednesday, the provincewide pause on non-urgent and elective surgeries was lifted.

In a letter to healthcare providers, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said that new cases, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions now “appear to be trending downward.” Hospitals with the capacity to do so can “gradually and cautiously resume non-urgent and non-emergent care.”

The Ministry of Health also reported a sharp drop in positivity rate. With just over 38,400 COVID-19 tests completed in the last 24-hour period, officials say the province’s positivity rate is now 5.2 per cent.

On Monday, that number was 7.6 per cent.

The total number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario now stands at 514,690, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

According to the province, only three public health units are reporting case counts in the triple digits.

There are 524 infections in Toronto, 335 in Peel Region and 105 in Ottawa.

A provincewide stay-at-home order has been in effect since April 8 and is expected to expire on June 2.

Under the stay-at-home order, residents are not allowed to leave their place of residence unless for essential reasons such as work, food or exercise.

UPDATE ON VARIANTS AND VACCINES

The Ministry of Health has also identified an additional 1,803 cases of the B.1.1.7. variant in lab-positive COVID-19 tests. The case total for the variant, which was first discovered in the U.K., now stands at 110,956.

There are now 683 cases of the B.1.351 variant in Ontario and 2,059 cases of the P.1. variant.

The province is not publicly tracking the B.1.617 variant.

More than 145,400 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the last 24-hour period.

In total, the province has administered more than 7.4 million doses of the vaccine. However, only 456,784 people have received both doses and are considered fully vaccinated.