Number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario increases for second day in a row but remains under 200

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TORONTO — For the second day in a row the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in Ontario has increased.

An additional 178 new infections were confirmed on Sunday, up from 160 reported on Saturday and 111 on Friday.

The new patients bring the total number of lab-confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Ontario to 34,654. This includes 2,658 deaths and 30,107 recoveries.

In a post on social media, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott described today’s new cases as a “slight uptick over yesterday,” but said that that most of the province’s public health units are reporting five or less cases.

This is the fifth day in a row that the number of daily novel coronavirus cases has remained under 200.

Friday marked the lowest number of daily recorded cases in 13 weeks.

According to Sunday’s epidemiology report, six additional Ontarians have died.

Of the 2,658 people who have died after contracting COVID-19, 11 were between the ages of 20 and 39, 104 were between the ages of 50 and 59, and 707 were between 60 and 79 years old.

One person under the age of 19 has also died.

Those over the age of 79 were the hardest hit demographic, with 1,835 deaths recorded.

At the same time, of the new COVID-19 cases confirmed on Sunday, the majority of patients were between the ages of 20 and 39.

Health officials say that 82 of the 178 COVID-19 positive patients were within that age group, while 42 were between the ages of 40 and 59. Only 11 were over the age of 79.

The number of patients hospitalized as a result of the disease continues to slowly decline. Two hundred and fourteen people are currently in the hospital with COVID-19, down from 252 on Saturday. Fifty one patients are in the intensive care unit (ICU), a decrease of two in the last 24 hours.

Of the patients in the ICU, 36 are breathing with a ventilator.

Where are the COVID-19 cases?

About 67 per cent of the cases reported on Sunday were in Toronto and Peel Region.

Seventy-three of the 178 COVID-19 cases were in Toronto, health officials said, and 46 were in Peel Region.

Both areas recently moved to Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan last week.

Nineteen of Ontario’s 34 public health units reported no cases of the disease.

COVID-19 testing in Ontario

In the last 24 hours, 28,633 COVID-19 tests were processed, a decrease from yesterday’s record high of 33,492.

Officials have conducted more than 1.3 million tests since the pandemic was declared.

“Ontario remains the leader in daily COVID-19 testing,” Elliott said on social media. “In fact, we’ve now surpassed Alberta in cumulative tests per capital and lead every other province. Hospitalizations, ICU admissions and vented patients all continue to decline.”

More than 29,000 test samples remain under investigation.