Ontario confirms 54 more COVID-19 deaths and 634 new cases

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TORONTO — Ontario health officials logged 54 new COVID-19 deaths and recorded a new single-day high by confirming 634 more cases on Thursday, as the province continues to ramp up testing for the novel coronavirus.

There are now 12,879 confirmed cases of the disease in Ontario, including 713 deaths and 6,680 recoveries.

Thursday’s epidemiologic summary lists a new deceased patient as being between the ages of 20 and 39. There are now two deaths recorded in that age group, 36 deaths between the ages of 40 and 59, 194 deaths between the ages of 60 and 79 and 481 deceased patients were 80 years of age or older.

Of the 713 people who have died of the disease in Ontario, 516 of them were residents of long-term care homes.

To date, there have been 135 outbreaks at long-term care homes across the province with a total of 2,189 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents and 1,058 confirmed cases among staff.

There are currently 887 people in Ontario hospitals receiving treatment for the novel coronavirus. Of those patients, 233 of them are being treated in an intensive care unit and 185 of those 233 remain on ventilators to assist with breathing.

Overall, 11.7 per cent of all Ontario COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized.

Of all patients in Ontario, 1,626 people diagnosed with the disease are health-care workers.

Quick facts on all Ontario COVID-19 patients:

COVID-19 testing in Ontario

Across the province, thus far, nearly 200,000 people have been tested for COVID-19.

Ontario has ramped up its testing capabilities lately, allowing for approximately 10,000 tests to be conducted in a 24-hour period.

“Our next tier is 14,000 tests a day and we want to continue on with the 14,000 tests a day and contract tracing,” Premier Doug Ford said at his daily news conference held on Thursday afternoon.

“I’m really proud of our health table. I was a little frustrated a few weeks ago and then they did a great job, they picked it right up to 9,000, 10,000 a day and 14,000 by the end of the month so I want to thank them for doing a great job and we are going to continue.”

Ford stated that the province is working “day in and day out” to ensure they are testing “as many people as possible, especially in high-priority areas.”

Earlier this month, provincial health officials said 12,500 tests a day would be conducted by April 22 and 16,000 tests a day would be conducted by May 6.

There are 6,757 tests currently under investigation in Ontario.