Ontario records more than 100 new COVID-19 cases after one-day dip

Rachana Eng is posted at a COVID-19 screening at an entrance of Yorkwoods Public School, in Toronto, Ont., on Wednesday, Aug., 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

TORONTO — Following a one-day dip into the double digits, Ontario health officials are recording more than 100 new cases of COVID-19 yet again.

On Thursday, the province confirmed 118 new novel coronavirus patients as well as one additional death.

The new patients bring Ontario’s total number of lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 to 41,813, including deaths and recoveries.

Ontario saw 88 new cases of the disease reported on Wednesday, marking the first time in six days in which the daily case count fell below 100.

One hundred new infections were recorded on Tuesday while 105 were logged on Monday, 115 on Saturday and 108 on Sunday. On Friday, 131 new cases were confirmed, although officials have called that number an overestimation” due to a data glitch.

Of the 118 new patients reported on Thursday, most were in their 20s and 30s. According to the province’s epidemiology report, 33 of the new cases were in patients under the age of 19 while 47 were reported in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

Twenty-one patients were between the ages of 40 and 59 and 13 were between the ages of 60 and 79.

Only four cases were recorded in those over the age of 80.

There are 48 people being treated for COVID-19 in the province’s hospitals. Eighteen of those patients are in the intensive care unit while 10 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

Where are the COVID-19 cases in Ontario?

Twenty-eight of Ontario’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases of COVID-19, while 18 are reporting no new cases at all.

Most of the new patients are in the province’s largest urban hubs. Toronto recorded 36 patients on Wednesday while Peel Region reported 19 infections and Ottawa logged an additional 22 cases.

Windsor Essex, whose case count has been relatively low over the last week, recorded 12 new COVID-19 cases.

All regions in Ontario are in Stage 3 of the province’s economic reopening plan, which allows most businesses to reopen and for larger gatherings to take place.

As it stands, 100 people are allowed to gather outdoors and 50 people indoors, as long as they maintain a two-metre distance from anyone outside of their 10-person social bubble.

Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams has previously said that social circles could change in the future as children return to school in multiple cohorts.

COVID-19 testing in Ontario

Since the first patient was diagnosed in Ontario, officials have conducted more than 2.8 million COVID-19 tests.

Officials completed 28,625 tests in the last 24 hours, while more than 26,000 remain under investigation.