Ontario records more than 3,300 new COVID-19 cases after two-day dip

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TORONTO — Ontario is recording more than 3,300 new cases of COVID-19 following two days in which the daily number of infections dipped back into the 2,000s.

Health officials confirmed another 3,326 cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, marking a jump from the 2,961 infections on Wednesday and the 2,903 on Tuesday.

The province also recorded 62 more deaths related to the disease, bringing Ontario’s death toll related to COVID-19 up to 5,189.

At least 29 of the deaths reported were residents in long-term care.

Of the more than 5,000 people who have died after contracting COVID-19, at least 3,577 of them were over the age of 80.

There were 1,388 people between the ages of 60 and 79 who have died and 202 people between the ages of 40 and 60 who died.

Twenty of the deaths were in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

While most of the deaths appear to be occurring in seniors, those in the 20 to 39 age group continue to make up the largest number of COVID-19 cases.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, at least 1,240 of Thursday’s 3,326 cases were in people within that demographic.

There were 977 cases in people between the ages of 40 and 59 and 468 infections in people between the ages of 60 and 79.

Only 219 cases were found in people over the age of 80.

There are at least 1,657 people being treated for COVID-19 in Ontario’s hospitals. According to the government, 388 of those patients are in the intensive care unit, with at least 280 needing a ventilator to breath.

The total number of lab-confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Ontario now stands at 228,310, including deaths and recoveries.

Where are the COVID-19 cases?

Most of Thursday’s COVID-19 cases were found in Ontario’s hot spots.

There were 968 infections in Toronto, 572 in Peel Region, 357 in York Region, and 268 in Windsor-Essex.

Other public health units reporting more than 50 new COVID-19 infections include Ottawa (144), Simcoe-Muskoka (80), Middlesex-London (102), Hamilton (107), Halton Region (85), Niagara Region (165), Waterloo (100), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (57).

More than 71,000 COVID-19 tests were processed in the last 24 hours, bringing the province’s positivity rate to about 5.1 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.

The new cases come as Ontario’s stay-at-home order goes into effect. Under this directive, residents must not leave their homes except for essential reasons.

The order will remain in effect for at least 28 days.