Ontario reports drop in new COVID-19 cases following highest single-day spike on record

When will new COVID-19 cases peak in Ontario? The province reported 700 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the highest single-day increase so far.

TORONTO — The number of new COVID-19 infections in Ontario has dropped to the 500s after the province recorded its highest single-day case count since the beginning of the pandemic on Monday.

Health officials reported 554 new cases of the disease on Tuesday morning, down significantly from the 700 infections logged a day earlier.

The province also added four more COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24-hour period as well as 323 cases it now considers to be resolved.

Tuesday’s report brings the province’s COVID-19 case total to 51,085, including 2,844 deaths and 43,450 recoveries.

Right now, there are 4,791 active cases of COVID-19 in Ontario.

Despite the decrease, the new infections recorded on Tuesday represent case numbers unseen since late April, when the province was regularly documenting daily case counts in the 500s and 600s.

At that time, the province had just unveiled its three phase plan to restart the economy while much of Ontario remained in a state of lockdown.

Most of the new infections continue to be documented in people under the age of 40. According to the province’s daily epidemiologic summary, 265 cases were reported in people between the ages of 20 and 39 while 81 cases were reported in people 19 years of age and younger.

Those two groups account for 21,747 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, the most of any other age category in the province.

Another 145 infections were reported in people between the ages of 40 and 59. Forty-eight cases were in people between the ages of 60 and 79.

Fifteen cases were reported in people 80 years of age and older.

Where are the new COVID-19 cases?

Most of the new cases continue to be reported by just four regions in Ontario, with Toronto accounting for the lion’s share of the new infections.

Toronto logged 251 new cases, down from the 344 added a day earlier. Ottawa logged 106 new cases while Peel Region and York Region added 79 and 43 new infections, respectively.

At least three other regions, Waterloo, Durham Region and Hamilton, added new cases in the double digits.

Of the province’s 34 public health units, several reported fewer than five new cases of the disease. There are 14 regions recording no new cases at all.

The number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 has increased to 137, up from the 128 reported on Monday, though this can likely be attributed to a delay in reporting by at least 40 hospitals a day earlier.

Of those 137 patients, 30 are being treated in an intensive care unit, 16 of which are on a ventilator.

Update on COVID-19 testing in Ontario 

The province processed 38,375 tests since yesterday.

So far, close to 3.9 million tests have been completed by the province since the beginning of the pandemic.

Some 54,000 tests remain under investigation.