Ontario reports new record high of 1,859 COVID-19 cases on Saturday
Ontario reported a record 1,859 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said the latest cases include 504 in Toronto, 463 in Peel Region and 198 in York Region. Ontario’s previous daily record of 1,855 cases was set on Nov. 27.
Both Toronto and Peel Region are currently in lockdown, with most non-essential businesses ordered closed nearly two weeks ago.
Ottawa and Hamilton also saw increases in daily infections on Saturday. Ottawa logged 72 cases, up from 36 on Friday, while Hamilton recorded 89 cases, compared with 43 a day ago.
Halton Region recorded 68 new cases, up from the previous day, while Durham Region posted 41 new cases, 53 fewer than the 94 cases recorded a day earlier.
There are 1,624 more cases marked as resolved.
Twenty more people have died of the virus, the health minister said.
The majority of new cases reported on Saturday are in people under the age of 40.
Record number of tests completed
Since the last update, the province’s network of labs completed 59,400 tests, a new testing record for Ontario. A total of 56,001 tests were completed the previous day.
There are nearly 63,200 tests still under investigation.
There are currently 15,212 active cases across Ontario, the most at any point since the outbreak began in late January. The province’s cumulative total is 125,385 cases.
The number of patients in Ontario hospitals with the novel coronavirus has climbed to 709. Of that number, 202 are being treated in intensive care. Some 116 are on ventilators.
According to the province, the new deaths mean a total of 3,757 people have died of the virus in Ontario.
Elliott said the province has “reached a critical point” in the spread of the virus and is once again urging residents to wear masks and follow public health advice.
Ontario is reporting 1,859 cases of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a> and nearly 59,400 tests completed. Locally, there are 504 new cases in Toronto, 463 in Peel and 198 in York Region. There are 1,624 more resolved cases.<br> <br>Today’s numbers will be available at 10:30 a.m. at <a href=”https://t.co/ypmgZbVRvn”>https://t.co/ypmgZbVRvn</a>.
—@celliottability
107 active outbreaks in long-term care homes
Meanwhile, there are currently 107 active COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes across the province, down from 112 a day ago.
Of the 20 deaths reported on Saturday, 13 were residents of long-term care homes.
3 regions face more COVID-19 restrictions on Monday
Three more regions are set to move into new zones in the province’s colour-coded restrictions framework for at least 28 days.
As of Monday, Middlesex-London and Thunder Bay will move into the orange-restrict zone, while the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit will move into the yellow-protect zone.
York Region has continued to avoid the grey-lockdown zone, despite being among the hardest hit areas after Toronto and Peel Region.
