Ontario reported 494 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday and 51 additional deaths, bringing the provincial total to 8,447 cases.
The death toll has risen to 385.
Wednesday’s reported jump in deaths is the highest the province has seen in a single day. Tuesday saw 43 new deaths, which was previously the highest.
Meanwhile, 3,902 people have recovered from the virus, which is 46.2 per cent of cases.
Wednesday’s numbers mark a 6.2 per cent increase in cases compared to the day prior. Tuesday saw a 6.5 per cent increase and Monday and Sunday each saw six per cent jumps, with an increase of 6.6 per cent on Saturday and 8.3 per cent on Friday.
Ontario has 795 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, with 254 patients in an intensive care unit and 188 in ICUs on a ventilator.
The province has tested 119,092 people so far for the virus. This is up 6,010 tests from the previous day. The Ontario government has said it expects to see 8,000 daily tests by mid-April, and that the province has a testing capacity of 13,000 tests daily.
There are 4,429 people currently under investigation awaiting test results. More than 2,000 tests were added to the backlog in one day.
Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 55 per cent of all cases in the province.
Here is a breakdown of Ontario cases by gender and age:
- 3,679 patients are male (43.6 per cent).
- 4,720 patients are female (55.9 per cent).
- 19 and younger: 192 patients (2.3 per cent).
- 20-39: 1,997 patients (23.6 per cent).
- 40-59: 2,794 patients (33.1 per cent).
- 60-79: 1,989 patients (23.5 per cent).
- 80 and older: 1,470 patients (17.4 per cent).
Ninety-eight outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes.
Premier Doug Ford is set to unveil an enhanced plan to address the virus plaguing long-term care homes.
Health care workers in Ontario account for 896 of the total reported cases which is 10.6 per cent of the infected population.
The newly reported numbers are valid as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.