390 new coronavirus cases, 43 deaths in Ontario as total cases reach 23,774

Ontario reported 390 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 23,774 cases.

The death toll has risen to 1,962 as 43 more deaths were reported.

Meanwhile, 18,190 people have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which is 76 per cent of cases.

Wednesday’s report marks an increase of 1.7 per cent in total cumulative cases. Wednesday’s new daily case number is lower than Tuesday’s report, which recorded 427 new cases.

The province has completed 567,176 tests so far for the virus. This is up 7,382 from the previous day, which is much lower than the province’s target of 16,000 daily tests.

Ontario has 991 patients (up by four) hospitalized due to COVID-19, with 160 patients in an intensive care unit (down by seven) and 120 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (down by three).

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 1,427 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, which is up by 19 deaths, and there are 183 outbreaks. Four health-care workers in long-term care homes have died.

Ontario officials have said there may be a discrepancy between overall deaths and deaths at long-term care homes due to how the province’s health database system, called iPHIS, is tracking data and how the Ministry of Long-Term Care is tracking data.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 2,563 confirmed cases among long-term care residents and 1,611 cases among staff.

Health-care workers in Ontario account for 4,111 of the total reported cases, which is 17.3 per cent of the infected population.

Greater Toronto Area public health units account for about 63 per cent of all cases in the province.

Here is a breakdown of Ontario cases by gender and age:

• 10,095 people are male (42.5 per cent).
• 13,507 people are female (56.8 per cent).
• 686 people are 19 and under (2.9 per cent).
• 5,840 people are 20 to 39 (24.6 per cent).
• 7,258 people are 40 to 59 (30.5 per cent).
• 4,997 people are 60 to 79 (21 per cent).
• 4,981 people are 80 and over (21 per cent).

There are 4,444 people currently under investigation awaiting test results.

The newly reported numbers are valid as of 2 p.m. Tuesday for Toronto and 4 p.m. for the rest of the province.