111 new coronavirus cases in Ontario, 9 deaths; total cases at 37,274

For the third time this week, Ontario reported 111 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday, bringing the provincial total to 37,274.

Ontario has been, overall, seeing new daily infection numbers on the decline over the past several weeks. The 111 new cases figure was recorded in the province on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The death toll in the province has risen to 2,746, as nine new deaths were reported.

Meanwhile, 33,162 Ontarians have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which is 89 per cent of cases.

Ontario has completed 1,810,483 tests so far for the virus. This is up 31,163 tests from the previous day. There are 24,781 people currently under investigation awaiting test results.

Friday’s report indicates the majority of new cases came from the Greater Toronto Area, with Toronto seeing 38 new cases, Durham Region with 11 and York Region with seven more cases. Peel Region reported only three new cases after consistently reporting daily new case counts in the double digits.

The report also highlights that Windsor-Essex, which has been at the centre of farm outbreaks among migrant workers, reported an additional 21 cases.

Ottawa reported seven more cases and Simcoe Muskoka reported six new cases.

All other public health units across Ontario reported either zero or five or fewer new cases.

“Locally, 28 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 18 of them reporting no new cases,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a tweet Friday morning.

“Most of Ontario enters Stage 3 today. As we do, please continue to practice physical distancing and wear a face covering when doing so is a challenge, such as safely visiting a favourite local store.”

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

• 17,178 people are male — an increase of 55 cases.
• 19,705 people are female — an increase of 56 cases.
• 1,919 people are 19 and under — an increase of eight cases.
• 11,082 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 53 cases.
• 11,244 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 35 cases.
• 6,921 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 10 cases.
• 5,988 people are 80 and over — an increase of five cases.

The province notes that not all cases have a reported age or gender.

The majority of Friday’s new cases came from people aged 20 to 39, followed by aged 40 to 59, then the 60 to 79 age group, then 19 and under, and lastly the 80 and over category.

Ontario has 108 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 (up by one from the previous day), with 30 patients in an intensive care unit (up by four) and 21 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (up by one).

The newly reported numbers are valid as of 2 p.m. Thursday for the Toronto, Ottawa and Middlesex-London public health units and 4 p.m. Thursday for the rest of the province.

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 1,839 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, and there are 18 current outbreaks. Seven health-care workers in long-term care homes have died.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 36 active cases among long-term care residents and 62 active cases among staff.