Ontario reports 88 new coronavirus cases, 115 more resolved

Ontario reported 88 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 41,695.

Wednesday’s case count is a decrease from Tuesday, which saw 100 new cases, and breaks a five-day trend where daily case numbers were at, or above, the 100 mark.

The death toll in the province has risen to 2,802 as two new deaths were reported.

Meanwhile, 37,863 Ontarians have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which is 90 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 115 from the previous day.

Wednesday’s provincial report indicates the majority of new cases came from Toronto with 23 more cases, Peel Region with 22 new cases and Ottawa with 16 more cases.

All other public health units across Ontario reported zero or fewer than 10 new cases.

“Locally, 29 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 20 reporting no new cases,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said.

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

• 19,527 people are male — an increase of 46 cases.
• 21,872  people are female — an increase of 43 cases.
• 2,677 people are 19 and under — an increase of 17 cases.
• 13,016 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 35 cases.
• 12,453 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 25 cases.
• 7,462 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 10 cases.
• 6,082 people are 80 and over — an increase of one case.

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

Ontario has completed 2,823,721 tests for the virus so far. This is up 21,960 tests from the previous day. There are 20,716 people currently under investigation awaiting test results.

Ontario has 43 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 (up by four from the previous day), with 15 patients in an intensive care unit (up by two) and 10 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (unchanged).

The province notes that the number of cases publicly reported each day may not align with case counts reported by the local public health unit on a given day. Local public health units report when they were first notified of a case, which can be updated and changed as information becomes available.

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

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 1,847 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, which remains unchanged from the previous day. There are seven current outbreaks in homes, which is also unchanged from the previous day. Eight health-care workers and staff in long-term care homes have died.

The ministry also indicated there are currently three active cases among long-term care residents and 18 active cases among staff.