Ontario reports 149 new coronavirus cases, provincial total at 43,685

Ontario reported 149 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 43,685.

Wednesday’s case count is a slight decrease from Tuesday which saw 185 new cases, however less tests were processed on Wednesday.

This is also the 14th day in a row with cases above the 100 mark.

The death toll in the province remains at 2,813 as no new deaths were recorded.

Meanwhile, 39,332 Ontarians have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which is 90 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 136 from the previous day.

Wednesday’s provincial report indicates the majority of new cases came from Toronto with 50, Peel Region with 41, Ottawa with 16 and York Region with 13.

Elliott also said more than 17,600 tests were processed over the last 24 hours. The province has completed 3,188,667 tests since the pandemic began. There are currently 20,062 people awaiting test results.

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

• 20,480 people are male — an increase of 81 cases.
• 22,896 people are female — an increase of 66 cases.
• 3,024 people are 19 and under — an increase of 27 cases.
• 13,898 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 76 cases.
• 12,934 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 36 cases.
• 7,692 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 9 cases.
• 6,128 people are 80 and over — a decrease of one case. A decrease in cases can be the result of updated information.

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

The province also 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.

Ontario has 55 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 (which is up by one from the previous day), with 15 patients in an intensive care unit (down by two) and eight patients in ICUs on a ventilator (up by one).

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 1,848 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, which is unchanged from the previous day. There are 18 current outbreaks in homes, which is down by one. Eight health-care workers and staff in long-term care homes have died.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 36 active cases among long-term care residents and 39 active cases among staff.