Ontario is reporting 315 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 45,383.
Wednesday’s case count is a significant increase from Tuesday, which saw 251 cases and also higher than Monday which saw 313 new cases.
It also marks the largest increase within 24 hours since June 7.
According to Wednesday’s provincial report, 77 new cases were recorded in Toronto, 61 in Ottawa, 54 in Peel Region, 37 in York Region and 24 in Durham Region.
All other public health units in Ontario reported 10 or fewer cases.
“Locally, 25 PHUs are reporting five or fewer cases with 12 reporting no new cases,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said.
Elliott said nearly 29,000 tests were processed in the last 24 hours. A total of 3,398,563 tests have been completed since the pandemic began. There are currently 28,346 people awaiting test results.
She also said 64 per cent of Wednesday’s cases are people under the age of 40.
Here is a breakdown of the total cases in Ontario by gender and age:
- 21,351 people are male — an increase of 154 cases.
- 23,707 people are female — an increase of 152 cases.
- 3,257 people are 19 and under — an increase of 33 cases.
- 14,755 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 170 cases.
- 13,318 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 56 cases.
- 7,878 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 43 cases.
- 6,165 people are 80 and over — an increase of 12 cases.
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.
The death toll in the province has risen to 2,822 as two more deaths were reported.
Meanwhile, 40,245 Ontarians have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which is 89 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 154 from the previous day.
Ontario has 44 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 (down by three from the previous day), with 20 patients in an intensive care unit (down by one) and 12 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (down 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.
Ontario child care centres and schools
Meanwhile, government figures show there have been a total of 41 school-related COVID-19 cases in Ontario — 15 among students and 18 among staff (eight individuals were not identified). This is an increase of 12 more cases since the previous day.
The COVID-19 cases are currently from 35 out of 4,828 schools in the province. Affected schools are in Toronto, Oakville, Pickering, Mississauga, Brampton, Waterloo, Orillia, Amherstburg, Markham, Ottawa and Pembroke.
No schools are closed as a result of the positive cases, the government indicated.
There have been a total of 52 confirmed cases within child care centres and homes — an increase of four more since the previous day.
Ontario long-term care homes
According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 1,854 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, an increase of one death from the previous day. There are 20 current outbreaks in homes, which is up by two. Eight health-care workers and staff in long-term care homes have died.
The ministry also indicated there are currently 53 active cases among long-term care residents and 49 active cases among staff.