Eight more deaths linked to COVID-19 have now been reported at a Scarborough long-term care home, Toronto health officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

Toronto’s medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, said a total of 16 residents of Seven Oaks long-term care home, located near Neilson and Ellesmere roads, have died due to the virus

Of those deaths, eight fatalities were previously reported earlier this month. De Villa says four other deaths are still under investigation.

As of Wednesday morning, de Villa said there are 45 confirmed cases and 56 probable cases at the facility, where there are a total of 249 residents.

Additionally, there are 13 staff members who have tested positive for the virus.

“Unfortunately, we anticipate that there may be additional deaths amongst those residents who have become ill with COVID-19 over the past few weeks,” de Villa said.

However, she said they are starting to see a positive effect of the measured that have been put in place at the home as rate of new infections is starting to slow down.

"It is important to note that COVID-19 has an incubation period of up to 14 days, so there is always a delay between when you implement control measures and when you actually start to see the impact of those measures," de Villa said.

Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, who is leading the city's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, said staff at Seven Oaks used faulty surgical masks, which had been recalled by the city.

He said approximately 200 staff at Seven Oaks and another long-term care home used the masks.

"We continue to screen each staff member who enters any of our long-term care homes for symptoms of COVID-19, take their body temperature twice per day, and each staff member monitors themselves for symptoms daily," Pegg said.

Mayor John Tory said the province would be providing replacement masks to the city.

COVID-19 outbreak at another Scarborough long-term care home

The operators of Houses of Providence, located near St. Clair Avenue East and Warden Avenue, said two floors at the west section of their facility is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak after 13 residents tested positive for the virus.

"The residents have been isolated and the affected areas have been placed on appropriate precautionary measures. We also continue to monitor all residents for symptoms associated with COVID-19," the operators said in a statement.

"We have taken significant steps over the last few weeks to implement measures to keep our residents, staff and physicians safe and will continue to evaluate these measures and implement additional precautions as necessary."

There are currently 288 residents living at the nursing home.

The city has a total of 49 COVID-19 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon and a total of 1,570 cases.

As of Tuesday, Ontario is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 58 long-term care homes across the province.