Ontario reported a slight spike in new COVID-19 infections today after new cases dipped below 100 for two consecutive days this week.
Ontario recorded 134 new cases of the virus today, up from 89 on Thursday and 76 on Wednesday.
The highest numbers of new cases were reported in Ottawa (26), Windsor-Essex (24), Peel Region (20), and Toronto (19).
The Southwestern Public Health unit, which includes the regions of Oxford, Elgin, and St. Thomas, also saw a significant increase today with 19 new infections.
The latest epidemiological summary indicates that 92 of the 134 new cases are in people under the age of 40 with people ages 20 to 39 representing nearly half of all new infections (60).
The rise in new cases comes as Toronto and Peel Region enter Stage 3 of the province’s reopening plan.
For the first time since March, gyms, movie theatres, and spas, are permitted to reopen in all regions of the GTA.
Indoor dining can also resume in Toronto and Peel today.
Windsor-Essex is the only region in the province that still remains in Stage 2.
The province has not indicated if there is any plan to roll back the easing of restrictions in areas that are seeing a spike in new infections.
Despite the increase in new cases today, the number of active infections dropped in the province as recoveries outpaced new cases by 34.
Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health, said people must continue to follow public health advice to stay safe.
"As we open up the community... we still have to remember the basics," she said, noting that hand hygiene, mask use, and physical distancing all must continue.
"Those are the things that are going to keep us as healthy as possible."
She said people should continue to avoid participating in large gatherings.
"You have your social bubble, that is the group you can be close with without protection," she added.
Since the start of the pandemic, Ontario has seen a total of 39,209 lab-confirmed cases of the virus, but to date only 1,360 remain active.
The rolling five-day average of new infections is also down to 106 from 160 one week earlier.
With more than 30,000 tests processed over the past 24 hours, the case positivity rate still remains relatively low at about 0.4 per cent.
The number of hospitalizations also continues to trend downward.
According to the latest data from the province, only 78 people remain in hospital with COVID-19 and of those, 29 are in intensive care and 15 are on ventilators.
Three new deaths were reported today, bringing the total number of virus-related deaths to 2,775.
Just over 1,900 of those deaths involve people over the age of 80.
There are now 34 active outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term care homes in Ontario after two new outbreaks were confirmed over the past 24 hours.
New cases in the GTA:
Peel Region: 20
Toronto: 19
Durham: 3
York: -1
Halton: -1
