More than 2,300 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Ontario today as the province set a new record for the number of tests completed in a 24-hour period.

The province logged 2,316 new cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus today, down from the 2,357 confirmed cases on Saturday and the record 2,432 new infections reported on Dec. 17.

With more than 69,000 tests completed over the past 24 hours, a new record in Ontario, the province’s positivity rate now stands at 3.6 per cent, down from more than five per cent reported last week but up from 3.2 per cent last Sunday.

The rolling seven-day average of new cases is now 2,249, up from 1,839 one week ago.

An additional 25 virus-related deaths were confirmed in Ontario today, including 18 residents of long-term care facilities.

There are 162 active outbreaks at long-term care homes in the province, up from 142 last Sunday.

With 1,931 more resovled cases today, the number of active infections in Ontario is now 18,567, up from 16,221 at this point last week.

The total number of deaths in the province has now risen to 4,150.

According to the latest data submitted to the province, virus-related hospitalizations have dropped to 875 after surpassing 900 last week.

One week ago, there were 813 people infected with COVID-19 at Ontario hospitals.

There are now 261 people with COVID-19 in intensive care units at hospitals across Ontario, up from 253 at this point last week.

"Locally, there are 486 new cases in Toronto, 468 in Peel, 326 in York Region, 151 in Windsor-Essex County and 128 in Niagara," Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted on Sunday.

On Friday, Premier Doug Ford announced that lockdown orders in Toronto and Peel Region that were set to expire next week are being extended until at least Jan. 4.

Hamilton will also enter the lockdown zone of the province’s tiered framework for COVID-19 restrictions on Monday.

Ford has indicated that an announcement is coming Monday on what additional measures will be taken to curb the spread of the virus.

Mayor John Tory said Sunday that the premier has many “very difficult” and complicated decisions to make.

“There are mayors, people in the region, who don’t agree that further shutdown is required. I happen to think there is such movement back and forth… that you have to do something region-wide,” Tory told CP24 on Sunday.

“I’m one who believes that the big box stores, if they remain open, should only go to curbside pickup and that’s just so that you discourage people from going there and that you also create a degree of fairness with the other businesses.”

Tory said he also believes the province will need to offer guidance about what schools should do following the holidays.

“How you handle the schools is a complex and difficult issue. I believe that we should have some kind of break in January where kids might learn virtually for a while,” he said.

The mayor said further restrictions are needed to protect the health-care system, which is in a “perilous” situation.

“We’ve never wanted to get to the point where we couldn’t care for those who are sick plus those of course who have a heart attack or stroke or some other need for hospitalization,” Tory said. “These numbers are a source of very serious concern.”

New cases in the GTHA:

Toronto: 486

Peel Region: 468

York Region: 326

Halton Region: 97

Durham Region: 82

Hamilton; 88