The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ontario has dipped below 200 for the second time this week.
In Ontario’s latest epidemiologic summary, the province recorded 197 new cases of the virus, down from the 266 reported one day prior but up slightly from the 182 recorded on Friday.
An additional 423 cases have been added to the recovery column, a figure which significantly outpaces new active cases.
The province says 26,961 of the 32,189 lab-confirmed cases in Ontario are now considered to be resolved.
The province has seen a notable decline in case growth in the past week along with a corresponding spike in the number of tests processed each day.
An additional 23,278 tests were processed over the last 24-hour period and more than 25,000 are currently under investigation.
"For the second time this week, there are fewer than 200 new cases of #COVID19 in Ontario," Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted on Sunday morning.
"Yesterday, over 23,000 tests were processed with positivity rates remaining at all-time lows."
She noted that 27 of Ontario's 34 local public health units reported five or fewer new cases and 20 of those units reported no new cases at all.
About 60 per cent of all new cases (126) were reported by public health units in Toronto, Peel, and York regions.
Slight increase in new deaths
An additional 12 deaths have also been recorded, up slightly from the nine deaths reported in the previous summary.
There are now 2,519 virus-related deaths with all but 107 involving patients ages 60 and over.
Hospitalizations also continue to trend downward.
The province says 438 people are now hospitalized with COVID-19, down from 489 one day prior.
The number of patients in intensive care now stands at 103 with 77 of those patients on ventilators.
At the peak of the pandemic in Ontario, more than 1,000 patients were hospitalized with the virus.
A total of 327 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes but the province says only 74 outbreaks remain active.
