For the third time in the past four days, Ontario is reporting more than 4,000 new COVID-19 cases today as the provincewide positivity rate hits a level not seen in months.

Ontario is reporting 4,401 new cases of COVID-19 today, down slightly from Sunday's record single-day total of 4,456 but up significantly from the 2,938 new infections confirmed last Monday.

With 47,929 tests processed over the past 24 hours, Ontario's test positivity rate is now 9.5 per cent, the highest that number has been since late December.

The rolling seven-day average of new cases is now 3,767, up from 2,757 just one week ago.

The number of active, lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario is now 34,758, up from 25,487 on April 5.

Another 15 virus-related deaths were confirmed in the province today, bringing the average daily death toll to 17, up from 15 last week.

COVID-19 hospitalizations and intensive care admissions in Ontario continue to climb to record levels.

According to the Ministry of Health, there are now 1,646 people infected with the virus receiving treatment in hospital but data released by individual public health units indicates that there are at least 1,755 COVID-19 patients in hospital, a new record in the province. 

Provincial health officials say 619 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care units (ICU), up from 605 just one day prior, and there are 395 patients breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

Starting today, most Ontario hospitals have suspended all elective surgeries due to the alarmingly high number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care.

Ontario not yet at peak of third wave: Bogoch

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist and member of the province's vaccine task force, said he believes the situation in Ontario will get worse before it gets better.

"Unfortunately I think things are still going to get worse. I don't think we've crested yet. Probably two weeks after the Easter long weekend will be the peak," he told CP24 on Monday morning.

"Of course we do have the stay-at-home order. We are not going to see the benefits of the stay-at-home order until about two weeks after that and sadly we are going to see more and more people get sick, more and more cases, more and more people come into hospital."

Bogoch said residents of the province should be prepared for a "very tough month" ahead.

"You are talking about hospitals getting full, ICUs getting full, people getting transferred to other sites because there is just no room at certain sites," he said. "It's going to be a very, very tough couple of weeks for sure."

Of the new cases confirmed today, 1,282 are in Toronto, 772 are in Peel Region, 339 are in Ottawa, and 224 are in Durham Region.

A record 564 cases were logged in York Region today, surpassing the region's previous single-day record of 532 set last week.

The Ford government has implemented a provincewide shutdown in an effort to drive down community transmission of the novel coronavirus and the premier has vowed to vaccinate all adult residents in GTA neighbourhoods hardest hit by COVID-19 in the coming weeks.

Ford previously said he expects 40 per cent of Ontario's population will have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the time the province's stay-at-home order expires early next month.

The numbers used in this story are found in the Ontario Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from what is reported by the province, because local units report figures at different times.