Ontario reported nearly 600 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths on Wednesday as the number of coronavirus tests processed hit a high not seen in over three months.

Provincial health officials logged 593 new infections today, up from 577 yesterday and from 554 cases a week ago.

Among the latest cases, 348 of those individuals are unvaccinated, 44 are partially vaccinated, 146 are fully vaccinated and 55 have an unknown vaccination status.

Partially vaccinated and unvaccinated people make up only 31 per cent of the province’s population but made up at least 66 per cent of confirmed cases on Wednesday.

The province reported 600 new cases on Monday, 784 on Sunday and 857 on Saturday.

The seven-day rolling average now stands at 722, down from 732 a week ago.

Five more virus-related deaths were reported today, bringing the province’s death toll to 9,629.

The Ministry of Health says one of the reported deaths occurred more than a month ago.

Over the past month, deaths that have occurred a month or two ago have been reported late due to data cleaning, according to the ministry.

Another 755 people recovered from the virus yesterday, resulting in 5,938 active cases across the province.

Ontario labs processed more than 33,220 tests in the past 24 hours, up from 21,840 tests a week ago.

Today marks the highest number of tests conducted since June 4 when 32,258 tests were processed.

The rise in testing could be attributed in part to students heading back to school last week and getting tested if they have any COVID-19 symptoms.

On Wednesday, a total of 168 COVID-19 cases were reported by Ontario public schools.

The province’s positivity rate now stands at 2.5 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent a week ago, according to the ministry.

Toronto logged 141 new cases today, while 61 were reported in Peel Region, 39 in York Region, 26 in Halton and 17 in Durham.

Elsewhere in Southern Ontario, 46 cases were logged in Ottawa, 45 in Windsor-Essex and 38 in Hamilton.

There are currently 346 COVID-19 patients receiving care in Ontario hospitals, compared to 375 a week ago.

Of those patients, 188 are in intensive care units and 125 are breathing with the help of a ventilator.

The ministry says 178 ICU patients are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 10 are fully vaccinated.

To date, there have been nearly 576,400 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases and 560,824 recoveries in Ontario.

So far, about 85 per cent of eligible Ontarians aged 12 years and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 78 per cent have received two doses and are fully vaccinated.

On Tuesday, the province released more details of its vaccine certificate program including a list of exemptions.

As of Sept. 22, Ontario residents will need to show proof that they are fully vaccinated in order to enter non-essential businesses including gyms, theatres, indoor dining and casinos.

However, patrons who use the bathroom, place a bet at a horse race track or enter a restaurant to order or pick up takeout do not have to prove their vaccination status.

Those with medical exemptions and Ontarians who are 12 years old and younger are also exempt from the vaccination program.

Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch says the list of exemptions seems reasonable and that the program’s goal is to create safer indoor spaces.

“I mean, in all fairness, there's always going to be some holes and I don't think these are too bad. I really don't. Like, if someone's going to go in and use the washroom and doesn't have a vaccine certificate. Is it perfect? No. Is it the end of the world? No,” he told CP24 on Wednesday.

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.