Fewer than 600 new COVID-19 infections were reported in Ontario today, continuing a trend that appears to show daily case counts plateauing in the province.

Provincial health officials logged 574 new COVID-19 cases today, on par with the 577 reported one week ago.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases, which has been slowly but steadily dropping in the province over the past couple of weeks, also appears to have levelled off.

The average number of new infections reported each day in the province now stands at 711, unchanged from Monday and down slightly from 716 one week ago.

Ontario's active COVID-19 caseload is now 6,178, compared to 6,103 last week.

During a briefing on Tuesday afternoon, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health expressed optimism about the latest numbers.

He said that while the fall and winter could still be challenging, he has “confidence that we can stay on the current track.”

“We're in a good position at present but it is very important to be humble. We only have to look out west to see when you let your guard down this virus wants to take off explosively and spread,” he said.

With 23,631 tests processed over the past 24 hours, the province is reporting a positivity rate of 2.4 per cent, up marginally from 2.3 per cent last Tuesday.

Of the cases confirmed today, 434, or 76 per cent, are in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 140, or 24 per cent, are in those who are fully immunized.

About 30 per cent of Ontario residents are not yet fully vaccinated, including children under 12 who are not yet eligible for a shot, representing about 10 per cent of the population.

Eight more virus-related deaths were confirmed by provincial health officials today.

The number of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment in Ontario intensive care units (ICU) continues to decline.

The Ministry of Health says there are currently 179 COVID-19 patients in the ICU, down from 192 last Tuesday.

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said Tuesday that 170 of the 179 ICU patients are not fully immunized.

Today's data comes one day before Ontario rolls out its vaccination certificate program requiring residents to prove that they are fully immunized against COVID-19 in order to access some non-essential businesses, including restaurants, gyms, and movie theatres.

Proof of vaccination will not be required for patio dining, retail shopping, or access to other essential services.

Children under the age of 12 and those with valid medical exceptions are also exempt from the new policy.

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist with Toronto General Hospital, said while the rollout likely won't be "perfect," it is another public health measure that will create safer indoor spaces.

"Of course there are going to be growing pains. There always are. Anytime there is any policy, especially public health policy, that is new, that is being implemented, it is not going to be perfect," he said.

Bogoch said the policy, which is meant to be temporary, will help businesses stay open in the coming months.

"When a system like this is rolled out, especially at a population level, you have now created many more safer indoor spaces," he said.

"I think this will serve us well as we go through the fall and winter."

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.