Ontario is reporting more than 1,800 new cases of COVID-19 today but the province’s health minister says a “data catch-up” from Toronto Public Health has inflated today’s total.
Provincial health officials logged 1,848 new infections today, down from the 2,063 confirmed one day earlier but up from 1,837 on Friday.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says approximately 300 additional infections that should have been included in previous totals were reported by Toronto Public Health, artificially increasing today's case count.
“Locally, there are 726 new cases in Toronto, 306 in Peel and 168 in York Region,” Elliott tweeted on Sunday.
This is the second consecutive day additional cases were included in Toronto Public Health's total. On Saturday, the province said an additional 230 cases were included in yesterday's provincial case count due to technical issues.
Another 43 virus-related deaths were reported today in the province today, including 21 residents of long-term care homes.
With just under 50,000 tests completed over the past 24 hours, the provincewide test positivity rate now stands at 3.7 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.
The rolling seven-day average of new infections has dropped to 1,887, down from 2,417 one week ago.
The number of known active infections has also dropped to 19,216, a notable decline from the 24,153 active cases just one week ago.
According to data released by the province today, there are now 1,159 patients with COVID-19 receiving treatment in Ontario hospitals, down from 1,436 seven days ago.
The Ministry of Health also says the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care has dipped to 356, down from 392 last week.
In Ontario, the total number of confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, a more contagious variant first detected in the United Kingdom, stands at 58.
Numbers included in this story are from data released in the province's daily epidemiological summary
