Ontario is reporting fewer than 1,100 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths on Saturday, as hospitalizations dipped below 1,000.
Provincial health officials logged 1,057 new coronavirus cases, a notable decline from 1,273 on Friday.
Ontario reported 1,135 new cases on Thursday, 1,095 on Wednesday and 1,039 on Tuesday.
The seven-day rolling average is now 1,248, down from 1,951 a week ago.
The province’s virus-related death toll stands at 8,726.
Another 2,057 people recovered from the disease, resulting in 14,423 active cases of the virus in Ontario.
Nearly 1,200 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants were logged by the province on Saturday, with most being the dominant B.1.1.7 variant.
In the past 24 hours, Ontario labs processed more than 33,500 tests, down from 40,866 tests the previous day.
The drop in testing contributed to a slight rise in the positivity rate to 3.6 per cent, compared to 3.4 per cent on Friday.
In the Greater Toronto Area, Toronto reported 228 of the latest coronavirus cases, down from 269 the previous day, while 178 were logged in Peel Region, 82 in York Region, 54 in Durham Region and 37 in Halton Region.
There are 934 patients receiving treatment in Ontario hospitals due to the virus, down from 1,023 on Friday. The last time the number of hospitalized patients dipped below 1,000 was on Monday.
Of those hospitalized, 626 are in intensive care units and 438 are breathing with the help of a ventilator.
To date, over 529,500 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases and 506,361 recoveries have been logged in Ontario since the first case was identified in January 2020.
As of Friday evening, more than 8.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the province since mid-December, with 148,972 shots into arms yesterday alone.
Over 659,130 people have been fully vaccinated against the virus. Two doses of approved vaccines that are currently administered in Ontario are needed for full immunization.
On Friday, Premier Doug Ford announced the province’s second dose strategy and said all eligible Ontario residents are expected to be fully vaccinated by the end of summer.
Starting on Monday, residents 80 years old and up can start booking their second shot on the provincial government’s website.
All residents 12 years and older are expected to be eligible for a second shot by early August.
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.
