Provincial health officials are reporting 1,249 new COVID-19 and 12 additional deaths on Tuesday as processed tests dropped compared to a day ago.

The new infections mark a decrease from 1,487 new cases logged on Monday. The province logged 1,248 new cases on Sunday and a record 1,581 on Saturday.

However, it must be noted that the latest numbers represent an overestimation as approximately 40 unreported case records from Toronto Public Health on Nov. 14 are included in Tuesday’s case count, according to the Ministry of Health.

Health officials say 26,468 tests were processed in the province in the last 24 hours, a notable drop from the 33,351 tests conducted a day ago.

The decrease in tests could be attributed in part to a testing centre in Brampton that has temporarily closed on Monday after it was damaged during Sunday’s severe wind storm.

Officials say the testing centre at South Fletcher’s Sportsplex could take at least two days to complete the repairs and reopen.

The drop in testing has contributed to a higher positivity rate of at least 4.7 per cent, compared to 4.1 per cent a day ago.

Most of the new cases continue to be in the Greater Toronto Area.

“Locally, there are 569 new cases in Toronto, 256 in Peel and 94 in York Region,” Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in the GTA, Durham Region logged 69 new cases, up from 45 on Monday and Halton recorded 58 new cases, an increase from 46 compared to a day ago.

Meanwhile, Ottawa reported 11 new cases, a significant drop from 51 infections on Monday.

Of the new cases, most are among those between the ages of 20 and 39 (452), followed by those between 40 and 59 years old (378). People between the ages of 60 and 79 accounted for 203 of the new cases, while 168 cases were among those 19 years old and younger. Forty-six people who are 80 years old and over were also infected with the virus.

On Tuesday, 1,135 more people have recovered from the virus bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 12,932, the smallest day-to-day increase in active cases in two weeks.

To date, there have been more than 96,700 cases of the novel coronavirus in Ontario since January and 80,430 recoveries.

A total of 3,383 people have died from the virus in the province.

Of Tuesday’s fatalities, three were among long-term care home residents.

There are currently 108 long-term care homes with a COVID-19 outbreak.

The province’s healthcare system continues to cope with an increase of hospitalizations due to the virus.

Provincial health officials say there are currently 529 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, compared to 500 on Monday. Of those hospitalized patients, 127 are in an intensive care unit and 75 are breathing with the help of a ventilator.