Ontario is reporting fewer than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases for a second day in a row and 20 more deaths, as the seven-day rolling average dropped below 2,000 for the first time since March.
Provincial health officials logged 1,794 new infections today, down from 1,890 on Friday.
Ontario reported 2,400 new cases on Thursday, 1,588 on Wednesday and 1,616 on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the seven-day rolling average of new cases dipped below 2,000 for the first time since late March to 1,951, down from 2,575 a week ago.
Another 2,520 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, resulting in 21,454 active cases across the province.
The latest fatalities bring the province’s virus-related death toll to 8,599.
Fewer than 1,400 lab-confirmed cases of variants of concern were reported on Saturday, with most being the dominant B.1.1.7 variant, which first emerged in the United Kingdom.
In the Greater Toronto area, 416 of the latest cases were reported in Toronto, while 355 were logged in Peel Region, 140 in York Region, 147 in Durham Region and 78 in Halton.
Ontario labs processed more than 34,500 tests in the past 24 hours, down from 37,126 the previous day.
The drop in testing contributed to a slight rise in the province’s positivity rate to six per cent, compared to 5.4 per cent on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health.
COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to drop gradually as 1,207 patients were treated in Ontario hospitals yesterday, down by 58 from the previous day.
Of those hospitalized, 706 were in intensive care units, down from 715 on Friday, and 504 were breathing with the help of a ventilator.
To date, more than 520,700 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases and 490,721 recoveries have been reported in Ontario since the first case was identified in Jan. 2020.
More than 7.9 million doses of vaccine have been administered across the province since mid-December, with 190,129 shots into arms yesterday alone.
As of Friday evening, at least 519,981 people in Ontario have been fully vaccinated. Two doses of approved vaccines that are being administered in Ontario are needed for full immunization.
Today’s numbers come as outdoor amenities, such as tennis and golf, reopened across the province and outdoor gathering sizes were expanded to up to five people.
On Thursday, Premier Doug Ford announced Ontario’s reopening plan which consists of three stages.
Stage one is expected to begin on June 14 or two weeks after 60 per cent of adults have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The first stage includes the expansion of outdoor gatherings to 10 people and the reopening of non-essential retail with a 15 per cent capacity limit.
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.
