Ontario reported 122 new COVID-19 infections and six new deaths on Friday, the highest number in eight days, after conducting a near-record number of tests in the past 24 hours.
Ontario reported 118 cases on Thursday, 88 on Wednesday, 100 on Tuesday and 105 on Monday.
"Locally, 29 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 17 reporting no new cases," Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter.
Provincial labs turned around 31,800 test specimens in the past 24 hours, nearly a provincial record and more than 3,000 higher than on Wednesday.
Ontario's record for testing capacity was nearly 34,000 tests processed in late June.
Friday's results generated a positivity rate of 0.38 per cent.
Eighty-three people recovered from infection in the past 24 hours, leading to a net increase of active cases of 33.
The six new deaths represent a significant increase from reporting in recent months.
Yesterday public health officials said Ontario as a whole has reported only four to five deaths each week for much of the summer.
It is not known if the six deaths all occurred recently or were the result of posthumous testing for the virus, but the provincial daily epidemiological summary stated seven residents of long-term care homes died, while an earlier death of a healthcare worker was no longer attributed to COVID-19, leading to a net increase in deaths of six.
There are now a total of 1,103 active cases of novel coronavirus infection in the province, with 38,023 recoveries and 2,809 centrally-confirmed deaths.
There have been 41,935 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario since Jan. 25.
Meanwhile, a leading provincial epidemiologist says the slow creep upward of cases in the province is concerning.
"We don't need to have a spike of cases to suggest we're already approaching a second wave," epidemiologist Dr. Abdu Sharkawy told CP24 on Friday.
He said that much attention must be paid to the Rt or reproductive rate of the virus, which calculates the average number of cases generated by each new infected person. A number anywhere above one indicates future infection growth.
"Through much of the GTA and Ontario that number has been over 1 for a number of weeks," he said. "If that number does not improve we are well on our way to a second wave."
Across the province, Ottawa reported 17 new cases, Peel Region reported 27 new cases, York Region reported 15, Toronto reported 32 and Durham reported 4 new cases.
The province's hospitalization numbers are also on the upswing.
There were 61 people being treated in Ontario's hospitals for COVID-19 symptoms overnight, up from 48 on Thursday.
There were 18 people in intensive care units, unchanged from Thursday.
Twelve people were breathing with the help of a ventilator, up two from Thursday.
