Ontario reported 17 net new deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, as test positivity – once a significant marker for determining the prevalence of coronavirus – fell to a new two-month low.

The Ministry of Health says they were aware of 19 new deaths due to COVID-19 that occurred within the past 30 days.

They also revised downward the number of deaths occurring more than 30 days ago by two.

There have been 171 COVID-19 deaths reported in the last week and 1,463 in the past 30 days.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said there were 1,056 patients in Ontario hospitals testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.

Of those, 324 were in intensive care, down from 394 one week ago.

Among ICU patients, 208 were breathing with the help of a ventilator, down from 243 one week ago.

Not all hospitals report non-critical occupancy numbers on weekends.

Of the 1,966 new cases detected through PCR testing and reported on Sunday, the Ministry of Health says 285 involved unvaccinated people, 78 involved partially vaccinated people, 1,391 involved people with at least two doses of vaccine and the status of another 212 infected individuals was not known.

Access to free PCR COVID-19 testing in Ontario is limited to a select group of individuals.

Provincial labs processed 16,752 specimens, generating a positivity rate of at least 9.1 per cent.

It’s the lowest point test positivity has reached since Dec. 19, a time when all symptomatic Ontario residents still could access free PCR testing.

Another 33,700 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered across Ontario on Saturday.

Of those, the Ministry of Health says 1,970 were first doses, 8,351 were second doses and 22,911 were third doses.

Across all age groups, 85 per cent of Ontario residents have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 81 per cent have two doses and 46.5 per cent have three doses.

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.