Ontario reported 2,941 new coronavirus cases and 44 additional deaths on Wednesday, marking a second straight day of fewer than 3,000 new infections.
Provincial health officials logged 2,791 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the first time the daily case count dipped below 3,000 in a month.
On Monday, 3,436 new cases were reported, while 3,732 infections were logged on Sunday and 3,369 on Saturday.
The seven-day rolling average now stands at 3,432, compared to 3,783 seven days ago.
Today’s fatalities mark the highest recorded since Feb. 19 when 47 deaths were reported.
Of the latest deaths, one person was between 20 and 39 years old, 11 were between 40 and 59 years old, 19 were between 60 and 79 years old and 13 were 80 and older.
Ontario’s confirmed virus-related death toll now stands at 8,187.
Another 4,361 people recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours, resulting in 34,976 active cases across the province.
Ontario logged 2,900 more lab-confirmed cases of variants of concern on Wednesday, with most being the dominant B.1.1.7 variant, which was first identified in the United Kingdom.
Ontario labs processed more than 45,700 tests in the past 24 hours and 29,179 specimens are still under investigation.
The province’s latest positivity rate was unavailable. On Tuesday, the positivity rate was 9.1 per cent.
In the Greater Toronto Area, Toronto reported 924 new infections today, while 565 were logged in Peel Region, 254 in York, 171 in Durham and 114 in Halton.
Hospitalizations continue to remain elevated amid the third wave of the pandemic, as 2,075 Ontarians were in hospitals in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says.
However, according to the latest data from public health units and hospitals there are at least 2,635 people in hospitals due to the virus.
Of those hospitalized, the Ministry of Health says 882 were in intensive care units and 578 were breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
To date, there have been more than 479,600 cases and 436,400 recoveries since the virus first emerged in the province last January.
As of Tuesday evening, nearly 5.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the province since mid-December, with 132,603 shots into arms yesterday alone.
To date, more than 381,100 people have been fully vaccinated against the disease. Two doses of approved vaccines that are currently being administered in Ontario are needed for full immunization.
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.
