Ontario saw a slight dip in both new COVID-19 cases and deaths on Saturday after reporting the highest number of new cases in a week on Friday.
The province says 340 new cases of the virus were confirmed on Saturday, down from the 391 reported on Friday and 341 reported on Thursday.
The number of new cases per day has not dropped below 300 since last Saturday, when 294 new cases of the virus were confirmed.
The total number of lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario now stands at 22,653, with 17,360 cases considered to be resolved.
Earlier this week, Dr. David Williams said overall the numbers have been trending downward.
“Over the last two weeks we have seen a decrease in the cases," Williams told reporters. "It comes down and then goes up by a bit but each time it doesn't go up by as much as the week before.”
Ontario saw a record-high number of new cases on April 25 when 640 cases were confirmed.
The decrease in new cases has prompted Premier Doug Ford to move ahead with his plan to reopen parts of the economy, including golf courses and marinas this weekend.
Starting Tuesday, many retail stores will reopen to customers for the first time since the province declared a state of emergency in March.
An additional 23 virus-related deaths were also confirmed on Saturday, down from the 33 deaths reported on Friday.
The majority of virus-related deaths have involved residents of long-term care facilities.
On Saturday, five new outbreaks were reported in long-term care homes, bringing the total number of outbreaks to 269.
More than 1,300 of the 1,881 deaths in the province are in people over the age of 80 and all but 86 deaths involve people over the age of 60.
The province has continued to ramp up testing in recent weeks, with more than 16,000 tests conducted on Saturday.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 sits at 934, with 171 patients in intensive care and 129 on a ventilator.
Other highlights from the data:
• There have now been 3,878 confirmed cases among healthcare workers, representing about 17 per cent of all cases
• Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 62.8 per cent of all cases
• Nearly 13 per cent of all cases have required hospitalization
