Ontario is reporting just over 400 new COVID-19 cases today as the seven-day average dips below 500 for the first time in several weeks.

Provincial health officials logged 417 new COVID-19 infections today, up from 306 on Wednesday but down from 587 one week ago.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases in the province has now dropped to 476, down from 500 on Wednesday and 565 last week.

Of the new cases confirmed today, 146, or 35 per cent, are in fully vaccinated individuals. The province says 82.6 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and 87.2 per cent have received at least one dose.

The province says there are 69 new cases in Toronto today, 55 in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, 43 in Peel Region, 30 in Hamilton, and 29 in Ottawa.

With 35,421 tests completed over the past 24 hours, officials are reporting a provincewide positivity rate of at least 1.5 per cent, down slightly from 1.7 per cent seven days ago.

Ontario's known active caseload continues to decline. Officials say there are now 4,022 active infections in the province, down from 4,575 one week ago.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care ticked up to 158 today, up from 149 last Thursday. Only 13 of those 158 patients are fully vaccinated, the province says.

Three more virus-related deaths were confirmed today in Ontario, bringing the province's death toll to 9,807.

Today's numbers come after sources confirmed to CTV News Toronto that the Ontario government is considering exiting Step 3 of the reopening roadmap and further loosening COVID-19 restrictions in the province.

Capacity limits have already been lifted in some areas, including sporting venues, but remain in place at restaurants and gyms.

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at Toronto General Hospital, said it is likely safe to move forward with easing capacity limits further in the province but noted that officials must be prepared to pivot quickly if the situation changes.

"You still have some very significant layers of protection," he said, noting that masking and vaccination are still required to enter many businesses.

"Then you put that into the appropriate context. Where are we right now in Ontario? Well If you take a snapshot of where we are right now in October, we are doing rather well. I mean our hospital system is not overwhelmed with patients suffering from COVID-19, our daily case count is pretty reasonable, the per cent positivity is pretty reasonable."

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.