Ontario reported fewer than 500 new COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths today as the seven-day rolling dropped under 700 for the first time in almost a month.

Provincial health officials logged 463 new infections, down from 574 yesterday and 593 a week ago. Today’s case count is the lowest since Aug. 17 when 348 infections were reported.

Of the latest cases, 278 individuals are unvaccinated, 21 are partially vaccinated, 131 are fully vaccinated and 33 have an unknown vaccination status.

About 30 per cent of Ontario residents are not yet fully vaccinated against the disease, including children under 12 who are not yet eligible for a shot.

So far, 85 per cent of eligible Ontarians have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 79 per cent have had two doses and are fully vaccinated.

The province reported 610 new cases on Monday, 715 on Sunday and 821 on Saturday.

The seven-day rolling average is continuing its steady decline over the past week and now stands at 692, a decrease from 722 a week ago.

Today marks the first time since Aug. 30 that the seven-day rolling average dipped below 700.

The province’s effective reproductive number, which corresponds to the average number of additional cases caused by one infection, stands at 0.97, the lowest it has been since late July when it rose above one.

Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table says an effective reproduction number greater than one indicates exponential growth.

Another 783 people recovered from the virus yesterday and there are currently 5,851 active cases across the province.

Seven more residents died in the past 24 hours with the virus, raising the province’s death toll to 9,670.

Ontario labs processed over 39,000 tests yesterday, dropping the positivity rate to 1.8 per cent, compared to 2.5 per cent a week ago, according to the Ministry of Health.

Today’s positivity rate is the lowest observed since Aug. 11 when it was 1.7 per cent.

In the Greater Toronto Area, Toronto logged 93 new cases today, while 41 were reported in Peel Region, 30 in York Region, 22 in Halton and six in Durham.

Elsewhere in Southern Ontario, 54 new cases were reported in Ottawa, 48 in Windsor-Essex and 27 in Hamilton.

There are currently 299 patients in Ontario hospitals receiving care for the virus and 187 are in intensive care units.

Of those in ICUs, 178 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and nine are fully vaccinated.

The latest numbers come as Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine certificate system comes into effect today.

Ontario residents now must show proof of vaccination to enter non-essential businesses, including theatres, gyms and indoor dining.

Individuals with medical exceptions and those under 12 years old are exempt from showing proof of vaccination.

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.