Ontario is reporting fewer than 700 cases and nine more deaths on Tuesday, marking the lowest daily case count since October.

Provincial health officials logged 699 new cases on Tuesday, the lowest number of infections since October 18, 2020 when 658 cases were reported.

Today’s numbers come after the province logged 916 infections on Monday, marking the first time since March 6 that the province’s daily case count dipped below 1,000.

Ontario reported 1,033 new cases on Sunday, 1,057 on Saturday and 1,273 on Friday.

The seven-day rolling average now stands at 1,030, a notable drop from 1,693 a week ago.

Another 1,568 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, resulting in 11,689 active cases across the province.

The province’s virus-related death toll stands at 8,766.

Ontario labs processed 20,262 tests in the past 24 hours, up from 18,226 the previous day.

The rise in testing contributed to a drop in the positivity rate to 3.6 per cent, down from 4.3 per cent the previous day, according to the Ministry of Health.

More than 800 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants of concern were reported in Ontario on Tuesday, with most being the dominant B.1.1.7 variant.

Toronto logged 207 new cases on Tuesday, down from 226 the previous day. Today marks the lowest case count in Toronto since February 14 when 122 cases were reported.

Elsewhere in the Greater Toronto Area, Peel Region logged 144 new cases, while 52 new infections were reported in York Region, 50 in Durham Region and 17 in Halton Region.

There was a slight day-over-day rise in the number of patients hospitalized with the disease as 804 patients are receiving treatment, compared to 731 on Monday.

However, data from local hospitals and public health units says there are at least 1,445 patients in hospitals across the province, with at least 846 in Toronto hospitals alone. CP24 has reached out to the ministry for clarification on the discrepancy.

Of those hospitalized, the ministry says 583 patients are in intensive care units, down from 617 the previous day. Tuesday marks the first time the number of patients in ICUs dropped below 600 since April 10.

Up to 30 of Ontario’s current COVID-19 ICU patients were transferred to the province from Manitoba, as that province is coping with a surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

Among the patients in ICUs, 387 are breathing with the help of a ventilator.

To date, more than 532,150 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases and 511,703 recoveries have been reported in the province since the first case emerged in January 2020.

As of Monday evening, over 9.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the province, with nearly 120,200 shots into arms yesterday alone.

More than 739,700 people have been fully vaccinated in the province since mid-December. Two doses of vaccines that are currently 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.