Ontario is reporting nearly 2,100 new cases of COVID-19 today as the provincewide positivity rate surpasses six per cent for the first time since January.

Ontario is reporting 2,094 new cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus today, down from 2,448 on Sunday and 2,453 on Saturday but up from 1,699 last week.

The rolling seven-day average of new infections is now 2,094, up from 1,600 last Monday.

With just 39,470 tests processed over the past 24 hours, the provincewide positivity rate now stands at 6.1 per cent, the highest positivity rate reported since Jan. 19.

"Obviously we are in a tough spot right now. If you actually rewind time to the very beginning of March, the seven-day average was about 1,000 cases per day and in a matter of a month, it is now above 2,000 cases per day," Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist and member of Ontario's COVID-19 vaccine task force, told CP24 on Monday.

"This is the third wave. It is pretty obvious we are here."

Another 10 virus-related deaths were reported in the province today, bringing Ontario's COVID-19 death toll to 7,337. The average daily death toll in Ontario is now 13, up from 11 one week ago.

Information released today by the Ministry of Health suggests that COVID-19 hospitalizations have declined for the second day in a row, however it should be noted that this data is typically incomplete at the beginning of the week due to a lack of reporting from some hospitals.

The province says there are currently 841 people in hospital with COVID-19, down from 917 on Sunday and 985 on Saturday, but numbers from individual public health units across Ontario indicate that at least 1,039 people with COVID-19 are receiving treatment in hospital.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units (ICU) has been steadily climbing since the beginning of the month, reaching 382 today, according to the province.

But recent data released by Critical Care Services Ontario says that there are now more than 400 COVID-19 patients in the ICU.

Ontario is also now reporting 18,965 active lab-confirmed coronavirus infections, up from 14,751 seven days ago.

Another 124 B.1.1.7 variant cases were confirmed in the province today while nearly 19,000 cases have screened positive for a variant but are still awaiting whole genome sequencing to determine lineage.

The province says 2,031,735 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ontario to date.

Of the new cases today, 618 are in Toronto, 368 are in Peel, 277 are in York Region, 132 are in Ottawa, and 104 are in Durham Region.

The uptick in community transmission comes as the Ford government continues to ease public health restrictions across Ontario.

In regions in the orange and red zones of Ontario’s tiered reopening framework, the province recently increased indoor dining capacity at restaurants and bars and opened patios in regions in the grey, or “lockdown,” category.

Outdoor fitness classes have also been allowed to resume in regions in the lockdown zone starting today.

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.