Ontario is reporting 1,588 new COVID-19 cases and 21 additional deaths on Saturday, setting a single-day record high for new infections in the province.

The last record was logged a week ago on Nov. 14 when the province reported 1,581 cases.

The province reported 1,418 new cases on Friday, 1,210 on Thursday and 1,417 on Wednesday.

Yesterday, the province also marked a milestone by surpassing 100,000 cases of the novel coronavirus since the disease emerged in January.

The latest fatalities represent a notable increase from Friday when eight deaths were recorded.

Of the latest deaths in the province, 13 were residents of long-term care homes.

There are currently 99 long-term care homes with an outbreak of the virus in Ontario, down from 102 a day ago.

Most cases continue to be in the Greater Toronto Area.

“Locally, there are 522 new cases in Peel, 450 in Toronto and 153 in York Region,” Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted on Saturday.

Elsewhere in the GTA, Durham Region logged 56 new cases, up from 46 a day ago and Halton recorded 53 new infections, a rise from 36 on Friday.

The seven-day rolling average now stands at 1,373, unchanged from a day ago.

Provincial health officials say there are 1,363 more resolved cases in the province bringing the total number of active cases to 12,827, up 204 cases from Friday.

In the last 24 hours, more than 46,600 tests were completed, down from 48,173 cases processed yesterday.

More than 43,000 tests are still under investigation.

According to health officials, the province’s positivity rate is now 4.3 per cent, up from 3.6 the prior day.

People between the ages of 20 and 39 years old continue to account for most of the new cases (590), followed by those in the 40 to 59 age group (458). People who are 19 years old and younger accounted for 234 of the cases, while 230 people between the ages of 60 and 79 tested positive for the virus. Seventy-eight people who are 80 years old and over also tested positive for the disease.

There are currently 513 people hospitalized with the virus in Ontario, down from 518 on Friday. Of those patients, 146 are in intensive care units and 87 are breathing with the help of a ventilator.

The latest numbers come after Premier Doug Ford announced on Friday that Toronto and Peel Region will be entering the lockdown zone under the provincial government’s COVID-19 restrictions framework.

The lockdown comes into effect on Monday at 12:01 a.m. and will stay in effect for at least 28 days.

This means gyms, recreation facilities and personal care services are being ordered to close their doors and non-essential retail stores can only provide curbside pickup.

Bars and restaurants are allowed to provide takeout and delivery services but must close their patios.

Essential retailers that are allowed to remain open include supermarkets, hardware stores, department stores, convenience stores, pharmacies and beer and liquor stores. But all of these services will have to reduce their capacity limit to only 50 per cent.

Schools and daycares are also permitted to remain open.