After a slight uptick in new COVID-19 cases in Ontario yesterday, new infections have once again dipped below 200.
Provincial health officials are reporting 163 new cases of the virus today, down from the 216 confirmed one day prior.
The rolling five-day average of new cases is now 184, down from 187 yesterday.
“With 229 more resolved, there are now also 66 fewer active cases in the province,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a tweet on Wednesday.
The total number of active cases in the province now stands at 2,049.
There are currently 34,016 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, including 2,631 deaths and 29,336 recoveries.
Elliott noted that more than 23,000 tests were conducted over the past 24 hours, bringing the case positivity rate down to about 0.7 per cent.
"...30 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases today, a new high, with 16 of them reporting no new cases at all," Elliott said. "That’s welcome news as we continue to safely and gradually reopen the province."
The highest concentration of new cases continue to come from Toronto and Peel Region, the two areas that were officially permitted to move into Stage 2 of the province's reopening plan today.
In Toronto, 71 new cases of the virus have been confirmed, up from the 63 recorded in the previous report.
Thirty-three new cases have been reported in Peel Region, down from the 46 confirmed yesterday.
Only five new cases of the virus were reported in Windsor, the last region still stuck in Stage 1.
Premier Doug Ford has said Windsor-Essex can't move to Stage 2 yet due to an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 among migrant farm workers.
12 more deaths reported
Another 12 virus-related deaths were confirmed in Ontario today, up two from the previous report.
All but 114 deaths have involved people over the age of 60 and 1,818 are in patients 80 and older.
Two new COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported at long-term care homes in the province, bringing the total number of outbreaks reported since March to 355.
Only 73 of those outbreaks are still considered to be active.
After an small increase in hospitalizations yesterday, that number has dropped once again. There are currently 278 people infected with COVID-19 receiving care in Ontario hospitals, down 10 from the previous report. The number of patients in intensive care also dropped slightly from 75 to 73. There are now 48 people on ventilators, down from the 54 reported on Tuesday.
