Ontario is reporting 5,839 new COVID-19 cases over the past two days and a total of 95 deaths.
There were 3,363 cases on January 2 – a new record – and 2,476 on New Year’s Day. The previous single-day high was 3,328 on New Year’s Eve.
Of the people who died in the past 48 hours, 37 were long-term care home residents.
The province took a break from reporting COVID-19 data on January 1.
New infections have increased daily throughout the week. The province confirmed 2,923 new cases on Wednesday, 2,553 on Tuesday and 1,939 on Monday.
The seven-day average for new cases – which officials consider a more accurate indicator of virus spread – is now at 2,655.
The GTA continued to lead the Ontario in new COVID-19 cases on January 2, followed by Windsor-Essex and Hamilton.
Today, Peel Region recorded a new high of 713 infections. There were 700 cases in Toronto, 395 in York Region, 226 in Windsor-Essex and 171 in Hamilton.
On January 1, there were 499 in Toronto, 480 in Peel, 200 in York Region, 175 in Windsor-Essex County and 111 in Hamilton.
Another 2,054 cases resolved in the past 24 hours.
Record high testing
Medical labs completed 61,401 tests on January 1 and a new high of 70,570 on December 31. The provincial positivity rate is now six per cent.
There are 1,003 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, including 322 people in intensive care, the most during the pandemic. Of those patients, 220 are on ventilators.
Outbreaks remain highest in care settings. There are 391 care-setting outbreaks, including 216 in long-term care homes. Workplaces account for the second highest amount of outbreaks in Ontario.
On Monday, Toronto Public Health is expected to announce new COVID-19 safety protocols that will target workplaces.
So far, Ontario has vaccinated 32,904 people.
To date, COVID-19 has killed 4,626 people in the province, including 266 in the past week. There has been a total of 187,998 confirmed cases in Ontario.
New COVID-19 cases in Ontario on January 2
The following regions reported five or more new cases of COVID-19:
Peel Region = 713
Toronto = 700
York Region = 395
Windsor-Essex = 226
Hamilton = 171
Niagara Region = 166
Halton Region = 152
Durham Region = 115
Middlesex-London = 94
Ottawa = 81
Lambton = 70
Simcoe Muskoka = 58
Region of Waterloo = 58
Southwestern = 56
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph = 55
Eastern Ontario = 53
Haldimand-Norfolk = 36
Brant County = 26
Huron Perth = 22
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge = 20
Peterborough = 20
Hastings Prince Edward = 14
Leeds, Grenville & Lanark = 12
Grey Bruce = 11
Chatham-Kent = 9
Algoma = 9
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington = 8
