Ontario reports 1,723 new cases of COVID-19, 35 deaths

December 2, 2020NOW Staff

A person in a face mask walks by street art in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic on November 27, 2020.

Ontario reported 1,723 new cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths on December 2.

The death toll marks the second time the province has hit the single-day high of 35 COVID-related deaths during the second wave. Of today’s deaths, 28 were people over age 80.

To date, 3,698 people have died in Ontario since the outbreak began in January.

Hot spots in the Greater Toronto Area continue to report the highest daily increases.

“Locally, there are 500 new cases in Peel, 410 in Toronto and 196 in York Region,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter. “There are 1,686 more resolved cases and over 44,200 tests completed.”

Two more regions reported triple-digit increases: Durham Region had 124 new infections and Waterloo had 103.

Toronto’s daily case count has dropped after yesterday’s high of 727. Toronto Public Health data indicated a higher daily count of 761, which Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Eileen de Villa called a “blunt warning” to city residents.

The province confirmed 1,707 new infections on Tuesday, 1,746 on Monday, 1,708 on Sunday, 1,822 on Saturday and an all-time high of 1,855 on Friday.

The provincial positivity rate for tests is 3.9 per cent and there are over 49,500 specimens in a backlog. Ontario’s daily testing target is 50,000.

The number of patients in hospital continues to rise. There are 656 COVID patients in Ontario hospitals, including 183 in intensive care and 106 on ventilators.

The number of today’s cases in schools is 166, including 140 students and 26 staff. There are now 742 schools with reported cases of COVID-19 in Ontario and six are closed.

There are 54 long-term care homes experiencing outbreaks that also have resident cases. Of those, 22 have fewer than five cases each.