Ontario reported 704 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and hit a new provincial high of over 6,000 active cases.
The province detected 658 new cases on Sunday, 805 on Saturday and 712 on Friday.
Four regional hotspots are still driving the majority of new cases, with 244 in Toronto, 168 in Peel, 103 in York Region and 51 in Ottawa.
Today marks the start of York Region’s transition into a modified Stage 2 after Health Minister Christine Elliott and Premier Doug Ford said during a Friday press conference that all public health indicators in the region were heading in the wrong direction.
Only 31,864 tests were completed in the past 24 hours, well below the province’s daily target of 50,000 tests. The low testing numbers mark a higher positivity rate, at 2.2 per cent.
Hospitalizations are at 252 and there are 69 intensive care patients, though Ontario Public Health notes that approximately 30 hospitals didn’t submit their data over the weekend. There are 40 patients currently on ventilators.
Four new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.
The province also reported seven new long-term care home COVID-19 outbreaks in the past day. Over the weekend, three Ontario hospitals reported new outbreaks: Toronto Western Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Centre and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Queen West site.
To date, there have been 65,075 total cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, including 55,978 resolved – up 607 from yesterday. The virus has killed 3,050 people in Ontario.
New COVID-19 cases in Ontario on October 19
The following regions reported five or more cases of COVID-19:
Toronto = 244
Peel = 168
York Region = 103
Ottawa = 51
Halton Region = 23
Simcoe Muskoka = 17
City of Hamilton = 17
Durham Region = 16
Region of Waterloo = 14
Eastern Ontario = 13
Niagara Region = 9
Middlesex-London = 6
