Ontario reported more than 3,400 new COVID-19 cases and 22 deaths on Tuesday, as hospitalizations continue to rise sharply.
Provincial health officials logged 3,469 new coronavirus infections today, a notable drop from 4,447 cases on Monday.
The seven-day rolling average, however, now stands at 4,319, up from 3,868 a week ago.
Ontario reported 4,250 infections on Sunday, 4,362 on Saturday and a record 4,812 cases on Friday.
The latest fatalities bring the province’s virus-related death toll to 7,757.
Another 3,369 people recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours, resulting in 42,941 active cases of the virus across the province.
Provincial health officials also reported nearly 2,700 lab-confirmed cases of highly-contagious variants of concern, with all but one being the dominant B.1.1.7 variant, which was first discovered in the United Kingdom.
Nearly 40,600 tests were completed in the past 24 hours, putting the province’s positivity rate at 10 per cent compared to 10.5 per cent a day ago, according to the Ministry of Health.
Most of the new cases continue to be in the Greater Toronto Area. A total of 1,074 new cases were logged in Toronto, 775 in Peel, 406 in York Region, 256 in Durham and 130 in Halton.
Of Ontario’s 34 public health units, 13 reported 30 or more new infections today.
The number of patients hospitalized due to the virus continues to climb in Ontario, as the province grapples with a third wave of the pandemic.
The Ministry of Health says 2,360 COVID-19 patients were in Ontario hospitals in the past 24 hours, compared to 2,202 the previous day.
However, the latest data from hospitals and public health units says there are 2,528 people hospitalized due to the virus.
Of those hospitalized, 773 are in intensive care units and 537 are breathing with the help of a ventilator, the ministry says.
From Apr. 1 to Apr. 19, 1,021 people with a COVID-19 related illness were admitted to ICUs across the province, Ontario Hospital Association CEO and President Anthony Dale tweeted on Tuesday.
To date, there have been 424,911 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases and 374,213 recoveries in Ontario since the virus first emerged last January.
Nearly 347,600 Ontarians have been fully vaccinated against the disease since mid-December.
Two doses of available vaccines in the province are required for full immunization.
As of Monday evening, over 3.9 million doses have been administered across the province, with 90,409 shots given yesterday.
