Ontario is reporting fewer than 1,900 cases and 27 additional deaths on Friday, as virus-related hospitalizations continue to decline.
Provincial health officials logged 1,890 new coronavirus cases, a notable drop from 2,400 reported on Thursday.
The province’s seven-day rolling average of new infections now stands at 2,064, compared to 2,616 a week ago.
Another 2,689 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, resulting in 22,200 active cases across the province.
Of the latest deaths, two people were between 20 and 39 years old, seven were between 40 and 59 years old, 10 were between 60 and 69 years old and eight were 80 years old and over.
The seven-day average of virus-related deaths in the province hit 21, compared to 28 seven days ago. Ontario’s death toll now stands at 8,579.
Another 1,290 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 variants of concern were identified by provincial officials yesterday, with most being the dominant B.1.1.7 variant which first emerged in the United Kingdom.
In the past 24 hours, 37,126 tests were processed in provincial labs, down from 45,406 tests the previous day.
The drop in testing contributed to a small increase in the province’s positivity rate to 5.4 per cent, compared to 5.2 per cent on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health.
In the Greater Toronto Area, 469 of the latest cases were reported in Toronto, while 468 were logged in Peel Region, 165 in York Region, 107 in Durham and 70 in Halton.
Hospitalizations continue to decline slowly as 1,265 people were treated in Ontario hospitals yesterday, down from 1,320 the previous day.
Of those hospitalized, 715 were in intensive care units, down by six from the previous day, and 510 were breathing with the help of a ventilator.
To date, nearly 519,000 lab-confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 488,201 recoveries have been found in Ontario since the first case was identified in January 2020.
More than 7.7 million doses of vaccine have been administered across the province since mid-December.
As of Thursday evening, at least 495,757 people have been fully vaccinated against the disease in Ontario. Two doses of approved vaccines that are currently being administered in the province are needed for full immunization.
