The Ministry of Health reported 292 new cases in Ontario, after completing 15,133 tests for COVID-19.
It marks the second straight day the province has recorded less than 300 new cases of COVID-19, which it hasn’t done since March 29. The latest update increases its total case count to 26,483.
The latest testing figure is the highest Ontario has administered in a 24-hour stretch since May 17. It still falls behind its goal of 16,000 tests a day, or the 21,000 its labs are capable of administering.
Ontario’s testing outputs have come under fire over the past few weeks. Over the weekend, in an effort to increase testing, Premier Doug Ford announced that testing is now open to anyone who feels they need to be investigated. Health officials also started to test both symptomatic and asymptomatic frontline health-care workers, as well as complete a second round of testing in long-term care homes.
Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said in the past that Ontario doesn’t have a system in place over the weekend to move some of its tests to labs, therefore it’s expected to see an increase later into the workweek.
Along with the new cases, 32 more fatalities were reported, increasing the death toll to 2,155. Also among the province’s total cases are 20,372 people who have recovered from the respiratory virus, an increase of 414 since Tuesday’s update.
There are now 847 people in hospital, down by one. That includes 150 in intensive care (up by seven) and 117 on ventilators (up by four).
According to the Ministry of Long-Term Health, there are 135 outbreaks around the province. Among those facilities, there are 1,587 residents who have passed away, while 1,765 people remain currently infected. In addition, there are 1,216 staff members who’ve been diagnosed, while six have died.
