Ontario reported fewer than 1,100 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the lowest single-day case count since early March.
Provincial health officials logged 1,039 new coronavirus cases and 33 additional deaths. Tuesday marks the lowest case count since March 6 when 990 cases were reported.
Ontario labs, however, processed 16,857 tests in the past 24 hours, a notable difference from the seven-day average of 35,240 tests.
The province’s positivity rate is now 6.4 per cent, unchanged from the previous day, according to the Ministry of Health.
Ontario also reported 1,446 new cases on Monday and eight more deaths. The province did not release numbers on Monday due to the Victoria Day holiday.
The numbers reported over the past two days continue a downward trend of infections across the province. Ontario logged 1,691 new cases on Sunday, 1,794 on Saturday and 1,890 on Friday.
The seven-day rolling average dropped to 1,692 on Tuesday, down from 2,287 a week ago.
Another 1,034 lab-confirmed COVID-19 variants of concern were logged on Tuesday, with 985 being the dominant B.1.1.7 variant.
Nearly 4,100 more people recovered from the virus over the past two days, resulting in 19,026 active cases across the province.
Tuesday’s death count is the highest since May 9 when 47 virus-related deaths were reported in the province. Of the latest deaths, six were individuals between 40 and 59 years old, 18 were between 60 and 79 years old and nine were 80 years and older. Ontario’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 8,655.
In the Greater Toronto area, 325 of Tuesday’s cases were reported in Toronto, while 231 were logged in Peel Region, 77 in York Region, 60 in Durham Region and 38 in Halton Region.
The number of patients hospitalized with the deadly virus saw a slight bump day-over-day with 1,025 people receiving treatment, compared to 983 on Monday.
Of those hospitalized, 692 are in intensive care units, up from 687 on Monday, and 498 are breathing with the help of a ventilator.
To date, more than 524,950 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases and 497,269 recoveries have been identified in the province since the virus first emerged in January 2020.
As of Monday evening, more than 8.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the province since mid-December, with 86,927 shots into arms yesterday alone.
At least 544,288 people have been fully vaccinated in the province. Two doses of approved vaccines in Ontario are needed for full immunization.
