Ontario reports just under 800 new cases of COVID-19, 9 more deaths

Ontario reported 790 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a drop from the 821 cases on Tuesday.

It marks the ninth time in the last 10 days that the number of new cases has eclipsed 700.

Toronto continues to be the hotspot in the province with 321 new cases followed by Peel Region with 157, York Region with 76 and Ottawa with 57.

For the third straight day, the number of new cases outpaced the number of those who had recovered (719). According to health officials, 86 per cent of those who have contracted the virus has since recovered.

There are nine more deaths which brings the provincial total to 3,062.

Provincial officials say they completed 32,646 tests in the previous 24 hour period, which is the highest number processed this week. However, it is far shy of the 50,000 tests the province has promised.

The backlog of tests that have yet to be processed sits at just over 29,300.

The number of hospitalizations in the province fell to 260. The number of patients in the ICU remained relatively unchanged while the number of those in the ICU climbed up to 49.

The province is also reporting 144 new COVID-19 cases related to schools, including at least 66 among students.

Those bring the number of schools with a reported case to 516 out of Ontario’s 4,828 publicly funded schools. A total of four schools have had to be closed due to declared outbreaks.

RELATED: Everything you need to know about coronavirus

• Coronavirus: Full coverage
• What you need to know today
• Live coverage of coronavirus news from Toronto reporters

RELATED: Coronavirus FAQs

• What you need to know about the Quarantine Act
• Coronavirus quarantine: what happens when you return from travelling?