Ontario reports new daily record high of COVID-19 cases, 35 more deaths

Ontario is reporting a new daily record high of 1,983 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, eclipsing the previous high of 1,925 on December 7.

The most new cases are in Peel Region (515), followed by Toronto (496), and York Region (208).

Thirty-five more people have died from the virus in the province, bringing the total to 3,871. Most of those deaths (2,431) were people living in long-term care homes.

“The spread of COVID-19 has reached a critical point,” Minister of Health, Christine Elliott tweeted Thursday, reminding Ontarians to adhere to social distancing and hygiene directives.

Surge in testing, more school-related cases

There were 61,809 tests completed yesterday, exceeding the province’s goal of 50,000 tests per day. The testing backlog, however, swelled to 66,326.

The province also reported 139 new school-related cases Thursday, with 10 schools currently closed due to outbreaks.

As of Thursday morning, 878 schools have at least one reported case of COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF) sent an open letter to the province and Toronto Public Health “calling for extended asymptomatic COVID-19 testing and for schools to remain closed for the first two weeks of January.”

Teachers and education workers are urging the government and health officials to move all schools to online learning beginning January 4, for at least the first two weeks after New Years’ Day to stem the spread of COVID-19.

New projections

Ontario health officials are expected to provide an update this afternoon on its COVID-19 projections.

The province’s chief medical officer of health said earlier this week that the data will indicate whether lockdowns in Toronto and Peel Region that started two weeks ago are working.

The last round of projections showed case rates had plateaued, but hospitals faced increasing strain due to the pandemic.

A total of 829 people are currently in Ontario hospitals battling the virus, with 228 in Intensive Care Units and 132 on ventilators.

Toronto and Peel Region went into lockdown on Nov. 23.

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