Ontario reports nearly 2,300 COVID-19 cases with record testing

Ontario is reporting 2,290 new cases of COVID-19 and over 68,200 tests completed on Friday.

Locally, there are 691 new cases in Toronto, 361 in Peel, 296 in York Region, 207 in Windsor-Essex County and 126 in Hamilton.

It is the fourth day in a row, and fourth time ever, the province has reported over 2,000 cases. Ontario reported a record 2,432 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.

The province also reports 40 new deaths, up from 23 a day ago. The provincial death toll since the onset of the pandemic surpassed 4,000 deaths on Wednesday this week.

The latest numbers come with a record number of daily completed tests, the province reporting nearly 30,000 more completed tests than just three days ago. The province reported nearly 58,200 tests on Thursday, 49,200 tests on Wednesday and 39,600 on Tuesday.

The test positivity falls to 3.9 per cent from 5.4 per cent just two days ago. The positivity rate was four per cent on Thursday.

There are 1,992 more resolved cases.

Of the 23 reported deaths, 11 come from a residents of long-term care home. Homes in the province are reporting 87 new cases from residents and and 59 cases from staff.

There is now a total of 151,257 confirmed cases in the province since the onset of the pandemic with 4,098 deaths. Of the confirmed cases 17,742 are active and 129,417 have been resolved.

Among active cases, 877 people are currently in the hospital. This number is down 42 patients from a day ago. The province is now below 900 patients after crossing that threshold for the first time in the second wave on Tuesday. Hospitalizations are now just up 69 from one week ago.

Among the hospitalized, 261 are in the ICU and 168 are on ventilators. The number of ICU patients drops two from a day ago while patients on ventilators decreased by four.

Earlier this week, the Ontario Hospital Association released a statement calling for further lockdowns to curb a “devastating surge in COVID-19 patients.”

The province is reporting a record 296 cases for York Region, up from 209 on Friday.

Toronto and Peel both saw a decrease in new cases. Toronto down to 691 from 737 and Peel down to 361 from 434.

Durham Region is up to 89 new cases after reporting 73 one day ago. Halton Region reported 57 cases after seeing a spike of 104 one day ago.

Overall, the GTA reports fewer cases, 1,494, for the second straight day. The region reported 1,557 of new cases on Thursday.

Approximately 65 per cent of the provinces cases have come from the region in the last two days. The GTA was responsible for 77 per cent of cases on Wednesday.

Hamilton saw 112 new cases on Friday after a spike of 142 a day ago. The province only reported 42 new cases for Hamilton on Wednesday.

Windsor-Essex County continues to be the biggest problem spot outside of the GTA, with the the region seeing a record for the second straight day. There are 209 new cases on Friday after 190 one day ago. Windsor-Essex also broke a record on Tuesday with 185 cases.

Doug Ford is set to meet with his cabinet and Ontario hospital leaders today to discuss further restrictions and lockdowns.

Toronto and Peel leaders have remained steadfast in their message that lockdown restrictions should be extended through the holidays and even expanded to neighbouring regions.

COVID-19 in schools

The province reported 133 new COVID-19 cases in schools on Friday.

Among the new cases in schools, 111 are related to students, while 22 are linked to staff.

Nearly 20 per cent of schools in the province currently have a reported case of the virus. Twenty-two schools outside of Windsor-Essex are currently closed as a result of COVID-19. This includes 12 schools in Toronto.

All schools in Windsor-Essex are currently closed for in-person learning.

You can find which schools are reporting cases on the province’s website, when it is updated daily at 10:30 a.m