Ontario reports fewer than 300 COVID-19 cases for 1st time in nearly 12 weeks

Ontario is reporting 269 new COVID-19 cases and six additional deaths on Tuesday.

It is the smallest daily increase of new cases since Aug. 5 and the first time the province has reported fewer than 300 cases since then.

Of the new cases,176 are in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 93 are in fully vaccinated individuals.

The rolling seven-day average drops to 364 cases, reaching the lowest point since Aug. 11. The average is down 43 cases from one week ago.

The province is reporting another 427 resolved cases, dropping the active case count to 3,051, the lowest it has been since Aug. 12.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 233 people are hospitalized with COVID-19. Among them, 203 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 30 are fully vaccinated.

There were 21,827 tests completed in the last 24-hour period for a test positivity rate of 1.5 per cent.

The province administered another 17,600 vaccine doses in the last 24-hour period. There are now 87.9 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older who have received at least one dose, nearly 84 per cent are now fully vaccinated.

The provincial government has released guidelines for safely celebrating Halloween this year. Trick-or-treating was cancelled in Toronto and much of the GTA last year due to the pandemic.

Most Canadian parents say they plan to take their kids trick-or-treating on Sunday — but a new survey suggests not everyone is comfortable with opening their doors.

The study by Leger found that over 90 per cent of respondents whose kids trick-or-treated last year plan to allow them to go out again this year — but fewer than half of Canadians say they will be opening their doors to trick-or-treaters.