Ontario is reporting 797 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, a new provincial record of cases within a 24-hour period since the pandemic began.
According to Thursday’s provincial report, 265 new cases were recorded in Toronto, 182 in Ottawa, 134 in Peel Region, 78 in York Region and 33 in Halton Region.
All other public health units in Ontario reported 25 or fewer cases.
The total cumulative number of cases now stands at 56,742.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province processed nearly 48,500 tests in the last 24 hours — which is also a new provincial record for tests.
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Elliott also said 57 per cent of the cases are people under the age of 40.
“This Thanksgiving, remember the safest way to celebrate is with those in your household and to gather with friends and family virtually. Please remember to continue to follow the public health measures that will help us to stop the spread,” she urged.
Roughly 1.6 per cent of Thursday’s tests were positive for coronavirus.
A total of 4,261,111 tests have been completed since the pandemic began. There is currently a backlog of 58,118 tests that need results.
Ontario is reporting 797 cases of #COVID19 as nearly 48,500 tests were completed. This is the largest number of tests completed to date. Locally, there are 265 new cases in Toronto, 182 in Ottawa, 134 in Peel and 78 in York Region. There are 695 more resolved cases.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) October 8, 2020
This #Thanksgiving, remember the safest way to celebrate is with those in your household and to gather with friends and family virtually. Please remember to continue to follow the public health measures that will help us to stop the spread.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) October 8, 2020
Here is a breakdown of the total cases in Ontario by gender and age:
- 27,096 people are male — an increase of 406 cases.
- 29,249 people are female — an increase of 393 cases.
- 5,033 people are 19 and under — an increase of 126 cases.
- 20,126 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 331 cases.
- 16,069 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 225 cases.
- 8,973 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 90 cases.
- 6,529 people are 80 and over — an increase of 22 cases.
The province notes that not all cases have a reported age or gender.
The province also notes that the number of cases publicly reported each day may not align with case counts reported by the local public health unit on a given day. Local public health units report when they were first notified of a case, which can be updated and changed as information becomes available.
The death toll in the province has risen to 2,992 as four more deaths were reported.
Meanwhile, 48,308 Ontarians have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which is 85 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 695 from the previous day.
Ontario has 206 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 (up by 11 from the previous day), with 47 patients in an intensive care unit (up by five) and 29 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (up by one). All hospitalizations have increased over the last several weeks.
The newly reported numbers for Thursday’s report are valid as of 2 p.m. Wednesday for Toronto, Ottawa and Middlesex-London public health units, and 4 p.m. Wednesday for the rest of the province.