TORONTO -- Ontario health officials are reporting a slight decrease in COVID-19 infections following a weekend uptick, but the number of new cases continues to outpace recoveries.
The 135 new cases added Monday morning bring the provincial total to 37,739 and represents a 0.4 per cent increase over Sunday’s total when 164 cases were added.
Patients continue to recover from COVID-19 with 106 resolved cases added since yesterday. Of all the lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province, more than 88 per cent are considered resolved by the ministry of health.
However, Monday's report marks the fourth straight day in which active COVID-19 cases have outpaced recoveries in Ontario.
The news comes as CTV News Toronto learned that more regions will advance to Stage 3 of the province’s reopening plan this week.
Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand-Norfolk, Lambton and York regions will all be given the green light to enter Stage 3 this Friday.
Most of the new cases added today were reported in Toronto, Peel Region and Windsor-Essex, all of which are regions not included in the latest stage of reopening.
READ MORE: Ontario allows more regions to advance to Stage 3 this week, Toronto still excluded
"Locally, 28 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 18 of them reporting no new cases at all," Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a tweet published on Monday.
As well, the province confirmed one death over the last 24-hour period as a result of the novel coronavirus. In Ontario, the COVID-19 death toll now stands at 2,752.
Increase in hospitalizations, testing remains high
The ministry of health also reported a slight increase in hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Ontario.
The number of patients being treated for symptoms in the province now stands at 115, an increase of 14 people over the last 24-hour period.
Of those 115 patients, 37 are being treated in an intensive care unit, 24 of which are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
At the same time, testing for COVID-19 in the province remains high with nearly 21,000 tests completed since yesterday. So far, Ontario has processed close to 1.9 million tests for the virus since the onset of the pandemic.
More than 11,000 tests are currently under investigation.
