Ontario hits highest seven-day average of COVID-19 cases since pandemic began

TORONTO -- Ontario has hit the highest seven-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.

Health officials reported 851 new COVID-19 cases in Ontario on Monday, which is a single-day drop from the 1,042 infections confirmed on Sunday.

The rolling seven-day average of cases is now at a record 878, which is up from 743 one week ago.

The majority of cases were found in Ontario's four COVID-19 hotspots, which are currently in a modified Stage 2. There are 281 new cases in Toronto, 215 in Peel Region, 90 in York Region and 76 in Ottawa.

Ontario also reported six new COVID-19-related deaths in the province, bringing the total number of fatalities to 3,099.

The total number of lab-confirmed infections in the province is now 71,224, including deaths and recoveries.

There were 679 more cases considered to be resolved by officials on Sunday. The province now has a total of 60,839 recovered patients.

The other regions in province reporting more than 10 new COVID-19 cases include Durham Region (23), Middlesex-London (11), Simcoe Muskoka (28), Hamilton (41), and Halton (27).

There were 228 new cases in people between the ages of 20 to 39. In people between the ages of 40 to 59, there were 258 new infections.

Ontario is reporting 851 cases of #COVID19. Locally, there are 281 new cases in Toronto, 215 in Peel, 90 in York Region and 76 in Ottawa. There are 679 more resolved cases and nearly 28,700 tests completed.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) October 26, 2020

The 19 and under age category recorded 116 new cases, while people over the age of 60 saw 186 new cases.

There are currently 295 patients in an Ontario hospital with COVID-19, which is down slightly from Saturday.

Of those patients, 78 are being treated in an intensive care unit, 51 of which are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

According to the provincial government, when there are fewer than 150 COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care in Ontario hospitals, the province can "maintain non-COVID capacity and all scheduled surgeries."

Once that number rises above 150 it becomes harder to support non-COVID-19 needs, the government said. Once it exceeds 350 people, it becomes "impossible" to handle.

The province processed only 28,653 COVID-19 tests in the previous 24-hour period, which is well short of Ontario's 50,000 swab goal. It makes Monday's positivity rate nearly 3 per cent.

Ontario has processed more than 4.9 million tests for the disease since the beginning of the pandemic.

There are currently 17,603 tests under investigation.