TORONTO

Ontario records another significant spike in new COVID-19 cases

Sean Davidson CTVNewsToronto.ca Managing Digital Producer

Published Tuesday, October 20, 2020 10:16AM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, October 20, 2020 1:28PM EDT

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TORONTO -- Ontario is reporting another spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases, recording more than 800 new infections.

Health officials confirms 821 new infections on Tuesday, which is a large increase from the 704 cases reported on Monday and 658 on Sunday.

The majority of cases were found in Ontario's four COVID-19 hotspots, which are currently in a modified Stage 2. There are 327 new cases in Toronto, 136 in Peel Region, 64 in York Region and 79 in Ottawa.

Ontario also completed the lowest number of tests in weeks, only processing 24,000 swabs in the previous 24-hour period. This has caused the daily recorded positivity rate to surge to 3.4 per cent.

Ontario also reported three new COVID-19-related deaths in the province, bringing the total number of fatalities to 3,053.

The total number of lab-confirmed infections in the province is now 65,896, including deaths and recoveries.

There were 628 more cases considered to be resolved by officials on Tuesday. The province now has a total of 56,606 recovered patients.

The record number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario reported in a single day was on Oct. 9 when 939 new infections were added.

Other regions of in province reporting more than 10 new COVID-19 cases include Durham Region (32), Simcoe Muskoka (13), Hamilton (36), Halton (46), and Waterloo (14).

The majority of the new cases (312) were found in people in the 20 to 39 age category. There were also 254 new infections in the 39 to 60 age category, 107 in the under 19 age group and 146 in people over the age of 60.

Hospitalizations on the rise

There are now 274 people being treated for COVID-19 in Ontario hospitals, up from 252 on Monday. Of those patients, 72 are in the intensive care unit and 45 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

Ontario is reporting 821 cases of #COVID19 as over 24,000 tests were completed. Locally, there are 327 new cases in Toronto, 136 in Peel, 64 in York Region and 79 in Ottawa. There are 628 more resolved cases.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) October 20, 2020