Ontario records lowest number of new COVID-19 cases in more than two months

TORONTO -- Health officials in Ontario recorded 243 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the lowest number of new infections since late March.

The news comes after the ministry of health reported more than 400 cases on both Saturday and Sunday, though those numbers were inflated due to an error in lab reporting. The ministry did not report any delays in recording new cases in Monday's report.

The 243 new cases reported today represent a 0.8 per cent increase over the day prior.

In total, there are 30,860 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Ontario, including 24,492 resolved cases and 2,450 deaths, 24 of which occurred since yesterday.

According to Monday's epidemiologic summary, 1,706 people 80 years of age or older have died as a result of the virus. Another 640 deaths are in people between the ages of 60 and 79.

The number of deceased patients between the ages of 40 and 59 remains unchanged at 94, similarly the number of deaths as a result of COVID-19 in people between the ages of 20 and 39 remains at 10.

To this date, there have been no deaths recorded in people 19 years of age or younger, though there are 1,243 lab-confirmed cases of the virus in that age group.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are down slightly since Sunday. There are currently 603 patients in hospital, down from the 635 reported a day earlier. Of those 603 patients, 118 are being treated an intensive care unit, 81 of which are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. 

There are currently 5,099 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in health-care workers. 

COVID-19 testing in Ontario

The province said it conducted 15,357 tests for COVID-19 in the last 24-hour period.

There have been 866,889 tests completed since the outbreak began in Ontario in mid-January. At least 4,811 tests are currently under investigation.

Ontario’s Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barbara Yaffe addressed the province's testing strategy at a news conference on Monday. 

“What is encouraging is that while the number of tests is increasing, we are not seeing the number of new cases rising at the same rate,” Yaffe said.

It should be noted that the number of tests completed does not represent the total number of patients tested for the virus. This means one person can be tested for the virus multiple times. 

Quick facts on all COVID-19 patients in Ontario:

• Public health units in the Greater Toronto Area account for 67.3 per cent of all cases. 
• 44.7 per cent of all patients in the province are male and 54.5 per cent are female.
• 4 per cent of all patients are 19 years of age or younger.
• 27.4 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 20 and 39.
• 30.7 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 40 and 59.
• 19.7 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 60 and 79.
• 18.2 per cent of all patients are 80 years of age or older.
• 5.1 per cent of all patients had travelled in the 14 days prior to becoming ill.
• 62.2 per cent of all patients had close contact with a previously confirmed case or were "outbreak-associated."
• 21.4 per cent of all patients had “no known epidemiological link”
• 11.3 per cent of all patients had exposure information listed as "missing or unknown."