TORONTO -- Ontario is recording more than 1,100 new COVID-19 cases, as well as 23 more deaths linked to the disease.

On Thursday, provincial health officials logged 1,138 infections of the novel coronavirus, marking a slight increase from the 1,054 cases recorded on Wednesday.

Before that, the province recorded 975 infections on Tuesday after five days of case counts climbing above the 1,000 mark.

The province’s seven-day average for number of cases recorded is now 1,098, up from 1,015 one week ago.

There were 66,351 COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario in the last-recorded 24-hour period. The test positivity rate now stands at about two per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.

Of the new cases logged Thursday, 339 are in Toronto, 204 are in Peel Region and 106 are in York Region.

York Region moved back into Ontario’s colour-coded reopening framework on Monday, allowing gyms and restaurants to reopen with strict public health measures in place.

Toronto and Peel Region remain under a stay-at-home order until at least March 8.

Thursday’s count brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 297,311, including deaths and recoveries.

With the 23 new deaths confirmed by health officials on Thursday, the province’s death toll is now 6,916. Of the new deaths, four were residents of long-term care homes in Ontario.

According to the province, there are at least 687 patients infected with the novel coronavirus in Ontario hospitals as of Thursday. Of those patients, 283 are in the intensive care unit (ICU) and 182 of those 283 patients are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

At this time last week, there were 758 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Ontario, 277 of which were in the ICU and 192 were on a ventilator.

On Thursday, health officials deemed 1,094 more cases of the disease to be resolved, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 280,324.

There are currently 10,071 active cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, down from 10,702 one week ago.

As well, health officials confirmed Thursday that 20 more cases of the U.K. variant, also known as B.1.1.7, have been found in Ontario, bringing the province’s total count to 449. There were also two more cases of the South African variant B.1.351 found, as well as one more case of the Brazilian variant P.1.

Thus far, 621,960 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ontario, including 19,112 administered in the previous day. The vaccine requires two doses. In Ontario, 255,449 total vaccinations have been completed as of Friday.

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NOTE: The numbers used in this story are found in the Ontario Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from what is reported by the province, because local units report figures at different times.