Ontario records more than 1,900 new COVID-19 cases for the first time

TORONTO -- Ontario is reporting a record-breaking number of new COVID-19 cases for the second day straight.

Health officials confirmed 1,924 new cases on Sunday, an increase from the 1,859 infections reported on Saturday. It is the first time Ontario has recorded more than 1,900 new COVID-19 cases in a single day. 

As of Sunday morning, there are 701 patients in an Ontario hospital with COVID-19, which is a slight decrease since Saturday.

At least 204 of those patients are currently being treated in intensive care, up from the 202 patients reported a day earlier. Of those patients, 109 are currently breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

Fifteen more deaths related to COVID-19 were recorded in the last 24 hours, pushing the province's COVID-19 death toll to 3,772. 

There are 1,574 additional cases that are now considered to be resolved. More than 107,000 people infected with COVID-19 in Ontario have recovered since the beginning of the pandemic.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario now stands at 127,309, including deaths and recoveries.

The province completed 59,251 tests in the previous 24-hour period, which makes Ontario's test positivity rate 3.2 per cent. 

Where were the new cases found?

Toronto and Peel Region reported the most new COVID-19 cases in the province on Sunday but there was also a spike in York Region.

There were 568 new cases in Toronto, while Peel Region reported 477 new infections. 

Ontario is reporting 1,924 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 59,300 tests completed. Locally, there are 568 new cases in Toronto, 477 in Peel and 249 in York Region. There are 1,574 more resolved cases.

Today’s numbers will be available at 10:30 a.m. at https://t.co/ypmgZbVRvn.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) December 6, 2020

Toronto and Peel Region went into lockdown on Nov. 23, which forced the closure of most non-essential businesses.

In York Region, there were 249 new COVID-19 cases in the previous 24-hour period, which is an increase from the 198 reported on Saturday. 

York Region has been teetering on the edge of lockdown as case numbers continue to increase. 

The regions reporting more than 10 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday include Ottawa, Eastern Ontario Health Unit, Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit, Durham Region, Simcoe Muskoka, Middlesex-London Health Unit, Southwestern Public Health, Windsor-Essex, Hamilton, Halton Region, Niagara Region, Waterloo and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.

The majority of new cases on Sunday were reported in people under the age of 40.

The rolling seven-day average of new cases in Ontario now stands at 1,794, which is up from 1,548 a week ago.