Ontario records increase in new COVID-19 cases with 166 more infections

TORONTO -- Ontario recorded an increase in new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, after a week of reporting relatively low case numbers in the province.

Health officials confirmed 166 new infections in Ontario this morning, which Health Minister Christine Elliott described as a “slight uptick over the past few days.”

The report brings the total number of confirmed cases in the province to 37,440 – a 0.4 per cent increase over Friday’s total, when 111 new lab-confirmed cases were added.

Of all the lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province, 33,294 patients (88.9 per cent) have recovered from the virus with 132 resolved cases reported since yesterday. 

According to Saturday's epidemiologic summary, most of the new cases were reported in Toronto and Windsor-Essex, with both regions confirming 47 new COVID-19 infections each.

Of the province’s 34 public health units, 28 are reporting five or fewer cases of the novel coronavirus with 15 units reporting no new cases at all, Elliott said.

As well, two more COVID-19-related deaths were recorded in Ontario over the last 24-hour period, bringing the provincial death toll to 2,748.

The news comes as most of the province moved into Stage 3 of Ontario's regional reopening strategy on Friday, which allows for gyms and movie theatres to reopen as well as indoor restaurant dining.

Toronto, Windsor-Essex, Niagara and several other regions have been held back from entering the third stage due to the relatively high number of new COVID-19 cases reported in those areas on a daily basis. 

Most of the new cases reported on Saturday were in people 39 years of age and younger.

Today, Ontario is reporting 166 cases of #COVID19, a 0.4% increase. While a slight uptick over the past few days, 28 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are still reporting five or fewer cases, with 15 of them reporting no new cases. 47 of today’s cases are from Windsor-Essex.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) July 18, 2020

Update on COVID-19 testing, hospitalizations

In the last 24 hours, public health units across Ontario completed 28,849 tests for COVID-19.Since the onset of the pandemic, the province has performed more than 1.8 million tests for the virus. 

However, health officials confirmed that 24,551 tests are currently under investigation. 

And while COVID-19 testing remains high in Ontario, the number of patients in hospital with the virus remains low.

As of Saturday, there are 105 patients in hospital, 33 of which are being treated in an intensive care unit. Of those in the ICU, 22 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.