TORONTO -- Ontario health officials have confirmed an additional 510 cases of COVID-19 as well as 37 more deaths.

The new patients bring the province’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 12,245, including 6,221 recoveries, up 415 since yesterday. This marks the first time the province has recorded more recoveries than active cases since the outbreak began.

Officials say that 659 people have died as a result of the virus.

Long-term care residents represent the majority of the deaths in the province.

As of Wednesday, Ontario's Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barba Yaffe said 447 residents of long-term care homes have died as a result of COVID-19, including 46 in the past 24 hours. One staff member also died after contracting the virus. 

Health officials also confirmed 128 outbreaks within the province’s 630 long-term care residences.

An emergency order that limits staff members from working at more than one location takes effect today and is expected to last for two weeks.

There are 878 people in hospitals receiving treatment for COVID-19, an increase of 19 patients from the day prior. Of those 878, there are 243 patients in an intensive care unit (ICU), down from the 250 reported on Tuesday. One hundred and ninety-two of those patients in the ICU are on a ventilator. 

According to Wednesday’s epidemiological summary 441 deceased patients are 80 years of age or older. Another 181 deceased patients are between the ages of 60 and 79. Thirty-six deceased patients are between the ages of 40 and 59. One deceased patient is between the ages of 20 and 39, the province’s youngest death related to the virus.

There are no deaths reported in patients 19 years of age or younger, though there are 270 confirmed cases within that age group. 

Update on testing

In terms of testing, the province said it has performed 10,361 tests in the last 24 hours, edging closer to their goal of 12,500 tests a day by April 22.

The province says it has performed 184,531 to date, however the Ministry of Health says that this number represents total tests and not persons tested, meaning one patient could have been tested multiple times.

There are 6,845 cases under investigation, which Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams has said is not a “backlog”, but a result of ramped up testing.

Quick facts on all Ontario COVID-19 patients:

  • 11.9 per cent of all patients have been hospitalized at one point
  • 56.8 per cent of patients in the province are female and 42.2 per cent are male– 124 cases did not specify male or female gender
  • 44 per cent of all patients are 60 years of age or older – nine cases did not specify their age
  • 2.2 per cent of all patients are 19 years of age or younger
  • 22.7 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 20 and 39
  • 31.0 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 40 and 59
  • 22.7 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 60 and 79
  • 21.3 per cent of all patients are 80 years of age or older
  • Public health units in the Greater Toronto Area account for 59.3 per cent of all cases in the province
  • 10.4 per cent of all patients had travelled in the 14 days prior to becoming ill
  • 18 per cent of all patients had contact with a previously confirmed case
  • 31.3 per cent of all patients had community exposure
  • 40.3 per cent of all patients had exposure information listed as pending