TORONTO -- Ontario health officials are reporting a single-day drop in the number of new COVID-19 cases with just over 2,300 infections logged.
The province confirmed 2,362 new cases on Friday, marking a drop from the 2,759 new infections logged Thursday.
Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 2,616, down from 3,265 at this point last week.
With 44,040 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the positivity rate rose slightly from 5.7 per cent on Thursday to 6.1 per cent on Friday. The positivity rate has been on a downward turn in recent days.
Health officials also reported that 26 more people have died due to COVID-19. In total, the province has seen 8,431 deaths related to the novel coronavirus.
There are currently 1,582 people in hospital due to the disease. At least 777 of these patients are in intensive care and 560 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
The province deemed 3,502 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Friday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 468,033.
Friday’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 504,533, including deaths and recoveries.
WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO
Most of the new cases reported are concentrated in hot spot regions in the Greater Toronto Area. Officials reported 691 new cases in Toronto, 563 new cases in Peel Region, 224 new cases in York Region, 148 new cases in Durham Region and 112 new cases in Hamilton.
All other regions in the province reported fewer than 100 new cases.
The Ontario government entered a provincewide stay-at-home order last month in order to curb the spread of the deadly disease. The order was expected to end on May 20.
However, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Thursday that the order would be extended for an additional two weeks lasting until June 2 at least.
“Make no mistake, we’re not out of the woods yet,” Ford said during a news conference Thursday. “As much as we’re seeing a decline, which is good, everyone is moving forward, we’re getting the vaccines in to people’s arms, but we just can’t risk it.”
VARIANTS IN ONTARIO
The province reported 2,632 new cases of B.1.1.7 (U.K. variant) in Ontario on Friday. The total case count for the strain now stands at 103,864.
Officials identified 20 new cases of B.1.351 (South African variant), bringing the total case count in the province to 594.
In addition, the province added 19 more cases of P.1 (Brazilian variant), which brings its total number of cases to 1,746.
Ontario does not currently report how many cases of the B.1.617 variant, originally found in India, are found in the province.
MORE THAN 415K PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO
The province reports that 415,531 people in Ontario have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are now considered vaccinated against the disease.
In the last 24-hour period, officials said that 141,765 doses of the vaccine were administered to residents in the province. Officials have repeatedly said they have the capacity to give about 150,000 vaccines a day.
Ford told reporters on Thursday that his goal is to have a "two-dose summer" if supply allows, which would mean that all willing adults will be fully immunized against COVID-19 by mid-September.
