TORONTO -- Ontario health officials are reporting more than 1,500 cases of COVID-19 for the second straight day as Toronto and Peel Region prepare for a 28-day lockdown period starting Monday.

Health officials confirmed 1,534 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, which comes after the province reported a record-breaking number of 1,588 new cases on Saturday.

From Monday until Friday, the province logged numbers below the 1,500 mark, but this is 17th straight day in which Ontario has reported case counts in the quadruple digits.

The province also reported on Sunday that 14 more people have died due to COVID-19, marking a small decrease in the number of deaths from the day before when health officials reported 21 new deaths.

Seniors continue to be the age group hardest hit by the pandemic. According to the province’s epidemiology report, seven of the 14 deaths recorded on Sunday were long-term care home residents.

Since the pandemic started, of the 3,486 people who have died in Ontario due to the disease, 2,420 were over the age of 80.

Provincial health officials deemed 1,429 more cases to be resolved as of Sunday, bringing the total number of recovered patients in Ontario to 87,508.

The total number of lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario now stands at 103,912, including the 3,486 deaths and the 87,508 recoveries.

There are at least 484 people currently in Ontario hospitals due to COVID-19, and 147 of those patients are in an intensive care unit. Eighty-nine of them are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

Last week, CTV News Toronto obtained a report by Critical Care Services Ontario that confirmed there were 150 patients in the province’s ICUs due to the novel coronavirus. The province previously stated that once the number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU reaches 150, it becomes harder to support medical needs not related to the disease.

Where are the COVID-19 cases in Ontario?

On Sunday, Peel Region reported 490 new cases, Toronto reported 460 new cases and York Region reported 130.

Both Toronto and Peel Region will enter the province’s lockdown phase on Monday, which is the province’s final category in the COVID-19 tiered framework that guides restrictions.

Most non-essential businesses, including gyms, malls and personal care services, will have to shutter in the two COVID-19 hot spots for at least 28 days.

Ottawa also reported 32 new cases of COVID-19, Durham Region reported 50 new cases, Windsor-Essex reported 29 new cases, Simcoe Muskoka reported 24 new cases, Grey Bruce reported 16 new cases, Hamilton reported 66 new cases, Halton Region reported 48 new cases, Niagara Region reported 22 new cases, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph reported 30 new cases and Waterloo reported 54 new cases.

Most of the new cases of COVID-19 reported on Saturday involve people under the age of 80.

There were 562 infections in people between the ages of 20 and 39, at least 404 in people between the ages of 40 and 59 and 230 in people between the ages of 60 and 79. There were 276 cases in people under the age of 19.

COVID-19 testing in Ontario

Officials processed 46,389 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours. The ministry of health said the province’s positivity rate now stands at about 3.8 per cent when including duplicate tests and errors.

There are 30,427 COVID-19 tests still under investigation.

In total, Ontario has processed more than 5.9 million tests since the pandemic began in January.