Ontario reports spike in COVID-19 cases but admits dozens are result of reporting delay

TORONTO -- Ontario has recorded spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases as the province surpasses 30,000 infections.

Health officials reported 455 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday but admitted that 68 of those cases were a result of a "laboratory-to-public health reporting delay."

The province also recorded an additional 35 COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 2,407.

To date, there are 30,202 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario. The number of resolved cases has reached 23,947 and now accounts for 79.3 per cent of all patients. 

Saturday's epidemiological summary shows that 1,674 people 80 years of age or older have died as a result of the novel coronavirus, the hardest hit age group since the start of the pandemic in mid-January. There have been 630 deaths in people between the ages of 60 and 79.

Ninety-three other deceased patients in the province were between the ages of 40 and 59 and 10 people were between the ages of 20 and 39.

There have been no deaths recorded in people 19 years of age or younger.

Public health units in the Greater Toronto Area account for 66.9 per cent of all cases.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are down since Friday's report. There are currently 673 people in hospital. Of those 673 in hospital, 117 patients are being treated in an intensive care unit, 97 of which are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. 

Testing in Ontario

In total, the province has conducted more than 832,158 tests for the novel coronavirus.

In the last 24-hour period to be recorded, officials conducted 23,105 tests. There are currently 12,384 tests under investigation.

The numbers are in: yesterday, Ontario processed over 23,000 #COVID19 tests, a new record and a demonstration that the latest phase of our testing strategy is in full effect. Check https://t.co/ypmgZbVRvn at 10:30 a.m. every day for the latest numbers. Today’s will be up shortly!

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) June 6, 2020

Quick facts on all COVID-19 patients in Ontario:

• 44.5 per cent of all patients in the province are male and 54.7 per cent are female.
• 3.8 per cent of all patients are 19 years of age or younger.
• 27 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 20 and 39.
• 30.7 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 40 and 59.
• 19.8 per cent of all patients are between the ages of 60 and 79.
• 18.5 per cent of all patients are 80 years of age or older.
• 5.2 per cent of all patients had travelled in the 14 days prior to becoming ill.
• 61.9 per cent of all patients had close contact with a previously confirmed case or were "outbreak-associated."
• 21.3 per cent of all patients had “no known epidemiological link”
• 11.6 per cent of all patients had exposure information listed as "missing or unknown."