Ontario records 441 new cases of COVID-19 as death toll tops 2,000

A second round of coronavirus testing in long-term care homes and testing of frontline healthcare workers is expected to happen this weekend. Faiza Amin with the premier’s promise to “ramp up” the province's efforts.

By News Staff

Ontario reported 441 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday as the provincial death toll climbed to over 2,000.

That is the highest single-day increase since May 8 and it marks the third time in the last five days that more than 400 new cases have been reported.

For the fifth-straight day, the number of new cases outpaced the number of resolved cases.

Ontario’s growth rate in cases has steadily hovered between 1.5 and 1.9 per cent for 12 of the past 13 days.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams has said the numbers are in a plateau, and called it disappointing.

Another 28 people have died of coronavirus, bringing the provincial total to 2,021.

Of the 2,021 total deaths, 1,262 were in long-term care, Public Health Ontario reports. The Ministry of Long-Term Care reports that 1,486 people who died were in long-term care – a discrepancy attributed to a lag in reported deaths.

Provincial health officials also reported that there were no new outbreaks in long-term care homes.

For the second-straight day, more than 10,000 tests were completed but the total of 11,276 still fell short of the province’s target of 20,000 daily tests.

The provincial total of confirmed cases now stands at 24,628 with 76.2 per cent considered resolved.

The number of hospitalizations continues to slowly decline while ICU patients fell by two. However, the number of patients in ICU and on a ventilator climbed by three over the last 24 hours.

For the fourth straight day, Toronto Public Health also saw the number of new cases outpace the number of resolved cases.

Officials reported 258 new cases for a total of 9,615 in the city and only 113 resolved cases. The seven day average of new cases also rose for the third straight day.

“Our analysis thus far suggests that people may have acquired the virus during recent events where people traditionally spend time with their families, like Mother’s Day,” said Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s Medical Officer of Health. “We need to keep monitoring our data to see if events like these or increased mixing of people related to reopening is creating more COVID-19 transmission in our city.”

The number of new deaths rose by just 11 and now sits at 743.

Hospitalizations and patients in the ICU and on ventilators remained relatively stable.

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