After a couple of days of somewhat better numbers, Ontario Health is reporting a big spike in numbers today, citing an 11.6% increase in new cases.
The 552 new new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours is a single-day record for the province. The previous record was 462, reported on April 3.
Today's new cases increases the total number of confirmed cases in Ontario to 5,276.
There have also been 21 deaths in the last 24 hours, raising the total to 174 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Ontario. To date, there have been more than 2,000 recoveries.
According to the provincial agency, there are 605 patients currently hospitalized for COVID-19. Of those, 246 are in intensive care units and 197 of those are on ventilators.
Ontario Health notes 46.1% of cases are male, while 53.3% are female. The agency is reporting that 36.4% of cases are people 60 years of age and older.
The Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 51.8% of cases.
In total, 12.4% of all cases were hospitalized
Ontario Health reports it has tested 84,601 people for COVID-19, and there are 1,102 tests still awaiting results.
There are 58 outbreaks declared at long-term care homes in Ontario; yesterday there were 51. An outbreak is declared after a single case is confirmed in a resident or employee at a long-term care facility.
The statistics reported by the province today are current as of 4 p.m. yesterday.
As of Tuesday, there are at least 105 lab-confirmed cases in the Simcoe County and Muskoka region.
“I’m concerned with what I’m seeing,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. “We’ve had a substantial number of cases even in the last 24 hours.”
He reported Tuesday there were 17 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in the region since Saturday afternoon. At least five of those were reported to the health unit within 24 hours.
There are 14 residents and two staff confirmed infected with COVID-19 at Bradford Valley long-term care facility, all of which were reported since last Friday.
This is the second long-term care outbreak in the region. Spencer House in Orillia has one staff member confirmed with the virus; other staff members and residents have been tested, but results have been confirmed negative.
Nearby, the Grey Bruce Health Unit reports 29 cases for their region.
“In the past 24-hours we have had three new cases,” said Dr. Ian Arra, medical officer of health for the Grey Bruce Health Unit. “The summary of it, we have community spread. It is time for people who still don’t think this is an emergency to recalculate their thoughts.”
- With files from Erika Engel
