Ontario is reporting a record number of new cases of COVID-19 but it comes as the province’s labs turned around more than 58,000 individual tests, pointing to a lower positivity percentage overall.
The Ministry of Health says that there were 1,855 new cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus confirmed on Thursday as well as another 20 deaths, 13 of which involving residents of long-term care homes.
That is a sizeable increase on the previous daily record of 1,588 cases but it coincides with a massive jump in testing. The province’s labs were able to turn around 58,037 individual tests on Thursday, which is nearly 10,000 more than the previous high of 48,488 that was set back on Oct. 8.
As a result, the ministry says that the positive percentage for the last 24 hours was actually 3.7 per cent, which is the lowest it has been in more than a week.
Nonetheless, the sheer number of new cases is troubling.
Today’s total represents a 25 per cents increase from yesterday’s number (1,478 new cases) and pushes the seven-day average up to 1,489.
That number had stood at 1,372 at this point last week and 1,355 one week prior (Nov. 13) as cases temporarily flatlined following a significant surge at the beginning of November.
But they may be rising again.
Of the new cases confirmed on Friday, more than half involved residents in either Toronto (494 new cases) or Peel (517). Meanwhile, York had 189 new cases, Halton had 130, Durham had 65 and Hamilton had 82.
The hotspot for infection outside the GTA was Waterloo with 74 new cases.
Just four of Ontario’s 34 public health units reported no new cases at all.
Photo credit: ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE / TORONTO STAR
News source: CP24
