Ontario confirms increase in new coronavirus cases for second day in a row

Jun 2 2020, 2:51 pm

The Province of Ontario confirms there have been 17 more COVID-19 related deaths and 446 new cases, as of Tuesday morning.

This marks an increase in new cases and deaths compared to the 404 new patients and 10 deceased reported on Monday.

Before Monday, the cases were below 400 for a week, since May 26.

The increase comes as Ontario plans on extending the province’s state of emergency for another 28 days, until June 30.

According to the latest data, a total of 15,244 tests were completed from the previous day, an increase of 14,379 from Monday’s report, but a decrease from Sunday’s 17,014 completed tests.

Premier Doug Ford wanted the province to test 16,000 people daily starting on May 6. Testing had been surpassing this goal for five days in a row, until Monday’s report.

On Friday, the province released its expanded testing strategy, which includes deploying mobile teams to coronavirus hotspots and testing more workplaces, regions, and neighbourhoods.

To date, a total of 747,964 have been tested across Ontario.

The province’s total is now 28,709 but 78.3% of the cases have been resolved, with 22,484 patients recovered.

A total of 2,293 people have died from coronavirus in Ontario, and there are 10,622 cases currently under investigation.

According to the Public Health Ontario Daily Epidemiologic Summary (iPHIS), there are 176 outbreaks in long-term care homes, with 1,465 resident deaths. Around 18% of cases in all of Ontario come from these facilities.

However, the Ministry of Long-Term Care Daily Report says there have been 105 outbreaks reported in long-term care homes with 1,652 resident deaths.

According to Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario relies on local public health units to report on the coronavirus, both in the community and in long-term care homes, through iPHIS, in which there is a delay in the data being received.

At the same time, the Ministry of Long-Term Care has started collecting information about coronavirus in long-term care homes through its network of inspectors.

On May 26, Ford said the province is investigating long-term care homes after reports from military members helping in long-term care homes show “heartbreaking and horrific” concerns.

The provincial government will also take over five more long-term care homes that Ford is “most concerned” about and will perform “rigorous inspections” of 13 more homes over the coming weeks.

Government of Ontario

The Greater Toronto Area public health units account for more than half of the cases at 66.2%.

Of the total cases, 44.1% are male and 55.1% are female, with 39.2% of cases age 60 years and older.

To date, there are 801 hospitalized, with 125 in ICU, and 87 patients on ventilators.

Government of Ontario

The daily summary is based on data reported by the 34 public health units across Ontario and recorded in the province’s integrated Public Health Information System, according to the Ontario government.

iPHIS is the Ministry of Health’s disease reporting system where data is regularly updated, and where each daily summary is pulled at 4 pm the previous day.

Clarrie FeinsteinClarrie Feinstein

+ News
+ Coronavirus
ADVERTISEMENT