Ontario reports over 700 new coronavirus cases for fifth straight day

The Government of Ontario confirmed 712 new COVID-19 cases on Friday morning, making this the fifth straight day the province is reporting over 700.

There are nine reported deaths and 713 recovered cases from the previous day.

Cases have been high recently with Thursday’s 783, Wednesday’s 721, Tuesday’s 746, Monday’s 807, Sunday’s 649, Saturday’s 809, and Friday’s 939 — the highest count to date in the pandemic.

Ontario health officials projected that the province could see 1,000 daily cases by mid-October.

On Friday, Premier Doug Ford announced that Toronto, Peel, and Ottawa would be going back to a modified Stage 2, which includes the closures of indoor dining, gyms, and cinemas for at least 28 days.

Of the newly announced cases, 213 were in Toronto, 135 were in Peel, 108 were in Ottawa, and 62 were in York Region.

Health Minister Christine Elliott over 38,500 tests were completed. She said that the province wants to reach 50,000 tests a day by mid-October.

Ontario is reporting 712 cases of #COVID19 as over 38,500 tests were completed. Locally, there are 213 new cases in Toronto, 135 in Peel, 108 in Ottawa and 62 in York Region. There are 713 more resolved cases.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) October 16, 2020

There is now a total of 62,908 cases in the province, with 54,004 recovered, and 3,031 reported deaths.