Ontario reports highest single-day new COVID-19 case count with 3,328

The Government of Ontario confirmed 3,328 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday morning, the highest number since the pandemic began.

And there are 56 more deaths.

Daily case counts have remained above 2,000 for almost two weeks, with Wednesday’s 2,923, Tuesday’s 2,553, Monday’s 1,939, Sunday’s 2,005, Saturday’s 2,142, Friday’s 2,159, Thursday’s 2,447, and Wednesday’s 2,408.

Before Monday’s numbers, the last time cases were below 2,000 was on December 14, when 1,940 cases were confirmed.

There are 888 new cases in Toronto, 431 in Peel, 418 in York Region, 257 in Windsor-Essex County, and 194 in Ottawa.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said over 63,900 tests were completed.

Ontario is reporting 3,328 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 63,900 tests completed. Locally, there are 888 new cases in Toronto, 431 in Peel, 418 in York Region, 257 in Windsor-Essex County and 194 in Ottawa.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) December 31, 2020

Ontario currently remains under a province-wide lockdown and will be in effect in northern Ontario for 14 days and southern for 28 days. The restrictions will be evaluated throughout the lockdown, rather than when they are set to expire.

Health officials confirmed that the three cases of the COVID-19 UK variant have been found in Ontario. The fast-spreading virus mutation was first detected in a couple from Durham Region.

Although the new variant of the virus has been found to spread quicker, there is no evidence to suggest that approved vaccines will be any less effective against it.

The daily numbers will not be posted on January 1 due to the public holiday.

The total numbers of cases is now 182,159 in the province with 4,530 reported deaths.