Ontario reports less than 300 new coronavirus cases for second day in a row
The Province of Ontario confirms there are 32 more COVID-19 related deaths and 292 new cases, as of Wednesday morning.
This marks a slight increase in new cases compared to Tuesday’s 287 — the lowest number since March 31, when Ontario reported 211 cases. But it’s the second day in a row with Ontario reporting numbers below 300.
The testing also increased to 15,133 from the previous day, an improvement from the 9,875 tests completed on Tuesday, 8,170 on Monday, and 11,383 from Sunday’s report.
Premier Doug Ford wanted the province to test 16,000 people daily starting on May 6, but testing has been falling short of this goal.
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On Sunday, Ford asked that more Ontario residents to get tested even if they are not showing symptoms, so the province can have a better understanding of the virus.
According to the Minister of Health’s office, an increase in asymptomatic testing in Ontario is already underway.
Over the weekend, the province issued expanded guidance on asymptomatic testing for individuals living in the community and a few Toronto assessment centres have been seeing an increase in walk-in traffic since Ford’s announcement.
To date, a total of 644,547 have been tested across Ontario.
The province’s total is now 26,483 but 76.9% of the cases have been resolved, with 20,372 patients recovered.
A total of 2,155 people have died from coronavirus in Ontario, and there are 11,817 cases currently under investigation.
According to the Public Health Ontario Daily Epidemiologic Summary (iPHIS), there are 199 outbreaks in long-term care homes, with 1,352 resident deaths. Around 18.6% of cases in all of Ontario come from these facilities.
However, the Ministry of Long-Term Care Daily Report says there have been 135 outbreaks reported in long-term care homes with 1,587 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.
Government of Ontario
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 Tuesday, 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 Ontario government outlined key findings from the Canadian Armed Forces report on the five long-term care homes at which the military has been assisting.
The report details “serious concerns” around staffing, infection prevention and control, resident safety, food preparation, and janitorial services.
The Greater Toronto Area public health units account for more than half of the cases at 65.3%.
Of the total cases, 43.2% are male and 56% are female, with 40.6% of cases age 60 years and older.
To date, there are 847 hospitalized, with 150 in ICU, and 117 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.
Last week, the province also entered Stage 1 of its framework to reopen the economy, allowing certain businesses and recreational activities to reopen. Despite this though, Ford’s government extended its emergency orders for another 10 days to help stop the spread of the virus.
The emergency orders were previously extended to May 29, and now are currently in force until June 9, 2020.
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