Ontario reports 189 new COVID-19 cases as reopening continues

Ontario reported 189 additional cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, as most areas of the Windsor-Essex public health unit — the last to get the green light to proceed into the next phase of reopening — join the rest of the province.

The new cases mark a 0.6 per cent increase, bringing the cumulative number in Ontario since the outbreak began in late January to 34,205.

About 86.3 per cent of those infections of the novel coronavirus are resolved, the Ministry of Health says. Another 198 cases were marked resolved yesterday.

With the majority of the province having been in Stage 2 of reopening for a week or more, the five-day rolling average of new daily cases — a measure that smoothes peaks and valleys in the data — has remained flat.

Twenty-seven of Ontario’s 34 public health units confirmed five or fewer cases yesterday, Health Minister Christine Elliott noted in a series of tweets this morning. Ten of those 27 reported no new cases at all.

There are currently 2,036 active cases of COVID-19 provincewide, 13 fewer than were active in the last update.

Meanwhile, the number of people in hospital with confirmed cases of COVID-19 fell from 278 to 270.

Those being treated in intensive care units and with ventilators — 69 and 47, respectively — fell to the lowest levels since the province started publicly reporting those figures at the beginning of April.

Ontario’s official COVD-19 death toll grew by 10, up to 2,641. A CBC News count based on data provided directly by public health units puts the real roll at 2,677.

Premier Doug Ford is scheduled to hold his daily COVID-19 briefing beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Ford’s office says he will be joined by Elliott and Jill Dunlop, associate minister of children and women’s issues.

CBC