Several health units in Ontario are reporting a record number of new cases of COVID-19, with the province reporting 1,746 new infections.
Toronto is reporting 622 new cases, which is a new one day high. Peel Region is reporting 390 new cases, while York and Durham Regions posted new record numbers of cases with 217 and 108.
According to our math, with more than 39,400 tests completed, the rate of tests coming back positive is at 4.4%. That's a little higher than the weekly average.
Eight deaths reported, which is the lowest since November 20th. All eight are in people who are 60 and older, two of them came in long term care settings.
The number of people in hospital shot up by 32 to 618, while the number of people in ICU also increased by 12 to 168. The number of people on ventilators increased by 17 to 108.
Interesting to note that provincial health officials are reporting the R-naught or rate of infection is now down below one for the province. That means one infected person is passing the virus to fewer than one other person. That means, over time, the number of new cases is expected to decrease.