Ontario reports 733 new COVID-19 cases as stay-at-home order expires

Ontario is reporting 733 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, marking a third straight day of case counts below 1,000. 

The seven-day rolling average, which helps smooth out the peaks and valleys in the data, also dropped below the 1,000 mark. It now stands at 978, the lowest it’s been since Nov. 4, 2020. 

New cases include 173 in Toronto, 134 in Peel, 69 in York Region and 66 in Hamilton, according to Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott. 

The province also recorded 25 more deaths linked to the virus, bringing the cumulative total of COVID-19-related deaths to 8,791.

The figures come as the province’s stay-at-home order expires, but most COVID-19 health measures remain in place.

The order enacted in April asked residents to only leave home for reasons deemed essential like exercise, grocery shopping or seeking health care.

As of today, that rule is no longer in effect.

But other measures like the five-person limit on outdoor gatherings and restrictions on in-person retail and other businesses remain until the province officially enters the first step of its reopening plan.

As of Tuesday, the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 decreased by 96, leaving 708 patients hospitalized with the virus. Of that number, 576 people are being treated in intensive care units, a figure that includes out-of-province patients. Of those, 399, or about 69 per cent, needed a ventilator to breathe. 

Meanwhile, Ontario’s network of labs completed 31,768 tests in the past 24 hours and logged a positivity test rate of 2.8 per cent. 

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, 9,342,121 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in the province.