Province Confirms 745 New Cases of COVID-19 This Morning

"It will remain the community transmission numbers to remain low", he said.

The 1,563 new infections found bring Ontario's lab-confirmed case total to 273,660, including 6,393 deaths and 250,937 recoveries.

Ontario reported almost 64,500 tests had been completed since the last daily update. "We anticipate fluctuations in case numbers over the next few days". A week ago today, that number was as high as 2,128.

Where are the new COVID-19 cases?

Ontario schools are set to open across the province on Monday, February 8, with schools in Toronto, Peel and York opening the following week on February 16, after Family Day.

Instead, schools in Toronto, Peel and York regions will reopen on February 16 while in-person learning for most of southern Ontario will resume on February 8.

All students across Ontario began online learning at the start of the year as part of the province-wide lockdown.

More than 200 Toronto Public Health staff members are tasked to city schools, de Villa said - more than what were in place last fall.

The Simcoe-Muskoka Health Unit also reported that 90 cases of the United Kingdom variant had been confirmed in the region as of Thursday, with 57 other likely cases that were awaiting test results.

There are now 1,101 patients in hospital with COVID-19, a number that has been steadily dropping in recent days. Tuesday's numbers saw the province dip below 1,000 for the first time since November 5. Of those patients now in hospital, 323 are in intensive care and 241 require a ventilator.

Lecce said the province would continue to monitor COVID-19 trends and take further action if necessary.

The province reported 1,172 cases and 67 deaths on Wednesday.