

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Ontario has confirmed 421 new cases of COVID-19 as it continues its efforts to ramp up testing.

The number is up slightly from the 401 new cases reported one day prior but remains well off the record 550 cases that were confirmed on April 8.

The Ministry of Health has also confirmed 17 new deaths in people with the virus, down from 21 on Sunday and a record 31 on Saturday. The total number of fatalities in people confirmed to have the virus is 291.

Hospitalizations, meanwhile, continue to tick upwards and now stand at 760 provincewide, including the 263 people in intensive care units. That means that there are 22 additional people hospitalized with the virus than there were one day prior and about 171 more people than were hospitalized at this time last week (a 29 per cent increase)

More than 5,000 people tested over last day

The province has ramped up the number of people being tested for the virus after Premier Doug Ford told reporters last week that his patience had “run thin” with a level of testing that placed Ontario last among Canadian provinces on a per capita basis. However, it is still far short of the 13,000 tests that officials say can be performed in Ontario each and every day.

Over the last 24 hours, there were 5,065 tests conducted. That is up significantly from the roughly 2,000 to 3,00 daily tests that were being conducted last week but still leaves the province with some work to do to get to the 8,000 tests a day it plans to be at by Wednesday and the 12,500 tests a day it wants to hit by April 22.

“I am not a medical doctor but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the more people we test the sooner we are going to put an end to this,” Ford told reporters on Monday afternoon, noting that officials have assured him that they are “on target” to hit 8,000 tests a day by later this week. “If you are asking if I am frustrated, I am frustrated to say the least. But I have to rely on medical professionals. We have everything we need to get these tests done. Let’s just get out there and test, test, test everyone.”

Ford said that the province is seeing “a glimmer of light” in the form of a slowing of new cases and new hospitalizations but he said that there will have to be "more favourable" results over an even longer period of time before he considers lifting some of the numerous restrictions he has put into place to help limit the spread of the virus.

He said that while he remains “cautiously optimistic,” he is committed to "going through this for a little bit longer."

"The reason we are at the numbers we are at right now is because of the great work of the residents of Ontario," he said. "We just have to hang in there a little bit and not jump the gun. I know everyone is getting antsy. I see it, I hear it, people want to get out there but what if we do that and all of a sudden this just comes back with a vengeance and bites us in the backside? I would rather be safe than sorry."

Ontario health officials expressed cautious optimism Monday that the province may be seeing a shrinking number of new daily cases going forward. However Ontario's Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barabara Yaffe cautioned that new cases are nonetheless still cropping up and any decisions about easing social restrictions in the future will need to be made very cautiously.

"That’s a decision that will have to be taken very carefully in consultation with modellers and other senior people," Yaffee said.

Yaffe also expressed confidence in the province’s test, calling it a “very good test” which is “extremely sensitive and specific.” She estimated the number of false negatives produced by the test to be less than 10 per cent of all tests completed.

The total number of cases of COVID-19 in Ontario now stands at 7,470, including recoveries and deaths.

Here are some other highlights from the provincial numbers: