Ontario’s death toll from COVID-19 has doubled in the last week as the number of residents who have taken ill is poised to pass the 10,000 mark.

The province had 445 fatalities linked to the highly contagious novel coronavirus, that originated in China late last year, as of Wednesday at 5 p.m., up by 35 people in the previous 24 hours.

A Star compilation of online reports from the province’s 34 regional health units also showed an increase of 536 confirmed and probable cases to a total of 9,591 in the same time period, an increase of 5.9 per cent.

Although health officials expect this week will mark the peak of infection from the first wave of COVID-19, a memo Wednesday from a Toronto retirement community and nursing home underscored the dangers that still lurk.

“One of the most difficult aspects of this situation is that the vast majority of residents who tested positive were not exhibiting symptoms,” Heather Janes, chief executive of Christie Gardens, wrote after several more got test results showing they have the virus.

The first cases were detected at the facility two weeks ago and residents of the nursing home portion have been relocated to one area in a bid to contain any spread.

Janes asked residents to stay in their units “for the safety of all” and to not go out for walks or other activities.

“We are learning more than ever that any of us can be carrying the virus and not even be aware,” she added in the memo.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said almost half the new cases reported by the province Wednesday morning were in long-term care as the province puts an increased focus on reducing infections in nursing homes.

Overall, the provincial Ministry of Health reported there were 795 patients in hospital suffering from serious effects of COVID-19 with 254 in intensive care and 188 of them on ventilators to breathe as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Those numbers have been stable or declining slightly for days and are far below surge projections that had been feared.

Another 6,010 Ontarians were tested for the virus, which is short of the target of 8,000 set for Wednesday, and 4,429 people were awaiting test results.

To date, 3,902 Ontarians who tested positive for the virus have recovered.

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Across Canada, there have been 27,557 confirmed cases with 954 deaths, said Dr. Theresa Tam, the federal public health officer.

Lab tests have been done on more than 462,000 people, with six per cent testing positive.

Tam said that the rate of growth has slowed, now doubling every 10 days instead of every three days as was the case in late March.

But Tam stressed, as did Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, that it is too early to relax measures, saying the epidemic may be slowing down but “we need to go slowly.”