Ontario has seen at least 32 more deaths from COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours, according to the Star’s latest count.

As of 5 p.m. Easter Sunday, the province’s 34 regional public health units were reporting a total of 320 COVID-19 deaths among 8,021 confirmed or probable cases of the disease, up from 288 at the same time Saturday.

With 425 new confirmed or probable cases reported since 5 p.m. Saturday, Ontario also saw the lowest day-over-day percentage increase in COVID-19 infections — 5.6 per cent — since mid-March, when the Star began maintaining its own daily count of the health units’ public tallies and statements.

Earlier Sunday, the Star reported the province had seen a record rise in deaths in the 24-hour period from Saturday morning to Sunday morning. It was not immediately clear if the province had also set an end-of-day record, as Toronto Public Health did not release an up-to-date count of COVID-19 deaths in the city Sunday evening. The day prior, the city said it had so far recorded 79 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Since Saturday evening, the epidemic’s death toll has risen by eight new cases in Halton Region, up from just three on Saturday morning, and 10 more cases reported in Niagara Region, up now to 20.

Late Saturday, Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington declared an outbreak in two units at the hospital after confirming infections in both staff and patients. That announcement followed similar outbreak findings at hospitals in Brantford and St. Catharines.

The Niagara Region health unit is home to the Lundy Manor long-term care home in Niagara Falls, where a total of 10 residents have died in one of the province’s deadliest institutional outbreaks.

Hamilton also reported a jump in deaths Sunday morning, to nine from six.

Meanwhile, the province reported by far its largest increase in COVID-19 testing since Premier Doug Ford said his “patience has worn thin” with the low number of tests being completed in the province.

In data reported early Sunday, the province announced more than 6,800 patients were tested for COVID-19 the day prior, the largest single-day total since March 29.

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The province has said it has the capacity to test about 13,000 samples a day, and on Friday the province pledged to ramp up testing to 16,000 a day by May 6. Health experts have been calling for that capacity to be used to get a better picture of how the epidemic is spreading in Ontario, particularly in vulnerable settings such as hospitals, long-term care homes, jails and homeless shelters.

According to the province, 738 patients are now hospitalized with COVID-19, including 261 in an intensive care unit. The province also says 3,121 patients have now recovered after testing positive for COVID-19.

The province says its data is accurate to 4 p.m. the previous day. The province also cautions its latest count of deaths — 274 — may be incomplete or out of date due to delays in its reporting system.

The Star’s count includes some patients reported as “probable” COVID-19 cases, meaning they have symptoms and contacts or travel history that indicate they very likely have the disease, but have not yet received a positive lab test.