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Despite the jump past the 1,100 mark, Ontario Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said he had expected the total to be even higher.

“I’m a little surprised the (increase) was in the mid-100s,” Williams said during a news conference in Toronto.

Williams said his office had prepared for an increase in the “mid-200s” as testing increased.

Dr. Barbara Yaffe, associate chief medical officer of health, said 29 per cent of the cases in Ontario were linked to travel, 10 per cent were from contact and about 18 per cent were contracted in the communities.

Yaffe also noted the testing system seemed to be picking up speed, with 8,690 investigations still pending, about 1,300 fewer pending cases than were reported Friday.

Eight cases have been resolved (effectively cured), unchanged from Friday’s total, but the number of deaths rose by one to 19.

The department no longer provides details on where individual patients are from.

More than 43,000 Ontarians have been approved for testing, with the province reporting that 33,240 of those tests came back negative.

In Quebec, meanwhile, the province reported 2,498 cases as of Saturday, up from 2,021 on Friday. The death toll in Quebec was up four to 22.

The Outaouais region now has 26 cases, up from 18 on Friday.

As of Saturday afternoon, the total number of confirmed cases announced by the federal government was 5,264, with 59 deaths.

On Saturday evening, Ontario introduced a new measure limiting gatherings to no more than five people. The previous limit had been 50.

During a news conference, Premier Doug Ford said there could be exceptions for some events, such as 10 for funerals, up to 50 for child-care facilities looking after the kids of front-line workers and households with more than five people.

Ford also said businesses and corporations involved in price gouging during the COVID-19 crisis would face steep fines and possible jail time.

He said the heads of companies found guilty of gouging could face fines of up to $500,000 and a year in jail. Corporations could face fines of up to $10 million, the premier said.

“I think it’s disgusting, how can you take advantage of people at this critical time,” Ford said.

“I’m coming after them with a vengeance.”