Ontario reported more than 16,700 new COVID-19 cases Sunday and an increase of 10 people in ICUs with viruses.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said there were 16,714 new infections. On Saturday, a record 18,445 cases were reported.
Recently, new PCR testing requirements came into effect in Ontario. The tests are now available only for certain high-risk populations.
Read more:
What we know so far about Ontario’s changes in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The move came as the province’s testing system strained with high demand amid the Omicron surge.
It means that daily case counts in Ontario are becoming less accurate in showing a true representation of the spread of the virus in the community.
Ontario Public Health Data shows there were 17 additional COVID-related deaths, bringing the provincial death toll to 10,223. One of the deaths occurred over a month ago and was added due to a data cleanup.
Elliott said there are 224 people in intensive care with COVID-19, an increase of 10 compared to Saturday’s report.
There are 1,117 people hospitalized with COVID, which is down by 197. However, Elliott noted that not all hospitals report numbers on weekends.
The total number of COVID-19 cases resolved in Ontario stands at 658,015, representing an increase of 5,901.
Elliott said a total of more than 124,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered on Friday and Saturday.
Not all provincial COVID-19 data was updated on Sunday due to the holidays. All data is expected to be updated on Tuesday.
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