Ontario sees big drop in coronavirus cases as economy begins to reopen

The province recorded 294 cases of the contagion on Saturday, down from 346 reported on Friday.

This is the lowest number of new cases since March 31, where 260 new cases had been confirmed.

The dip in new cases comes as the province ramps up its testing efforts to record levels. More than 17,000 tests were conducted on Saturday while 19,000 tests were completed on Friday.

Ontario also experienced a significant drop in fatalities on Saturday. The province recently released data on Saturday that only 35 people had died compared to 59 that were confirmed on Friday.

At the time of this writing, Ontario has just over 20,000 cases of the virus, including 1,634 deaths and 14,772 recoveries.

Long-term care facilities have been hit the hardest by the pandemic, and Ontario is now saying there are 239 active Covid-19 outbreaks in those facilities, a small increase from a previous report.

All but 77 virus-related deaths are those who were over 60 years old, with the province saying that over 1,100 deaths involved patients over the age of 80.

The number of patients in hospitals with the virus dropped to 961, with 195 people in intensive care and around 140 on a ventilator.

The numbers come as the provincial government seeks to reopen more portions of the economy on Monday.

Hardware stores and garden centers were allowed to reopen this weekend and retail stores will be allowed to reopen for curbside pickup only on Monday.

Provincial parks are set to reopen this week but amenities within those parks plan to remain closed until further notice.