Published Wednesday, December 30, 2020 10:15AM EST
Last Updated Wednesday, December 30, 2020 10:21AM EST
The Ministry of Health says that there were 2,923 new cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus confirmed on Tuesday, pushing the rolling seven-day average up to 2,309. That is a slight increase on this time last week when it stood at 2,304.
The number of cases reported over the last 24 hours, however, represents a significant jump on then record 2,553 cases that were reported just one day prior.
It also comes as testing continues to lag behind the levels seen in recent weeks.
On Tuesday the province conducted just 39,210 tests, pointing to a positivity percentage of 8.4 per cent.
It was the third straight day that a positivity rate above eight per cent was reported.
Meanwhile, the spread of the virus continues to accelerate in the GTA.
A record 998 new cases were reported in Toronto on Wednesday while York Region reported a record 408 cases. Peel Region reported another 441 new cases, Durham Region reported 158 and Halton Region reported 114.
“The numbers are very disconcerting,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said during an interview with CP24 earlier on Wednesday morning. “They are still alarming and they are still putting a huge strain on the healthcare system so there is nothing good about them. The numbers are just not good.”