Ontario reports 329 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday

Ontario is reporting 329 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the provincial total to 21,236.

The updated numbers include 40 more deaths.

The province says at least 1,765 people have died a result of COVID-19 since the outbreak began.

Just over 1,000 people are currently in hospital with the virus, with 189 in intensive care units, and of those patients, 144 are on a ventilator.

There have been 475,058 COVID-19 tests completed since Jan. 15. More than 15,000 tests were done on Tuesday and 13,395 cases are still under investigation.

The province says roughly 42 per cent of the confirmed cases are people who are 60 years of age or older.

Seven more outbreaks have been declared at long-term care homes in the province, bringing the total to 256.

As of Tuesday, Niagara Region had 561 confirmed cases, Hamilton had 490, and Halton Region had 524 cases.

The Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 62 per cent of all cases.