Ontario reports 598 new COVID-19 cases, 5 more deaths

Ontario is reporting 598 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths linked to the disease.

Friday’s case count marks a slight decline from the 642 new cases reported on Thursday, which was the highest number of new infections seen in Ontario since early October.

The province’s rolling seven-day average stands at 537, up from 404 a week ago.

With 30,230 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said that Ontario’s positivity rate is about 2.5 per cent.

Of the 598 cases reported on Friday, 376 are in people who are not vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 222 are in people who are fully vaccinated, according to Health Minister Christine Elliott.