Ontario is on a roll as far as battling the pandemic is concerned, with only 182 new cases of the novel coronavirus confirmed on Friday —making it the fifth day in a row that we've seen fewer than 300 new infections.

It also marks the second day in a row that the one-day increase rate, at just 0.6 per cent, has been the lowest on record since the province started issuing regular epidemiologic summaries on its website.

This is especially heartening given the fact that a record-high number of tests were conducted in the past 24 hours: 28,000, which is above the province's stated capacity of 25,000 per day and nearly 4,000 more than the province's previous one-day testing record, which was yesterday.

With 182 new cases of #COVID19, today is the lowest day-over-day increase since March 28 and a positive sign that the downward trend in new cases is continuing. This is at a time when daily testing remains at all-time highs with over 28,000 tests processed yesterday.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) June 12, 2020

In more good news, the number of people now considered to be recovered from the virus has jumped 302 since the last report — significantly higher than the number of new patients — for an overall recovery rate of 82.5 per cent of the 31,726 cases the province has had so far.

These numbers are all indicative of what everyone's been hoping for: that we're on the path to recovery and hopefully a full reopening in the near future.

As officials continue to learn more about the virus, patient demographics are shifting, with the bulk of new cases now coming from the GTA rather than Toronto, and most infections occurring in younger people.

Ontario Minister of Health Christine Elliott has said that with Stage 2 starting in most areas of the province today, many regions have very few or no new cases — a fantastic sign. (She also thankfully tested negative for COVID-19 after coming under fire for picking up some wine while awaiting her results earlier this week.)

Today, most of Ontario moves into Stage 2. Looking locally, 28 of the province’s 34 PHUs have five or fewer new cases, with 17 of them having no new cases at all. That’s very positive news and confirms the regions are ready to reopen more services.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) June 12, 2020

Unfortunately, Friday's numbers reveal that another 11 people have succumbed to the communicable disease, for a total of 2,498 in Ontario since the health crisis began, making for a mortality rate of 7.9 per cent.