As the City of Toronto awaits the go-ahead from the province to enter Stage 3 of reopening the economy, it seems new cases of COVID-19 are trending in the right direction. 

According to Health Minister Christine Elliott, only six new cases of the virus were reported within Toronto yesterday.

Today, Ontario is reporting 111 cases of #COVID19, a 0.3% increase. Locally, 27 of the 34 PHUs are reporting 5 or fewer cases, with 16 of them reporting no new cases. Ottawa is reporting 25 cases with 22 more cases in Windsor-Essex. There are only 6 new cases reported in Toronto.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) July 28, 2020

"This is our lowest number of new infections that we have reported in quite some time," said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa during the city's press briefing Monday. 

But while the numbers in the city are certainly encouraging, public health officials are once again reminding Torontonians to continue following health and safety precautions to avoid a surge in cases. 

Read my remarks on the current #COVID19 situation in TO. While the journey so far has been tough for all of us, the reality is that the virus is still here & we need everyone to stay focused so we don't lose our progress & can continue moving forward: https://t.co/5b3QTlhb7w

— Dr. Eileen de Villa (@epdevilla) July 27, 2020

"While I'm pleased that our local COVID-19 cases continue to decrease, new infections continue to be reported each day in our city," Dr. de Villa said Monday. 

"We know that approximately 25 per cent of these cases are a result of community transmission. I am also concerned by what we are observing in other Canadian cities and locations globally as they reopen. We cannot take this lightly. We must not let our guard down."

The province has delayed the decision on when Toronto will be allowed to enter Stage 3 until Wednesday, which Dr. de Villa said has given her and her team time to plan based on the city's unique circumstances and observations from other jurisdictions.

She said this is also why they requested that a number of additional measures and enhancements for the Stage 3 reopening orders be considered for Toronto, including mandatory masks inside restaurants and bars. 

And while Toronto numbers have been trending downwards this week, other Ontario jurisdictions that are further along in their economic reopenings are starting to experience surges.

Reopening metrics📊🦠 (#COVID19 pandemic/response monitoring, response capacity, and stage by PHU) from @howsmyflattenON: https://t.co/vRa0ETAc8v#COVID19Ontario #COVIDー19 #onpoli #SafeSeptember pic.twitter.com/4EIQKzR8z5

— Dr. Jennifer Kwan (@jkwan_md) July 28, 2020

Just today, Ottawa is reporting 25 cases new and Windsor-Essex is reporting 22.

And for the first time in what seems like forever, regions outside the GTA are reporting more cases than those within it. 

"I have heard many people speak of COVID fatigue and I hear that some believe that the pandemic is over. I have also heard that many people may believe that because they have not caught the virus over the past six months, they feel confident that they won't get sick," said Dr. de Villa. 

"We don't want to lose the progress that we have made. There are many jurisdictions that have had to go back and I don't want this to happen in our city."