The number of confirmed coronavirus patients in Ontario continues to rise rapidly this week as the provincial government plows through its backlog of tests.

As of Tuesday morning, 4,726 cases of COVID-19 had been recorded in the province along with 153 deaths.

A total of 379 new new cases were confirmed between Monday and Tuesday, representing a one-day increase of 8.7 per cent. Twenty-one new deaths were reported over the same period of time.

It's important to note that these figures only factor in cases already processed through the province's integrated Public Health Information System as of 4 p.m. on April 6.

Regional public health units put the case and death totals slightly higher at 5,115 and 166, respectively.

Ontario official number of deceased is 153 https://t.co/kfCaO1VWeD. PHUs as of last night at 166. https://t.co/Xf2u91zq9u

— Jane Philpott (@janephilpott) April 7, 2020

Public Health Ontario reported in its daily epidemiologic summary on Tuesday that there have now been 51 outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term care homes across the province since the pandemic first hit in mid-January.

Community transmission appears to be responsible for more cases than ever before as of April 6, with only 19.1 per cent of all cases linked to travel and 14.7 per cent linked to close contact with a confirmed case.

Of those currently sick with COVID-19, 614 are hospitalized and 233 are in ICU. 

Just over 38 per cent of all coronavirus patients have now recovered from their illnesses, according to the province, with 1,802 cases now marked as "resolved" — though this designation does apply to anyone who is 14 days past the onset of symptoms and no longer in medical care, regardless of whether or not they've tested negative for the virus.

Roughly 10.9 per cent of all people who've been infected with the coronavirus in Ontario are healthcare workers.

Status of #COVID19 in #Ontario [Apr 7 10:30am]: 4726 known cases* (379 new cases, 153 total deaths, 21 new deaths, 691 results pending)#COVID19ontario #covid19Canada #COVIDー19 #onhealth #COVID19ON #onpoli #COVID_19 #StayAtHomeSaveLives
Data: https://t.co/wWVxY8Phf0 pic.twitter.com/oxOA9zdruM

— Dr. Jennifer Kwan (@jkwan_md) April 7, 2020

Only 691 people are currently under investigation for COVID-19 in the province, according to Public Health Ontario, now that labs have worked through a backlog of thousands of tests. 

Public health officials do still believe that local case totals will grow exponentially in the coming weeks, however, and continue to advise all residents to stay home whenever possible, wash their hands frequently, and practice social distancing while Ontario remains in a state of emergency.

Predictive modelling projections released last week suggest that Ontario will see 80,000 cases of COVID-19 confirmed by the end of this month alone with 1,600 fatalities. Even with full public health interventions, Ontario could see between 3,000 and 15,000 deaths by the end of the pandemic.

Toronto Public Health has recorded 1,301 cases of COVID-19 locally with 32 deaths and 145 patients currently hospitalized. Canada-wide, 17,063 cases have been confirmed, along with 345 deaths.

The World Health Organization had recorded 67,594 fatalities linked to the pandemic as of April 6 with more than 1,210,956 cases now confirmed across the globe.