A dreaded but apparently inevitable "second wave" of COVID-19 appears to be swelling toward Ontario right now as residents grow more and more comfortable with socializing under Stage 3 of the provincial government's reopening plan.

Public health officials just reported 133 new coronavirus infections across the province, marking the seventh day in a row we've seen a triple-digit increase in case numbers.

This is also the second-highest daily count we've seen since July. The highest came through on Saturday after 148 new cases of the deadly virus were recorded through Ontario's integrated Public Health Information System.

#COVID19 in #Ontario [Sept 2]:
42554 known cases* (133 new cases)
2812 total deaths (0 new deaths🙏🏻)

See THREAD for more graphs⬇️📈#covid19Canada #COVIDー19 #onhealth #COVID__19 #COVID19ontario #onpoli pic.twitter.com/n53CDHhKxu

— Dr. Jennifer Kwan (@jkwan_md) September 2, 2020

Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams referred to Saturday's figure as "concerning," pointing to social gatherings (particularly among young people) and a lack of respect for Stage 3 guidelines as a source of potential resurgence in some communities.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's medical officer of health, warned similarly during a press conference on Monday that a second wave will likely hit Toronto in the coming weeks or months. 

These remarks, the moderate rise in case numbers, and a rash of COVID-19 infections among retail and restaurant employees have stoked concerns about new outbreaks in Toronto, specifically, this week.

Ontario is reporting 133 cases of #COVID19—however, with 137 more resolved there is a decrease in the number of active cases. Yesterday, the province processed over 24,000 tests as we’ve now done over 3,000,000 #COVID19 tests and continue to lead the country in daily testing.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) September 2, 2020

Ontario Minister of Health Christine Elliott cautioned this morning, however, that we actually saw a decrease in the number of active cases today with 137 more cases now considered to be recovered.

With 38,506 out of 42,554 resolved cases, Ontario's overall COVID-19 recovery rate is currently sitting at 90.5 per cent.

Our mortality rate is now 6.6 per cent with 2,812 deaths recorded since January — zero of which were reported today, which is always nice to see.