Ontario is reporting another 1,534 cases of COVID-19 today as residents in Toronto and Peel Region prepare for a 28-day lockdown period starting Monday.

Today's case count is down slightly from the record 1,588 infections recorded on Saturday but up from the 1,248 confirmed at this time last week.

The rolling seven-day average of new cases now stands at 1,415, down from 1,443 one week ago.

The province's health minister confirmed that more than 46,000 tests were processed over the past 24 hours.

The test positivity rate reported by the province today, which factors in duplicates and errors, is 3.8 per cent.

New infections outpaced the 1,429 additional recoveries today, driving up the number of active cases in the province to 12,918.

Fourteen more deaths were confirmed over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of virus-related fatalities in Ontario to 3,486.

Seven of the deaths reported today involve residents of long-term care homes.

Provincial health officials say there are at least 484 people with COVID-19 receiving treatment in Ontario hospitals, noting that as is often the case on weekends, "a number of hospitals" did not submit data to the province and officials "anticipate the number of hospitalized patients may increase when reporting compliance increases."

The available data also indicates that there are at least 147 COVID patients in intensive care and 89 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

According to recent data from Critical Care Services Ontario, at one point last week the province hit 150 ICU admissions, reaching the threshold that will force some hospitals to cancel elective surgeries and other procedures.

More than 80 per cent of all new cases today were in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), including 460 in Toronto, 490 in Peel Region, and 130 in York Region.

In an effort to slow the spread of the virus and protect the health-care system, Toronto and Peel Region will enter a 28-day lockdown starting Monday.

Non-essential retail will close as of 12:01 a.m. on Monday but curbside pickup and delivery will still be permitted.

Gyms and personal care services, such as barbers and hair salons, must close their doors once again and restaurants can stay open for takeout and delivery only.

"I think that people generally are very supportive of what needs to be done and they understand that we are putting in place these restrictions and recommending them to the province based on expert advice," Mayor John Tory said of the lockdown in an interview with CP24 on Sunday morning.

"I think they also do agree with the notion that if it is going to make things better down the road a few months, and avoid a much worse lockdown for a much longer period of time, and if we can keep the schools open now and protect our elderly, this is a thing that may be necessary."

New cases in the GTHA:

Peel Region: 490

Toronto: 460

York Region: 130

Durham Region: 50

Halton Region: 48

Hamilton: 66