TORONTO — Ontario's health minister says the province will not make any changes to public health measures over the next month to try to limit community transmission of COVID-19.

Christine Elliott says the pause is also intended to help keep the virus out of schools as they reopen over the next two weeks.

Elliott said the pause means limits on the number of people in social bubbles will remain in place, as will restrictions on public gatherings and sports events.

She says the decision will help avoid returning to broad scale closures and shut downs.

Ontario has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, reporting 375 new cases of COVID-19 over the past two days.

There were also 238 cases newly marked as resolved on Sunday and Monday in the provincewide report.

Elliott said there were 185 new cases in the past 24 hours, with 190 recorded the day before.

The minister said she was concerned about the increase in numbers and urged people not to let their guard down as schools reopen.

"We do need to ensure that the progress we've made is not lost," she said. "On this, the first day of school for many young Ontarians across the province, we need to do everything we can to limit the spread of COVID-19."

The province reported two days worth of data on Tuesday because of the holiday weekend.

The total number of cases in Ontario now stands at 43,536, which includes 2,813 deaths and 39,196 cases classified as resolved.

The province was able to complete nearly 45,000 tests over the past two days.

This article by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2020.

The Canadian Press