COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ontario drop below 2,000, another 44 deaths reported

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ontario dropped below 2,000 on Thursday for the first time since early January as the province reported another 44 deaths linked to the disease.

Right now, there are 1,897 patients in hospital with COVID-19 -- a drop of 162 patients over Wednesday’s total. The last time the number of hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in Ontario were this low was on Jan. 4 when 1,290 patients were being treated.

At least 56 per cent of those hospitalizations involve patients who were admitted due to COVID-19, while 44 per cent were admitted for another reason but have since tested positive.

Of those in hospital, 961 patients are fully vaccinated, 400 are unvaccinated, and 79 are partially vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining patients is unknown.

The province also reported a drop in the number of patients in intensive care with COVID-19. As of Thursday, 445 patients are receiving care as ICU admissions continue to decrease since late January.

In the ICU, 76 per cent of patients were admitted due to COVID-19 and 24 per cent tested positive after the fact.

Of those patients, 165 are fully vaccinated, 119 are unvaccinated, and 14 are partially vaccinated. No vaccination information was provided for the remaining patients.

Forty-four deaths related to COVID-19 were also reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the province’s death toll to 11,988. However, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said those deaths actually occurred in the past 24 days.

Another 3,201 cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Thursday, though health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to limited access to testing in the province.

Labs across Ontario processed 22,417 tests in the last 24 hours, which the Ministry of Health said yielded a positivity rate of 11. 2 per cent.

Ontario has seen 1,064,604 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

Most of the cases reported by the province on Thursday were found in Toronto (555), Peel Region (275), and Simcoe Muskoka (181).

Other areas that reported relatively high COVID-19 case counts on Thursday include Ottawa (171), York Region (163), Windsor-Essex (145), Durham Region (135), Middlesex-London (132), Waterloo (127), and Hamilton (119).

UPDATE ON VACCINATIONS

Health Minister Christine Elliott said that 92.1 per cent of Ontarians over the age of 12 have one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 89.6 per cent have two doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.

More than 31,153,000 doses have been administered since the province began its vaccination campaign in Dec. 2020. At least 47,423 of those doses were administered on Wednesday alone.