COVID-19 hospitalizations reached eight-month-high earlier this week

In this Thursday, May 14, 2020 photo, medical staff transfer a patient through a corridor at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, in Blackburn, England, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Hannah McKay/Pool Photo via AP)

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 reached an eight-month-high earlier this week as most public health indicators continue to point towards a fall resurgence in viral activity.

The latest data from the Ministry of Health reveals that there were 1,663 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday, representing a modest two per cent increase from the previous week.

However, the data shows that the number of people in Ontario hospitals with COVID-19 on Monday reached 1,812. That would be the highest number in any single 24-hour period since February 11.

Hospitalizations involving people testing positive for COVID-19 have now increased by about 54 per cent over the last month.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID positive patients requiring treatment in intensive care is also on the rise albeit at a slower pace.

The latest data suggests that there 158 people testing positive for COVID-19 in intensive care units on Wednesday, up from 143 the previous week.

Wastewater surveillance, it should be noted, has been showing a general upward trajectory in viral levels since about the second week of September and the latest report from Public Health Ontario shows a continuation of that trend.

The good news is that the number of tests detected through PCR testing over the last week declined for the first time since mid-September.

But outbreaks in the limited number of settings with widespread access to PCR testing are continuing to rise.

The latest data shows that there are now 190 active outbreaks in long-term care homes, 178 in retirement homes and 121 in hospitals.

Those numbers stood at 179, 160 and 104 just last week.

The ministry also added 109 net new deaths to its COVID-19 tally on Thursday, which now stands at 14,603.It’s nearly double the number of deaths reported the previous week.