Ontario COVID-19 ICU admissions drop below 200 for the first time this year

Hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 in Ontario decreased to 644 on Thursday, while the number of patients in ICU dropped below 200 for the first time this year.

Of those patients in hospital, 47 per cent were admitted due to the virus while 53 per cent tested positive after the fact. At least 389 of those patients are fully vaccinated, 113 are unvaccinated, and 17 are partially vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining patients are unknown.

On Thursday, 19 deaths linked to COVID-19 were identified by officials. Thirteen of those deaths occured in the last month, while six occured more than thirty days ago. The new data shows that Ontario has recorded 12,307 deaths due to COVID-19.

In the ICU, 199 individuals are currently receiving care -- down by five patients over Wednesday’s data -- 75 per cent of whom were admitted for COVID-19 and 25 per cent of whom were admitted for other reasons but have since tested positive. Of those patients, 66 are fully vaccinated, 35 are unvaccinated, and four are partially vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining patients are unknown.

At least 2,398 cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the last 24 hours amid limited access to testing across the province.

Those cases were identified through 14,648 tests which the province said generated a positivity rate of 12.3 per cent.

ONTARIO VACCINATIONS

Health Minister Christine Elliott said Thursday 92.7 per cent of Ontarians over the age of 12 have received one dose and 90.8 per cent have received two doses.

More than 31,929,540 needles have gone into arms in Ontario, including 14,246 jabs that were administered on Wednesday.