Ontario logs 20 more COVID-19 deaths, slight increase in hospitalizations

Ontario health officials have logged an additional 20 COVID-19 deaths on Friday as hospitalizations related to the disease rose slightly from the day before.

According to the Ministry of Health, there are 1,679 people in Ontario hospitals with COVID-19, an uptick from 1,661 a day earlier.

Of those patients, 209 are being treated in intensive care.

The majority of people in ICU—about 70 per cent—were admitted for COVID-19 while the remaining 30 per cent tested positive after being admitted for other ailments.

In total, about 44 per cent of all people hospitalized with COVID-19 were admitted for reasons related to the disease.

The 20 deaths reported Friday include two residents of long-term care.

The province has said that 19 of those deaths occurred in the last month while one was added to the cumulative total due to a data catchup.

This brings the total number of people in Ontario who have died after contracting COVID-19 to 12,812.

With just over 19,200 tests processed in the last 24-hour period, the Ministry of Health says the province’s positivity rate now stands at about 13.2 per cent.

The last time Ontario’s positivity rate fell below 10 per cent was in mid-January.

Officials logged an additional 2,760 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, although with testing restrictions that number is considered an underestimation.