Ontario reports 1,090 COVID-19 hospitalizations, three additional deaths

The number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 in Ontario reached 1,090 on Monday as another three deaths related to the disease were reported.

Monday’s hospitalization data marks an increase over Sunday’s patient total of 977. However, not all hospitals report patient data over the weekends.

Information on incidental hospitalizations and the vaccination status of those hospitalized was not released.

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At the same time, the number of patients in the ICU rose by 11 to 184. That number has been increasing for nearly a week.

Labs across Ontario identified 2,401 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours through 12,149 tests. That produced a positivity rate of 17.6 per cent, according to the province.

The number of lab-confirmed cases reported today is an underestimate due to limited access to PCR testing provincewide.

With three additional deaths due to COVID-19 reported since Sunday, Ontario’s death toll sits at 12,566.

Ontario has seen 1,198,319 lab-confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic, including 1,154,050 recoveries.

The province’s chief medical officer of health is set to speak to media Monday afternoon for the first time in nearly a month.

Dr. Kieran Moore last spoke publicly on March 13.

Since then, hospitalizations related to the disease have increased and wastewater data suggests that the novel coronavirus is spreading in a way that the province’s science advisory table has described as a sixth wave.