Ontario reports 1,453 people in hospital with COVID-19, 18 more deaths

Ontario health officials are reporting 1,453 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 168 patients in intensive care.

The total number of people in hospital with the disease changed slightly on Friday from the 1,451 hospitalizations reported on Thursday.

The number of people in intensive care units across the province dropped from 175 the day before to 168.

Officials also reported 18 more deaths due to COVID-19 that occurred over the past 30 days.

Since the start of the pandemic, 13,052 individuals have died due to the disease.

The province reported 1,969 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 16,020 processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 12 per cent

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 431 new cases in Toronto, 168 new cases in Peel Region and 147 new cases in York Region.

The province also reported 139 new cases in Hamilton. All other regions reported fewer than 100 new cases on Friday.

The province deemed 2,249 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Friday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 1,249,820.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,283,329.

The province reported 111 resident cases and 40 staff cases in long-term care settings across Ontario. Three of the 18 deaths reported on Friday involved residents in long-term care.

Officials said that at least 195 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.