Ontario reports 2,081 hospitalizations, 288 ICU admissions total and more than 11K new COVID-19 cases

Ontario health officials say 2,081 people are in hospital with COVID-19, and 288 of those patients are in intensive care, marking a significant increase in the number of people admitted to hospitals who tested positive for the disease.

The province released the data on Wednesday, showing a jump over the day before, when officials reported 1,290 hospitalizations and 266 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said the seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 related patients in ICU is 235. The minister's office has called the growth in hospitalizations “explosive.”

The province said that of the 288 people in the ICU with COVID-19, 202 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 86 are fully vaccinated.

According to data released by the Ontario Science Table on Tuesday, which takes into account population sizes, people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 82.7 per cent less likely to end up in hospital and 94.4 per cent less likely to end up in ICU compared to people who are unvaccinated.

The province reported 11,582 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate because due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 59,137 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 28.1 per cent.

Of the 11,582 case reported Wednesday, 9,040 involve people who are fully vaccinated, 1,647 are people who are unvaccinated, 445 involve people who are partially vaccinated ad 219 had an unknown vaccination status.

Acknowledging population size, the science table noted on Tuesday, people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 16.6 per cent less likely to contract COVID-19 compared to those who are unvaccinated.

According to health officials, 14 more deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours.

The province deemed 11,669 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Wednesday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 683,750.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 828,032, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 2,524 new cases in Toronto, 1,435 new cases in Peel Region, 1,294 new cases in York Region, 699 new cases in Durham Region and 511 in Halton Region.

Officials reported 584 new cases in Hamilton, 531 new cases in Waterloo region, 469 new cases in Ottawa, 441 new cases each in Middlesex-London and Niagara Region, 381 new cases in Simcoe-Muskoka and 334 new cases in Windsor-Essex.

All other regions reported fewer than 300 new cases on Wednesday.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 11,582 new infections reported on Wednesday, 847 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.

The province also recorded 966 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another cases 4,788 in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

As well, officials found 3,374 cases in people between the ages of 40 and 59, 1,242 cases in people between the ages of 60 and 79 and 354 cases in people over the age of 80.

The province reported 106 resident cases and 72 staff cases in long-term care settings across Ontario. It also noted that one of the 14 new deaths was a long-term care resident.

Officials stated that at least 254 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.