Ontario reports 22 new COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations continue to increase

Ontario health officials are reporting 1,734 people in hospital with COVID-19 and 22 new deaths related to the virus Wednesday.

This marks a slight increase in hospitalizations over Tuesday when 1,730 patients were reported.

Of Wednesday’s hospitalizations, 225 patients are unvaccinated and 1,076 are fully vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining patients is unknown.

Forty-five per cent of patients being treated for COVID-19 in hospital Wednesday were admitted for COVID-19, while the remaining 55 per cent tested positive after an unrelated admission. In ICUs, those percentages are 66 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively.

Of Ontario patients currently being treated for COVID-19 in ICUs, 29 are unvaccinated and 112 are fully vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining patients is unknown.

Officials also reported 22 new deaths occuring during the last month due to COVID-19.

Since the start of the pandemic, 12,772 individuals have died due to the disease.

With 23,230 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 15 per cent.

The province reported 3,005 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, but health officials have warned that number is a significant underestimation due to testing limitations and backlogs.

Last week, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said he was “cautiously optimistic” that hospitalizations related to the virus are expected to peak in the coming days.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,249,018.