Ontario reports 3,814 people in hospital with COVID-19 and 527 patients in ICU

Ontario is reporting a record-breaking number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on Friday as well as 42 more deaths related to the disease.

There are now 3,814 people in Ontario hospitals who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, an increase of more than 180 from the day before. Just over half of those patients, approximately 53 per cent, were admitted as a result of their COVID-19 diagnosis.

There are also 527 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, up from 500 the previous day. According to provincial data, about 80 per cent of those patients were admitted as a result of COVID-19.

The other 20 per cent tested positive for the disease after being admitted for other ailments.

According to Health Minister Christine Elliott, 384 of the patients in intensive care are either not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

Meanwhile, the province is reporting 10,964 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, although experts warn this number is an underestimation due to a lack in COVID-19 testing.

Forty-two more deaths were also confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in Ontario since the beginning of the pandemic to 10,522. Eleven of Friday’s deaths were residents of long-term care.

With just over 58,600 COVID-19 tests processed in the last 24-hour period, the Ministry of Health says the province’s positivity rate now stands at about 21.8 per cent.

In total, there have been 926,904 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES?

The majority of Friday’s infections are found in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, there are 1,961 COVID-19 cases in Toronto, 1,561 in Peel Region, 1,054 in Durham and 918 in York Region.

There were also 633 cases in Halton and 604 in Hamilton.

Other municipalities that logged more than 400 infections include Waterloo (613) and Ottawa (453).

Nine public health units reported more than 100 COVID-19 cases on Friday.

Of the nearly 11,000 infections, 276 were identified in long-term care residents and 126 were found in health-care workers.

According to provincial data, just over 1,800 of Friday’s infections were identified in people who were either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. There were 8,518 infections in people with at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 623 cases whose vaccination status is unknown.