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Ontario reports 56 more COVID-19 deaths in past week, rise in positivity rate

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Ontario is reporting a total of 56 more COVID-19 deaths from a week ago as the province's health-care system continues to cope with staffing shortages and burnout amid a seventh wave of the virus.

Those deaths, which occurred over the past 30 days, raise the province’s virus-related death toll to 13,869, according to the Ministry of Health’s latest COVID-19 data released Thursday.

Twenty-two of those deaths were among long-term care home residents.

The ministry says there are currently a total of 1,328 patients hospitalized with the virus in Ontario, down from 1,382 a week ago.

Of those in hospital, 137 are in intensive care and 54 are breathing with the help of a ventilator.

The ministry says over 38 per cent of hospital patients were admitted for COVID-related reasons, while 62 were admitted for other reasons but subsequently tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, 60 per cent of ICU patients were admitted for the virus and 40 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive.

Ontario labs processed over 10,800 tests in the past 24 hours, resulting in a positivity rate of 14.7 per cent, up from 13.4 per cent a week ago.

On Thursday, the province announced its next phase of its "Plan to Stay Open," which focuses on health-care stability and recovery.

The plan comes as hospitals have been dealing with staff shortages and burnout for the past few months, primarily due to a rise in COVID-19 infections.

The plan includes adding 6,000 more health-care workers to Ontario’s overall health-care system, freeing up hospital beds and investing in private clinic surgeries.

In late July, the province expanded vaccine eligibility to children aged six months to five years old shortly after Health Canada approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for infants and preschoolers.

Earlier in July, the province also expanded fourth doses, or second booster shots, to all adults in the province.

On Wednesday, the province administered a total of 24,778 shots into arms with a total of over 34.5 million doses administered since vaccines began to roll out in Dec. 2020.

To date, 90 per cent of Ontarians aged five years and older have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 87 per cent have received two doses and 53 per cent have received three doses.

Background

The numbers used in this story are found in the Ontario Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Data Catalogue. The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from what is reported by the province, because local units report figures at different times.

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