Ontario reports fewer than 400 people in ICU with COVID-19 for the first time in weeks

Ontario health officials are reporting a significant drop in the number of people with COVID-19 in hospital and intensive care units on Monday.

The province said 1,369 people are currently in hospital with COVID-19, which is down from the 1,540 reported Sunday. The number of people in ICU also fell from 402 to 394.

The total number of patients in Ontario ICUs with COVID-19 hasn’t fallen below 400 since early January.

The province also reported that eight more people have died due to COVID-19 over the past 30 days.

Officials said there have been a total 12,101 COVID-19-related deaths in the province since the start of the pandemic.

The province reported 1,765 new cases of COVID-19 Monday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 9,962 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 13 per cent.

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 335 new cases in Toronto, 134 new cases in Peel Region, 117 new cases in York Region, 80 new cases in Durham Region and 44 new cases in Halton Region.

Officials also reported 139 new cases in Ottawa. All other regions reported fewer than 100 new cases on Monday.

The province said that, of the 1,765 new cases reported today, 1,237 involve people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses, 282 involve people who are unvaccinated, 83 involve people who are partially vaccinated and 163 involve people who have an unknown vaccination status.

Acknowledging population size, the Ontario Science Table noted in their latest data report on Sunday, people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 61.7 per cent less likely to contract COVID-19 compared to those who are unvaccinated.

The science table also said people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 83.9 per cent less likely to end up in hospital and 90.6 per cent less likely to end up in ICU compared to people who are unvaccinated.

The province deemed 2,619 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Monday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 1,036,214.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,074,485.

The province reported 37 resident cases and 16 staff cases in long-term care settings across Ontario. Officials stated that at least 184 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.