Ontario reports just over 1,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations, 39 new net deaths

Ontario officials are reporting just over 1,000 patients in hospital with COVID-19, the lowest count since late December.

Ontario Minister of Health Christine Elliott said that 1,003 patients are currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

Of those hospitalizations, 49 per cent were admitted with COVID-19 and 51 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for the virus while in hospital.

In the ICU, 297 people with COVID-19 are seeking care – the lowest number of admissions since early January.

Ontario Minister of Health Christine Elliott said that of the 297 patients in ICU with COVID-19, 76 per cent were admitted for COVID-19 and 24 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have now tested positive for the virus

On Friday, Ontario health officials reported 39 deaths related to COVID-19 that occurred in the past thirty days. Thirty-five occured in the last thirty days, while four are being added to the culmulative total due to an ongoing investigation into excess deaths.

Meanwhile, Ontario is reporting 2,427 new COVID-19 cases, but health officials have warned that number is a significant underestimate due to restricted testing.

Of the new cases confirmed Friday, 287 are unvaccinated patients and 1,391 are fully vaccinated. The remaining 248 cases are in Ontarians who are either partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown.

With 21,550 tests processed in the last 24-hours, Ontario is reporting a test positivity rate of 9.8 per cent.

The majority of infections were identified in the Greater Toronto Area. Officials are reporting 357 new cases in Toronto, 94 new cases in York Region, 130 new cases in Peel Region and 106 new cases in Durham Region.

The only other public health units with more than 100 new COVID-19 cases were Kingston-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington with 101 new infections, Northwestern with 11, Ottawa with 131 and Simcoe-Muskoka with 134 new infections.

Earlier this month, the province stated its intention to lift capacity limits in most public settings and remove the requirement for business to see proof of vaccination from patrons beginning March 1. Masks mandates will still be in place come the beginning of March, but the government has said it could review these policies mid-month.

On Thursday, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore said he anticipates the provincial mask mandate will be lifted “simultaneously” across most sectors when it is safe to do so, rather than on a piecemeal basis.

His comments came at the heels of Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown calling on the province to “strongly” consider lifting the mask mandate in schools as part of helping “children get back to normal.”