Ontario reports total of 1,038 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 319 in ICU

Ontario health officials reported another drop in the number of people with COVID-19 in hospital and intensive care units across Ontario over the past two days.

While the province did not release provincial hospitalization data on Monday due to the Family Day holiday, on Tuesday it reported the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 had dropped to 1,038.

The last time the province reported fewer than 1,038 people in hospital with COVID-19 was on Dec. 30, when there were 965 people in hospital with the disease.

The number of people in Ontario intensive care units is also dropping steadily. Officials reported on Tuesday that there are currently 319 people in ICU with COVID-19.

The province reported that 50 per cent of the 2,059 people in hospital are primarily there due to COVID-19, while the remaining 50 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have now tested positive for the virus.

Officials said 80 per cent of patients are in ICU primarily due to COVID-19, while 20 per cent of cases are there primarily for other reasons, but also have the virus.

The province said that 100 of the people in ICU are fully vaccinated, 90 are unvaccinated and 10 are partially vaccinated. The remaining 119 have an unknown vaccination status.

According to data released by the Ontario Science Table on Monday, which takes into account population sizes, people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 83.7 per cent less likely to end up in hospital and 92.2 per cent less likely to end up in ICU compared to people who are unvaccinated.

The province also reported on Tuesday that nine more people have died due to COVID-19. On Monday, the province reported 15 more deaths due to the disease.

Officials said there have been a total 12,288 COVID-19-related deaths in the province since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

The province reported 1,282 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 15,365 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 6.9 per cent. The last time the province’s positivity rate was that low was on Dec. 15, when it was six per cent.

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 214 new cases in Toronto, 89 new cases in Peel Region, 67 new cases in York Region, 57 new cases in Durham Region and 27 new cases in Halton Region.

Officials also reported 103 new cases in Ottawa. All other regions reported fewer than 100 new cases on Tuesday.

The province said that of the 1,282 new cases reported today, 945 involve people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses, 186 involve people who are unvaccinated, 112 involve people who are partially vaccinated and 48 involve people who have an unknown vaccination status.

Acknowledging population size, the science table noted in their latest data report on Monday, people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 55 per cent less likely to contract COVID-19 compared to those who are unvaccinated.

The province deemed 1,997 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Tuesday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 1,057,829.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,090,101.

The province reported 13 resident cases and 31 staff cases in long-term care settings across Ontario. Officials stated that at least 101 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.