Ontario reports total of 3,091 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 568 in ICU

Ontario health officials are reporting that 3,091 people are in hospital with COVID-19, and 568 of those patients are in intensive care.

The total number of people in intensive care with the disease on Tuesday is a decrease from the 583 reported on Monday, 587 reported on Sunday and 597 reported on Saturday.

The province reported that 56 per cent of the 3,091 hospitalizations are people who are in hospital primarily due to COVID-19, while the remaining 44 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have now tested positive for the virus.

Eighty-four per cent of patients are in ICU primarily due to COVID-19, while 16 per cent of cases are there primarily for other reasons, but also have the virus.

The province said that 231 of the people in ICU are fully vaccinated, 199 are unvaccinated and 18 are partially vaccinated. The remaining 120 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 82.6 per cent less likely to end up in hospital and 91.4 per cent less likely to end up in ICU compared to people who are unvaccinated.

The province reported on Tuesday that 63 more COVID-19 deaths occurred over the past month.

The province has reported a total 11,504 COVID-19-related deaths in the province since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

The province reported 2,622 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 16,380 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 16.2 per cent.

Acknowledging population size, the science table noted on Monday, people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 56.4 per cent less likely to contract COVID-19 compared to those who are unvaccinated.

The province deemed 4,816 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Tuesday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 981,803.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,035,916.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 606 new cases in Toronto, 334 new cases in Peel Region, 133 new cases in York Region, 96 new cases in Halton Region and 95 new cases in Durham Region.

Officials reported 205 new cases in Ottawa, 130 news cases in Waterloo Region and 117 new cases in Hamilton. All other regions reported fewer than 100 new cases on Tuesday.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 2,622 new infections reported on Tuesday, 265 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.

The province also recorded 141 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 906 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

As well, officials found 702 cases in people between the ages of 40 and 59, 379 cases in people between the ages of 60 and 79 and 226 cases in people over the age of 80.

The province reported 150 resident cases and 45 staff cases in long-term care settings across Ontario. It also noted that 14 of the 66 deaths reported on Tuesday were long-term care residents.

Officials stated that at least 335 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.