Ontario reports uptick in total number of people in hospital with COVID-19 for second straight day

Ontario health officials report there are currently 667 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 161 patients in intensive care.

Friday’s hospitalizations case count marks an increase over the 661 reported on Thursday and the 611 reported on Wednesday.

The total number of patients in intensive care units across Ontario, on the other hand, marked a slight drop from 165 ICU total reported the day before.

Officials also reported 22 more deaths due to COVID-19. Officials said 15 of the deaths occurred over the past 30 days, while seven of them took place over a month ago.

Since the start of the pandemic, 12,388 have lost their lives due to the disease.

The province reported 2,761 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 17,654 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 12.6 per cent.

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 510 new cases in Toronto, 167 new cases in Peel Region, 156 new cases in York Region, 127 new cases in Halton Region and 118 new cases in Durham Region.

Officials also reported 192 new cases in Ottawa, 160 new cases in Hamilton, 110 each new cases in the Kingston area and in Middlesex-London, 109 new cases in Simcoe Muskoka and 102 cases in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph area.

All other regions reported fewer than 100 new cases on Friday.

The province deemed 1,818 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Friday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 1,118,196.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,148,336.

The province reported 55 resident cases and 35 staff cases in long-term care settings across Ontario. Officials said that at least 74 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.