Ontario's COVID-19 hospitalizations drop to 684, ICU admissions fall to 247

Health officials in Ontario are reporting that there are now fewer than 700 patients in hospital with COVID-19 as the number of ICU admissions falls below 250 for the first time in two months.

Data released Sunday shows there are currently 684 patients testing positive for the novel coronavirus in hospitals across the province, down from the 795 patients reported on Saturday.

Meanwhile, ICU admissions related to COVID-19 dropped from 253 to 247. The last time ICU admissions were below 250 was on Jan. 3.

No information on vaccination status or incidental hospitalizations was released by the government. It should be noted that not all hospitals report patient data over the weekend.

Another 21 net new deaths were also recorded Sunday. However, 17 of those deaths occurred in the last month and four occurred more than one month ago and are only being reported now due to a data cleaning.

The province has seen 12,570 COVID-19-related deaths since the onset of the pandemic.

As well, 1,787 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in the last 24 hours, though health officials have warned that number is likely an underestimate due to limited access to testing in Ontario.

With 12,119 tests performed since yesterday, the province’s positivity rate stands at 10.2 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.

Ontario has recorded 1,113,210 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the last 22 months, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES

Most of the cases reported by the province on Sunday were found in Toronto (270), Peel Region (143), and Ottawa (104).

Other regions with relatively high case counts reported include Windsor-Essex (84), Niagara Region (84), and Durham Region (82).

UPDATE ON VACCINATIONS

Health Minister Christine Elliott said that 92.7 per cent of Ontarians over the age of 12 have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 90.6 per cent have two doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.

At least 31,791,237 jabs have gone out across Ontario and 17,554 doses were administered on Saturday.