Ontario reports 2,081 people with COVID in hospital, 11,582 new cases

Ontario is reporting 11,582 COVID cases on Wednesday, as hospitalizations continue to soar. The provincial case total now stands at 828,032.

Over the last three days, there were 11,352 new infections on Tuesday, 13,578 reported on Monday, and 16,714 new cases on Sunday. However, due to recent testing eligibility changes the province warns the counts are an underestimate of the true spread of the virus in the community.

Of the 11,582 new cases recorded, the data showed 1,554 were unvaccinated people, 386 were partially vaccinated people, 9,255 were fully vaccinated people and for 387 people the vaccination status was unknown.

For the regional breakdown, 2,524 cases were recorded in Toronto, 1,435 in Peel Region, 1,294 in York Region, and 699 in Durham Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 600 new cases in the provincial report.

Hospitalizations in Ontario

Ontario reported 2,081 people in hospital wards with COVID-19 (up by 791 from the previous day) with 288 patients in intensive care units (up by 22).

Last Wednesday, there were 726 hospitalizations with 190 in ICUs.

Hospitalizations and those in ICUs with COVID continue to rise daily as Ontario grapples to contain Omicron. Although Omicron is considered less severe than Delta, the unprecedented surge in cases has driven general hospitalizations to soar at a much faster rate. However, ICU is still rising but at a slower rate when compared to overall hospitalizations.

Staffing shortages due to the new variant have impacted hospitals as the need for beds increases. Non-urgent surgeries have been ordered to pause.

For comparison, in the third wave peak in April 2021 which was the worst wave for hospitalizations, the province saw almost 2,400 patients in hospital wards and as many as 900 patients in ICUs with COVID among a population that was vastly unvaccinated.

Ontario’s current fourth wave is approaching the third wave peak for hospitalizations, but is currently further behind in ICU.

In terms of vaccination status, for those in general hospital wards with COVID, 417 were unvaccinated, 108 were partially vaccinated and 1,073 were fully vaccinated. For patients in ICUs, 109 were unvaccinated while 14 were partially vaccinated and 86 were fully vaccinated.

Provincial officials noted this new dataset with vaccination status for hospitalizations will grow and improve over time as more information is collected. There may also be a discrepancy due to how and when the information for both is collected.

Deaths, vaccinations, recoveries, active cases, 7-day average, testing, test positivity

The death toll in the province has risen to 10,252 as 13 more virus-related deaths were reported — including an additional death in someone under the age of 20.

As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, there are more than 11.4 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 88.2 per cent of the aged 12 and older population. First dose coverage stands at 90.9 per cent. Third dose immunization is at 31.4 per cent.

The province administered 180,013 doses in the last day. There are more than 4 million Ontarians who have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 44.5 per cent with 2 per cent who are now fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, 683,750 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is around 82 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 11,669 from the previous day.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 134,030 — up from last week when it was at 76,992. At the peak of the second wave in January, active cases hit just above 30,000. In the third wave in April, active cases topped 43,000.

The seven-day average has now reached 14,599 as daily case counts due to Omicron continue to hover around unprecedented highs. This is up from 9,183 a week ago.

The government said 59,137 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 94,605 tests currently under investigation.

Test positivity hit 28.1 per cent meaning more than 1 in 4 tests are coming back positive for COVID. Last week, test positivity was at 26.9 per cent.

However, Ontario officials have recently changed testing eligibility for those seeking to get a PCR test to detect COVID-19 to only the most high-risk populations such as health care, long-term care, those who live and work in congregate settings, etc.

Here is a breakdown of the total cases in Ontario by gender and age:

• 409,415 people are male — an increase of 5,036 cases.
• 415,477 people are female — an increase of 6,461 cases.
• 24,517 people are under the age of four — an increase of 293 cases.
• 52,195 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 554 cases.
• 75,732  people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 966 cases.
• 318,505 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 4,788 cases.
• 228,194 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 3,374 cases.
• 98,649 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 1,242 cases.
• 30,063 people are 80 and over — an increase of 354 cases.
• The province notes that not all cases have a reported age or gender.

Here is a breakdown of the total deaths related to COVID-19 by age:

• Deaths reported in ages 19 and under: Nine (+1)
• Deaths reported in ages 20 to 39: 113
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 741 (+5)
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79:  3,400 (+3)
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,988 (+4)
• The province notes there may be a reporting delay for deaths and data

Cases, deaths and outbreaks in Ontario long-term care homes

According to the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,839 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, which is an increase of four deaths since the previous day. Thirteen virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.

There are 145 current outbreaks in homes, which is up by 10 from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 571 active cases among long-term care residents and 1,027 active cases among staff — up by 72 and up by 153, respectively, in the last day.