3,535 people in Ontario hospitals with COVID, 607 in intensive care

Ontario is reporting 3,535 people in hospital with COVID on Friday, with 607 in intensive care units.

This is down by 110 hospitalizations but an increase of eight in ICUs since the previous day.

The province recently began distinguishing between those who were admitted to hospital directly because of COVID, and those who were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for the virus.

Of the 3,535 people in hospital with COVID-19, 56 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 44 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.

Of the 607 people in ICUs with the virus, around 82 per cent were admitted because of COVID, while around 18 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

Ontario COVID cases, deaths, vaccinations, recoveries, testing

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 5,337 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, though that is an underestimate of the true widespread transmission of the virus due to recent testing restrictions. The provincial case total now stands at 1,021,436.

Of the 5,337 new cases recorded, the data showed 833 were unvaccinated people, 181 were partially vaccinated people, 3,806 were fully vaccinated people. For 517 people the vaccination status was unknown.

The death toll in the province has risen to 11,298 as 68 more virus-related deaths were added.

A spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Health said 67 of the deaths occurred in the past 13 days. One death occurred more than a month ago and was added to the total based on data cleanup.

“Of these, four deaths occurred yesterday, 17 deaths occurred on Jan. 26, 15 deaths occurred on Jan. 25, with the remaining occurring in the preceding days,” the spokesperson said.

“While this will not change the fact that these individuals tragically lost their lives, it is important to be transparent and provide the public with as much context as we can.”

There are a total of 958,701 recoveries, which is around 94 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 7,906 from the previous day.

For vaccinations, of the aged 12 and older population, 89.1 per cent are fully vaccinated. First dose coverage stands at 91.8 per cent. Third dose immunization is at 48.4 per cent — more than 6.2 million Ontarians have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 52.9 per cent with 14.2 per cent who are now fully vaccinated.

The province administered 77,968 doses in the last day.

The government said 32,672 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 10,671 tests currently under investigation.

The test positivity rate stands at 14.4 per cent.

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

According to the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 4,050 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, which an increase of 15 deaths since the previous day. Thirteen virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.

There are 350 current outbreaks in homes, which is down by one from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 2,612 active cases among long-term care residents and 3,017 active cases among staff — down by 49 and down by 252, respectively, in the last day.