Ontario COVID numbers: 1,897 people in hospital, 445 in intensive care

Ontario is reporting 1,897 people in hospital with COVID on Thursday, with 445 in intensive care units as figures continue to trend downwards with hospitalizations dropping below 2,000 for the first time since early January.

This is down by 162 hospitalizations and a decrease of four in ICUs since the previous day. Last Thursday, there were 2,797 hospitalizations with 541 in ICU.

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 1,897 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 445 people in ICUs with the virus, around 76 per cent were admitted because of COVID, while around 24 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

Ontario COVID cases, deaths, vaccinations, recoveries, testing

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 3,201 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, 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 1,064,604.

Of the 3,201 new cases recorded, the data showed 425 were unvaccinated people, 131 were partially vaccinated people, 2,159 were fully vaccinated people. For 486 people the vaccination status was unknown.

The death toll in the province has risen to 11,988 as 44 more virus-related deaths were added from the past 24 days.

“Of these, four deaths occurred on Feb. 9, nine deaths occurred on Feb. 8 and five deaths occurred on Feb. 7, with the remaining occurring in the preceding days,” the spokesperson said.

There are a total of 1,023,420 recoveries, which is around 96 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 4,143 from the previous day.

For vaccinations, of the aged 12 and older population, 89.6 per cent are fully vaccinated. First dose coverage stands at 92.2 per cent. Third dose immunization is at 51.6 per cent — more than 6.6 million Ontarians have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 54.7 per cent with 25.4 per cent who are now fully vaccinated.

The province administered 47,423 doses in the last day.

The government said 22,417 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 9,103 tests currently under investigation.

The test positivity rate stands at 11.2 per cent.