Ontario COVID numbers: 1,281 people in hospital, 352 in intensive care

Ontario is reporting 1,281 people in hospital with COVID on Friday, with 352 in intensive care units as figures continue to trend downwards. Hospitalizations are at the lowest point since early January.

This is down by 61 hospitalizations and a decrease of four in ICUs since the previous day. Last Friday, there were 1,829 hospitalizations with 435 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 1,281 people in hospital with COVID-19, 51 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 49 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.

Of the 352 people in ICUs with the virus, 81 per cent were admitted because of COVID, while 19 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

Ontario COVID cases, deaths, vaccinations, recoveries, testing

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 2,337 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 1,083,274.

Of the 2,337 new cases recorded, the data showed 303 were unvaccinated people, 81 were partially vaccinated people, 1,656 were fully vaccinated people. For 297 people the vaccination status was unknown.

The death toll in the province has risen to 12,237 as 33 more virus-related deaths were added. A ministry of health spokesperson said 30 of the deaths occurred over the past 30 days. Three deaths occurred more than a month ago.

“Of these, no deaths occurred on Feb. 17, nine deaths occurred on Feb. 16 and three deaths occurred on Feb. 15, with the remaining occurring in the preceding days,” the spokesperson said.

There are a total of 1,048,624 recoveries, which is around 97 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 2,939 from the previous day.

For vaccinations, of the aged 12 and older population, 90.3 per cent are fully vaccinated. First dose coverage stands at 92.5 per cent. Third dose immunization is at 52.7 per cent — more than 6.8 million Ontarians have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 54 per cent with 24.2 per cent who are fully vaccinated.

The province administered 30,546 doses in the last day.

The government said 17,758 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 6,147 tests currently under investigation.

The test positivity rate stands at 10.8 per cent.