Ontario reports 1,024 in hospital with COVID-19, 284 in intensive care

The province is reporting 1,024 people in hospital with COVID-19 Saturday, with 284 patients in intensive care units.

The latest number of hospitalizations is an increase of 21 from Friday’s data.

However, this is a drop of over 160 hospitalizations in comparison to last Saturday’s hospitalizations which stood at 1,191.

Of the 1,024 people hospitalized, around 46 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while about 54 per cent were admitted for other reasons but then tested positive for COVID-19.

Despite a slight rise in hospitalizations, the number of patients in intensive care units dropped by 13 from Friday.

Last Saturday, 329 people were reported in intensive care units. In the past week, Ontario saw a decrease of 45 patients in ICUs.

Of the 284 people currently in ICU, around 82 per cent of those in intensive care were admitted because of COVID, while around 18 per cent were admitted for other reasons but test positive for COVID-19.

For those in general hospital wards with COVID, 225 were unvaccinated, 26 were partially vaccinated and 584 were fully vaccinated.

For those in ICUs, 70 were unvaccinated while 6 were partially vaccinated and 86 were fully vaccinated.

Ontario is reporting 34 more deaths on Saturday, bringing the provincial death toll to 12,420. However, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health clarified that 31 of these deaths occurred within the past month.

“Of these, one death occurred on February 25th, five deaths occurred on February 24th and six deaths occurred on February 23rd, with the remaining occurring in the preceding days,” the spokesperson said.

“We send our deepest condolences to the families and friends who lost a loved one.”

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In terms of COVID cases, Ontario is reporting 2,338 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. This brings the total case count in the province to 1,098,695.

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However, because of the province’s testing restrictions, total case counts are an underestimation.

The Ministry of Health confirmed that those who test positive on a rapid antigen test will no longer need to confirm they have COVID-19 through a PCR test. However, rapid antigen test positive cases are not collected.

Test positivity hit 10.7 per cent. Last week, test positivity was at 11.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, the province also reported 2,153 cases were deemed resolved Saturday. A total of 1,067, 714 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from the virus.

There are more than 11.7 million people fully immunized with two doses. There are more than six million Ontarians who have received a booster shot.

According to the latest data, 90.4 per cent of the eligible population aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

At least 53.8  per cent have received their third vaccine dose.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 54.5 per cent. Around 27.3 per cent of this age group are now fully vaccinated.