Ontario COVID numbers: 779 people in hospital, 246 in intensive care

Ontario is reporting 779 people in hospital with COVID on Tuesday, with 246 in intensive care units.

This is up by 86 hospitalizations but a decrease of three in ICUs since the previous day. Last Tuesday, there were 914 hospitalizations with 278 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 779 people in hospital with COVID-19, 44 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 56 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.

Of the 246 people in ICUs with the virus, 82 per cent were admitted because of COVID, while 18 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

Ontario COVID cases, deaths, vaccinations, recoveries, testing

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 1,208 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, though that is an underestimate of the true widespread transmission of the virus due to testing restrictions. The provincial case total now stands at 1,115,492.

Of the 1,208 new cases recorded, the data showed 157 were unvaccinated people, 32 were partially vaccinated people, 901 were fully vaccinated people. For 118 people the vaccination status was unknown.

The death toll in the province has risen to 12,591 as 20 more virus-related deaths were added, but three deaths from more than a month ago were removed from the cumulative total.

A ministry of health spokesperson said the latest 20 deaths occurred over the past 26 days.

“Of these, one death occurred on March 7, four deaths occurred on March 6 and two deaths occurred on March 5, with the remaining occurring in the preceding days,” the spokesperson said.

There are a total of 1,086,664 recoveries, which is around 97 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 1,653 from the previous day.

For vaccinations, of the aged 12 and older population, 90.7 per cent are fully vaccinated. First dose coverage stands at 92.7 per cent. Third dose immunization is at 54.5 per cent — more than 7 million Ontarians have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 54.9 per cent with 29.4 per cent who are fully vaccinated.

The province administered 9,737 doses in the last day.

The government said 11,128 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 8,026 tests currently under investigation.

The test positivity rate stands at 11.2 per cent.