Ontario COVID numbers: 722 people in hospital, 232 in ICUs

The province is reporting 722 people in hospital with COVID-19 Saturday, with 232 patients in intensive care.

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

However, this is a drop of over 70 hospitalizations in comparison to last Saturday’s hospitalizations which stood at 795.

Of the 722 people hospitalized, around 47 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while about 53 per cent were admitted for other reasons but then tested positive for COVID-19.

There are now 232 patients in intensive care units due to the virus (down by six from the previous day).

Last Saturday, 253 people were reported in intensive care units. In the past week, Ontario saw a decrease of 21 patients in ICUs.

Of the 232 people currently in ICU, around 77 per cent of those in intensive care were admitted because of COVID, while around 23 per cent were admitted for other reasons but test positive for COVID-19.

According to the latest data, 20 more deaths were recorded on Saturday, bringing the provincial death toll to 12,247.

The death toll in Ontario due to COVID-19 has been modified as 411 deaths were removed on Friday.

The Ontario government announced earlier this week that it was going to change and update how it reports deaths to be consistent with categorization from the World Health Organization.

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In terms of COVID cases, Ontario is reporting 2,015 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. This brings the total case count in the province to 1,123,709.

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 reached 12.1 per cent. Last week, test positivity was at 10.8 per cent.

The government said 13,005 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 5,439 tests currently under investigation.

Meanwhile, the province also reported 1,722 cases were deemed resolved Saturday. A total of 1,095,221 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from the virus.

There are more than 12  million people fully immunized with two doses. There are more than seven million Ontarians who have received a booster shot.

According to the latest data, about 91 per cent of the eligible population aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Approximately 55 per cent have received their booster dose.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 55 per cent with 30 per cent who are fully vaccinated.

Over 16,200 doses were administered in the last 24 hours. More than 31 million doses have been administered since the rollout of vaccines began in late 2020.

— with a file from Gabby Rodrigues