Ontario COVID numbers: 1,626 people in hospital, 207 in intensive care

Ontario is reporting 1,626 people in hospital with COVID on Thursday, with 207 in intensive care.

This is down by 36 for hospitalizations but an increase of four for ICUs since the previous day.

Last Thursday, there were 1,392 hospitalizations with 177 in ICU. This is about 17 per cent, for both, to the figures this week.

According to the latest breakdown for hospitalizations, 55 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19. For those in ICUs, 39 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

Ontario COVID cases, deaths, vaccinations, recoveries, testing

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 5,038 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, which is much higher than usual considering testing restrictions. Though, the ministry of health indicates there was a data catch-up and  “this is not reflective of a real daily increase in case numbers.”

“According to Dr. Moore’s review of the latest data, Ontario has already peaked in COVID-19 cases and hospital and ICU admissions are expected to peak in the coming week,” a ministry of health spokesperson said. “As such, we expect to see a steady decline in key indicators in the following weeks.”

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The provincial case total now stands at 1,229,572.

The death toll in the province has risen to 12,678 from the previous day as 17 more virus-related deaths were added, but the report did note that two deaths were removed following data cleanup.

There are a total of 1,184,812 recoveries, which is around 96 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 4,019 from the previous day.

For vaccinations, of the aged 12 and older population, 91.1 per cent are fully vaccinated. First dose coverage stands at 92.9 per cent. Third dose immunization is at 56.2 per cent — more than 7.2 million Ontarians have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 56.1 per cent with 34.7 per cent who are fully vaccinated.

The province administered 39,507 doses in the last day.

The government said 20,840 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 7,803 tests currently under investigation.

The test positivity rate stands at 17.9 per cent, down from 18.7 per cent reported a week ago.