Ontario reported a day-over-day increase in hospitalizations and a slight drop in ICU patients, as the province’s top doctor predicted that hospitalizations would peak in about a week, on Saturday.
There are currently 1,684 patients in Ontario hospitals infected with the virus, up from 1,591 yesterday and a significant increase from 1,130 a week ago.
46% of current patients were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19-related reasons, while 54% were admitted for other reasons but later tested positive for the virus.
Of those in hospital right now, 212 are in intensive care, down two from yesterday but up by 27 compared to a week ago.
The Ministry of Health says 61 per cent of ICU patients were admitted for the virus and 39 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive.
Eighty-one ICU patients are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore told CTV News Channel yesterday that hospitalizations are set to peak in the next week amid the sixth wave of the pandemic.
“We had a significant wastewater signal last week, it’s just started to decline. We expect a small ripple from the Easter holidays, the Passover holidays, the long weekend that people had. And then the last piece is the impact on the intensive care units. We expect all of that major impact to occur in the next seven to 10 days and then slowly and surely the risk will decrease heading into the end of May,” he said.
Health officials also reported 23 more deaths today, which occurred in the past month. Four of those fatalities were long-term care home residents.
The Ministry of Health says one death was removed from the province’s cumulative total today due to data cleaning, bringing the death toll to 12,728.
Ontario labs processed more than 20,000 tests yesterday, producing a positivity rate of 17.3 per cent, compared to 18.5 per cent a week ago, according to the ministry.
The province also confirmed another 3,820 infections on Saturday but the ministry says the case count may be higher due to a data catch-up.
Health officials have also maintained throughout this wave that the daily case count is an underestimate due to limited free PCR testing.
Among the latest cases, 2,420 have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, 716 have received two doses, 463 are not fully vaccinated and 221 have an unknown vaccination status.
On Friday, the province confirmed that it is extending mask mandates in select higher-risk settings for at least another month and a half.
The mandates were supposed to expire on April 27, but will now remain in effect until at least June 11. Hospitals, long-term care facilities, and public transportation are examples of high-risk indoor environments.
Meanwhile, the province distributed 35,549 doses of COVID-19 vaccine yesterday.
To date, 90% of Ontarians aged five and up have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 86% have received two doses, and 51% have received three doses.
Source_ globalnews.ca
