As mandated COVID-19 vaccination and testing practices in Ontario hospitals, long-term care homes, and schools come to an end, provincial health officials say no additional virus-related deaths have been confirmed in the last 24 hours.
The province has not disclosed data on the number of COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment in Ontario hospitals for the second day in a row.
Officials stated there are 228 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, down from 249 last Monday but unchanged from Sunday.
The COVID-19 death toll in Ontario remains at 12,256, with no additional deaths reported today. It’s the first time in nearly three months that no new deaths have been reported in a 24-hour period in the province.
The Ministry of Health recently purged a number of fatalities from the province’s total after determining that the deaths were unrelated to COVID-19. Since March 10, about four per cent, or 489 deaths, were removed from Ontario’s cumulative total.
Officials have now committed to breaking down deaths by “fatality type,” including whether COVID was the cause of death, contributed to the death, or if the cause of death is unknown or missing.
Another 1,116 COVID-19 cases were confirmed by provincial labs today but that number is not an accurate reflection of the true burden of infection due to testing restrictions.
The province did not provide a breakdown of the vaccination status of today’s confirmed cases.
With just 7,565 tests processed over the past 24 hours, officials are reporting a provincewide positivity rate of 12.1 per cent, up slightly from 11.8 per cent last Monday.
Starting today, the province has ended mandatory vaccination and testing policies in a number of public settings, including hospitals, long-term care homes and schools.
These facilities are able to implement their own policies regarding testing and vaccination if they choose to do so.
Next week, the province will also end masking mandates in most public settings, including restaurants, retail stores, gyms, and movie theatres.
Source_ The Canadian Press
