Ontario reported a daily rise in hospitalizations and a slight drop in ICU patients on Saturday, as Ontario’s top doctor says hospitalizations will peak in about a week.
There are currently 1,684 virus patients in Ontario hospitals, up from 1,591 yesterday and a notable increase from 1,130 a week ago.
Forty-six percent of current patients were admitted to the hospital for reasons related to COVID-19 and 54 percent were admitted for other reasons but subsequently tested positive for the virus.
Of those in hospital right now, 212 are in intensive care, two fewer than yesterday but 27 more than a week ago.
The Health Ministry says 61 percent of ICU patients were admitted for the virus and 39 percent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive.
Eighty-one ICU patients are breathing with the help of a ventilator.
Medical director of health Dr. Kieran Moore told CTV News Channel yesterday that hospitalizations will peak next week amid the sixth wave of the pandemic.
“We had a significant sewage signal last week, it just started to subside. We expect a little ripple from the Easter holidays, the Easter holidays, the long weekend that people had. And then the last piece is the impact on intensive care units. We expect all that big shock to happen in the next seven to 10 days and then slowly and surely the risk will subside towards the end of May,” he said.
Health officials also reported 23 more deaths today, which occurred in the last month. Four of those deaths were residents of long-term care homes.
The Health Ministry says one death was removed from the province’s cumulative total today due to data cleansing, bringing the death toll to 12,728.
Ontario labs processed more than 20,000 tests yesterday, yielding a positivity rate of 17.3%, compared to 18.5% 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 update.
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 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 lifted on April 27, but will now remain in place until at least June 11. Higher-risk indoor settings include hospitals, long-term care homes, and transit.
Meanwhile, the province administered 35,549 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 yesterday.
To date, 90% of Ontarians age five and older have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 86% have received two doses, and 51% have received three doses.
The numbers used in this story are from the Ontario Ministry of Health. Daily epidemiological summary of COVID-19. The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from what the province reports, because local units report figures at different times.
Reference-www.cp24.com