Ontario confirms 23 more COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations continue to increase

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Another 23 COVID-19 deaths have been confirmed in Ontario as officials log another increase in hospitalizations related to the virus.

On Thursday, health officials noted at least 1,392 patients with COVID-19 were being treated in hospital, including 177 in intensive care.

About 65 per cent of ICU patients are being treated for the novel coronavirus while the remaining 35 per cent tested positive while being admitted for other ailments.

While the number of patients in intensive care appears to be fluctuating, hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have steadily increased over the last five days. The last time hospitalizations were this high was on Feb. 15, when officials reported 1,550 people seeking treatment.

Twenty of the COVID-19 deaths reported Thursday took place in the last month, while three additional deaths were added to the cumulative tally as a result of data cleaning.

Two people who died were residents in long-term care.

In total, at least 12,606 people have died after contracting COVID-19 in Ontario since the beginning of the pandemic.

According to the ministry of health, Ontario’s positivity rate now stands at about 18.1 per cent. The province’s positivity rate has been consistently above 17 per cent early April.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, an additional 4,589 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Ontario, although this number is an underestimate due to PCR testing restrictions.

For weeks, Ontario’s science table has indicated through wastewater data that the number of infections in the community has skyrocketed, with Dr. Peter Jüni, the scientific director of the table, indicating Wednesday the province may have plateaued at about 100,000 COVID-19 cases per day.

The science table is expected to release new modelling data Thursday afternoon. Jüni has hinted that daily case counts appeared to have slowed down amid the sixth wave of the pandemic.