Ontario reports 31 COVID-19 deaths as hospitalizations and ICU admissions remain stable

Ontario COVID numbers ‘on right track’: Jüni Wastewater data show Ontario is likely past its sixth wave peak and that numbers should be declining in coming weeks, Dr. Peter Juni says.

Ontario health officials are reporting 1,698 people in hospital with COVID-19 Wednesday, including 199 patients in intensive care.

Thirty-one deaths due to the virus were also reported Wednesday. Of those deaths, 29 occured in the last month, while two occurred over one month ago.

Of Wednesday’s hospitalizations, 239 patients are unvaccinated and 1,050 are fully vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining patients is unknown.

Forty-three per cent of patients hospitalized Wednesday were admitted for COVID-19, while the remaining 57 per cent tested positive after an unrelated admission. In ICUs, those percentages are 65 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.

Of the patients currently being treated for COVID-19 in Ontario ICUs, 30 are unvaccinated and 81 are fully vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining patients is unknown.

Since the start of the pandemic, 12,889 individuals have lost their lives due to the disease.

With 18,320 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 14.3 per cent.

The province reported 2,488 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, but health officials have warned that number is a significant underestimation due to testing limitations.

The scientific director of Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table said Tuesday Ontario appears to be on the right track and cases should be declining in the coming weeks if people maintain current behaviour patterns.

“It's probably true that we have passed the peak,” Dr. Peter Jüni told CP24 in an interview.

“The peak was around the holiday weekend, and we now see that there's probably a real downward trend.”

He cautioned that it is important "not to get ahead of ourselves" and said that a few more days of data are probably needed to be sure.

“So whatever you're doing in terms of your behaviour — with contacts, masking, etc. — keep doing that for a few more weeks. But I think we're on the right track now.”

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,265,690.

With files from Joshua Freeman.