Ontario reports another 70 COVID-19 deaths as ICU patients decrease

Large venues reviewing lifting mask protocols As Ontario prepares to lift its mask mandate, large venues across Toronto say they are reviewing their policies for patrons.

Ontario is reporting another 70 deaths related to COVID-19 while the number of patients being treated with the disease in intensive care continues to drop.

On Thursday, health officials confirmed that at least 3,645 people with COVID-19 are in hospital, including 599 people in intensive care units (ICU).

This is the first time the number of COVID-19 patients in ICU has been below 600 since last Friday.

About 82 per cent of ICU patients were admitted for reasons related to the disease, while the rest tested positive after being admitted for other ailments.

Fifty-seven per cent of hospitalized patients were admitted for COVID-19.

Of the 599 people in ICU, the Ministry of Health says that 221 were considered fully vaccinated with two doses. The remaining 378 patients were either not fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.

According to a Ministry of Health spokesperson, the 70 deaths reported Thursday occurred over the past 19 days.

Seventeen of those deaths were residents of long-term care.

In the span of four days, the province has reported more than 200 deaths related to COVID-19.

With a little over 22,560 COVID-19 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province’s positivity rate is about 14. 1 per cent.

There were also 5,852 cases confirmed on Thursday; although that number is an underestimation as the province remains under stringent testing guidelines.

The majority of infections were identified in the Greater Toronto Area. According to the province’s epidemiology report, there were 1,014 cases in Toronto, 842 in Peel Region and 318 in York Region.

Ottawa reported 417 new cases of the novel coronavirus while another 11 public health units logged more than 100 infections.

Ontario has logged 1,01,6099 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including deaths and recoveries.