Ontario reports another drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations

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Ontario is reporting another drop in the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 as pandemic pressure on the province's health-care system continues to ease.

The province said 2,493 people are currently in hospital with COVID-19 as of Saturday. On Friday, that number was more than 2,600.

Health officials also said there are currently 501 people with COVID-19 in ICUs across the province. On Friday, that number was 517 and the day before was 541.

The number of people in hospital and ICU with COVID-19 has been dropping steadily for several days now.

The province reported Saturday that 59 more people have died with COVID-19.

"Of these, five deaths occurred on Feb. 4, 19 deaths occurred on Feb. 3, seven deaths occurred on Feb. 2, with the remaining occurring in the preceding days," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said Saturday.

Officials said there have been a total 11,770 COVID-19-related deaths in the province since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

The province reported that 54 per cent of the 2,493 people in hospital are primarily there due to COVID-19, while the remaining 46 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have now tested positive for the virus.

The province reported 3,204 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 22,527 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 12 per cent.