Ontario reports another drop in ICU count, 24 more COVID-19 deaths

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Ontario health officials are reporting another drop in the number of people with COVID-19 receiving care in intensive care units across the province.

The province stated on Wednesday that there are currently 127 patients in ICUs across Ontario, a measurable drop from the 140 reported on Tuesday.

The last time the province recorded 127 intensive care admissions was on Nov. 8.

Health officials also stated on Wednesday that there are currently 722 people in hospital with COVID-19 across Ontario, marking a drop from the 808 reported the day before.

The province reported 23 more deaths occurred in the last month due to COVID-19. The province also reported one additional death that happened more than a month ago.

Since the start of the pandemic, 13,265 individuals have died due to the disease.

The province reported 1,030 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 13,097 processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 8.3 per cent.

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 300 new cases in Toronto, 96 new cases in Peel Region, 57 new cases in York Region, 41 new cases in Halton region and 28 new cases in Durham Region.

The province deemed 1,478 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Wednesday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 1,281,066.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,304,063.

The province reported 59 resident cases and 23 staff case in long-term care settings across Ontario. Three of the 24 deaths reported on Wednesday were long-term care residents.

Officials said that at least 107 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.