Ontario reports lowest COVID-19 ICU occupancy in six months

Backlog of 22 million in medical procedures: OMA The Ontario Medical Association is reporting a backlog of 22 million medical procedures and says the system cannot be counted to clear it.

Ontario health officials are reporting the province’s lowest COVID-19 intensive care occupancy in six months as hospitalizations linked to the disease continue to decline.

Health officials said Saturday that 144 people in the ICU have tested positive for COVID-19. The last time the province logged an ICU count this low was on Nov. 28 when Ontario reported 135 people in the ICU.

The province recorded 865 people in hospital with COVID-19. Of those hospitalized, 40 per cent are seeking care due to COVID-19, while the remaining patients were admitted to the hospital for unrelated reasons and tested positive for the virus.

In intensive care, 65 per cent of patients were admitted for COVID-19.

Officials also confirmed an additional 13 deaths related to the virus. Twelve of the fatalities occurred in the last 30 days while one happened more than a month ago and was added to the cumulative count.

Three of those deaths were among long-term care residents.

Meanwhile, Ontario is reporting 1,144 new COVID-19 cases, bringing Ontario’s total since March 2020 to 1,301,018. But, health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to restricted testing.

With 11,297 tests processed in the last 24-hours, Ontario is reporting a test positivity rate of 8.5 per cent.