Ontario reports total of 4,114 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 590 in ICU

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Ontario health officials reported that 4,114 people are in hospital with COVID-19, and 590 of those patients are in intensive care.

The total number of people in hospital with the disease on Friday is an increase over the 4,061 reported on Thursday, while the number of people in intensive care units dropped from 594 on Thursday to 590 today.

The province reported that 54 per cent of the 4,114 hospitalizations are people who are in hospital primarily due to COVID-19, while the remaining 46 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have now tested positive for the virus.

Eighty-two per cent of patients are in ICU primarily due to COVID-19, while 18 per cent of cases are there primarily for other reasons, but also have the virus.

The province said that 263 of the people in ICU are fully vaccinated, 208 are unvaccinated and 16 are partially vaccinated. The remaining 103 have an unknown vaccination status.

According to data released by the Ontario Science Table on Thursday, which takes into account population sizes, people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 80.5 per cent less likely to end up in hospital and 90.6 per cent less likely to end up in ICU compared to people who are unvaccinated.

The province reported 7,165 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 41,538 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 17.7 per cent.

Acknowledging population size, the science table noted on Thursday, people who are fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 57.2 per cent less likely to contract COVID-19 compared to those who are unvaccinated.

According to health officials, 62 more deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours. The province said that 60 of the deaths have occurred over the last month, but two deaths are from over a month ago.

The province has reported a total 10,865 COVID-19-related deaths in the province since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

The province deemed 11,566 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Friday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 898,589.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 984,359.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 1,269 new cases in Toronto, 957 new cases in Peel Region, 516 new cases in York Region, 377 new cases in Halton Region and 364 new cases in Durham Region.

Officials reported 406 new cases in Ottawa, 353 news cases in Waterloo Region and 337 new cases in Hamilton. All other regions reported fewer than 300 new cases on Friday.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 7,165 new infections reported on Friday, 517 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.

The province also recorded 379 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 2,669 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

As well, officials found 1,970 cases in people between the ages of 40 and 59, 1,036 cases in people between the ages of 60 and 79 and 586 cases in people over the age of 80.

The province reported 317 resident cases and 64 staff cases in long-term care settings across Ontario. It also noted that 21 of the 64 deaths reported on Friday were long-term care residents.

Officials stated that at least 420 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.