Ontario reports total of 551 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 182 in ICU

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Ontario health officials report there are currently 551 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 182 patients in intensive care.

Sunday’s case count marked a significant drop in hospitalizations from the day before when 613 cases the day before, but the province noted that not all hospitals reported their data over the weekend.

Officials also reported three more deaths due to COVID-19. Since the start of the pandemic, 12,332 have lost their lives due to the disease.

The province reported 1,680 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, but health officials have warned that number is an underestimate due to testing limitations and backlogs.

With 10,967 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 12 per cent.

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 380 new cases in Toronto, 82 new cases each in Peel Region and 82 new cases in York Region, 76 new cases in Durham Region and 58 new cases in Halton Region.

Officials also reported 81 new cases in Simcoe Muskoka, 77 new cases in Hamilton, 74 new cases in Ottawa and 72 new cases in Windsor-Essex. All other regions reported fewer than 70 new cases on Sunday.

The province deemed 1,520 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Sunday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 1,109,360.

Today's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 1,138,201.

The province reported 29 resident cases and 11 staff cases in long-term care settings across Ontario. Officials said that at least 57 long-term care homes are currently dealing with an outbreak.