Ontario reported the lowest number of patients in intensive care for 10 months, as hospitalizations also continued to decline on Thursday.
The Ministry of Health says that there are 670 patients with the virus in Ontario hospitals, which is less than 722 yesterday and 1005 a week ago.
Among these patients, 119 were in intensive care compared to 154 a week ago. Today is the lowest number admitted to the intensive care unit since August 16, 2021, when the same number of patients were in critical care.
The ministry says 42% of hospitalized patients were admitted for COVID-19-related reasons, and 57% were admitted for other reasons and tested positive.
Meanwhile, 68% of patients in the intensive care unit went to the hospital for virus-related reasons, and 31% were admitted for other reasons and subsequently tested positive.
Provincial health officials said two more deaths were reported today, saying they had occurred in the past month. One of the deceased was placed in a long-term care home.
Since March 2020, the province has confirmed 13,267 COVID-19-related deaths.
Ontario labs have processed 10,783 tests in the past 24 hours, generating a 7.2 percent positive result, a low level not seen since late February, according to the ministry.
The province also confirmed another 1,038 infections today, but health officials continue to warn that the daily number of cases is underestimated due to limited PCR testing.
Among recent cases, 673 received three or four doses of COVID-19 vaccine, 167 received two doses, 113 were partially or unvaccinated, and 85 had unknown vaccination status.
Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr Isak Bogoch says transmission of the virus is likely to decline this summer, as in previous years, but notes that the province needs to prepare for an increase in cases in the autumn.
“You don’t need a crystal ball to see what happens in the fall. We are likely to see an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in addition to other respiratory viral infections such as influenza. We have to plan ahead for that, “he told CP24 on Thursday morning.
“We have to ask ourselves, what will be the campaign to promote COVID-19? Who will get it? Do we need it? Is this event at the population level or is it only for selected groups or if someone? “How are we going to integrate this with the flu vaccines, which we also need to do,” he added.
Yesterday, health workers administered 15,179 doses of vaccine across the province.
To date, 90 percent of Ontario residents aged five and over have received a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, 87 percent have received two doses, and 52 percent have received three doses.
The numbers used in this story are in the Ontario Department of Health’s daily epidemiological summary for COVID-19. The number of cases for each city or region may differ slightly from that reported by the province, as local units report figures at different times.
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