Ontario reported 17 net new deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday as the number of people admitted to hospital with coronavirus decreased slightly over the past 24 hours.
The Ministry of Health said it had identified 19 new deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 30 days and removed two previously confirmed deaths from the total because they were not caused by COVID-19.
Five of Thursday’s deaths involved residents of the long-term care system.
In the last week, 72 deaths have been confirmed and 346 in the last 30 days.
At least 12,678 people have died from COVID-19 in Ontario since March 2020.
The 1,626 patients in COVID-19 hospital in Ontario on Thursday were 36 fewer than on Wednesday, but still 16.8% more than a week ago and 44.4% more than a week ago. two weeks.
207 people were admitted to intensive care with COVID-19 on Thursday, four more than Wednesday and 30 more than a week ago.
The Ontario COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Table estimates that the hospital burden of COVID-19 is increasing by 327 patients per week.
Alexandra Hilkene, a spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott, said they thought “hospital admissions and intensive care are expected to peak next week”.
UHN Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said the burden the sixth wave has placed on hospitals is less than previous COVID-19 waves.
“At a very regional level, some places may have some difficulties and may have to transfer people, but at a provincial level, these numbers are nowhere near what we have seen in previous waves.”
He said that aside from the chronic problems with hospital staff, the provincial hospital system will be able to manage patients generated by the current wave, provided it grows and does not continue to grow.
“It’s absolutely manageable, we absolutely still have to take steps to prevent it from growing, but it’s manageable.”
Wastewater surveillance data show that the spread of the virus is declining in all areas except central Ontario east of the GTA and eastern Ontario, including Ottawa.
Among those still eligible for free PCR testing, the health ministry reported 5,038 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, but said a large number of positive results were from previous days and only released today.
Of these positives, 614 were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, 1,037 had two doses of vaccine, 3,175 had three doses of vaccine, and the vaccination status of 212 others is unknown.
Provincial laboratories processed 20,840 samples in the previous period, generating a positivity rate of 18.3 percent.
The province administered 39,507 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.
Of these, 1,249 were first doses, 1,875 were second doses, 5,007 were third doses, and 31,376 were fourth doses.
The numbers used in this story are in the Ontario Department of Health’s daily epidemiological summary 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.
Add Comment