Ontario ICU admissions surpass 300 as the province reports 20 COVID deaths

Ontario ICU numbers and hospitalizations continue a steady climb as COVID-19 ICU admissions surpass 300 for the first time since June.

There are 319 adult patients in ICU, up from 282 a day ago. The seven-day rolling average of patients in the ICU now sits at 252.

The number of patients in the ICU has doubled since Dec. 19 and has surpassed 300 for the first time since June.

The province is also reporting 20 new virus-related deaths.

CORRECTION: This morning in our Breaking News Alert email, we mistakenly stated Ontario reported 18 COVID-related deaths Thursday. The correct number deaths is 20. We apologize for the miscommunication.

Ontario is approaching a new record for COVID-19 patients in the hospital, there are currently 2,279 people in the hospital due to the virus, up from 2,081 a day ago.

The province saw a significant jump in hospitalization numbers on Wednesday, eclipsing 2,000 for the first time since May 5 and up from just 1,290 two days ago.

The all-time of 2,360 was reached in April of last year and at that time there were more than double the amount of patients in the ICU due to the virus.

Among the current ICU patients, nearly 73 per cent are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. That compares to just 11.7 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older who are not fully vaccinated.

As of Thursday, 91 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than 88 per cent have both doses. Nearly 82 per cent of Ontarians five and older are fully vaccinated.

Hospitals in the province have been ordered to pause all non-urgent surgeries to free up staff to cover absences and the rising number of hospitalized virus patients.

More hospitals in the province have been forced to redeploy their staff to provide care for the surging numbers.

On Wednesday, Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca called on Doug Ford to request military help to deal with hospital staffing shortages brought on by the rapid spread of the virus.

Below is the number of new COVID-19 infections and tests in Ontario. Cases are likely much higher due to changes in testing strategy across the province. More information on these changes can be found here.

Ontario is also reporting 13,339 new COVID-19 cases but Public Health Ontario warns the number of infections is likely much higher due to the province’s testing capacity and accessibility.

The Ministry of Health will hold a technical briefing on Thursday afternoon to provide an update on rapid test deployment in the province.

The Ford government provided a statement to CityNews saying  they have yet to receive a delivery schedule for new rapid tests despite Wednesday’s announcement from the federal government that millions more would be arriving in the province this month.