Nearly 2,600 COVID hospitalizations in Ontario as ICU admissions near 400

A day after reaching a record for COVID-19 hospitalizations Ontario’s ICU and hospital numbers continue an upward trajectory as the province moves to accelerate booster shots for education and child care workers.

Health officials are reporting there are currently 385 adult patients in ICU, up from 338 a day ago. The seven-day rolling average of patients in the ICU now sits at 295 and there are 216 patients on a ventilator.

Among the current ICU patients, more than 64 per cent are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. That compares to 11.6 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older who are not fully vaccinated.

The number of patients in the ICU has doubled since Dec. 28 and has reached the highest point since the middle of June.

There are 2,594 people in the hospital due to the virus, up from 2,472 a day ago. That number has doubled in just four days.

Ontario reached a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations on Friday, eclipsing the previous high of 2,360 that was reached in April of last year. At that time there were more than double the amount of patients in the ICU due to the virus.

The province is also reporting 31 new virus-related deaths.

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 13,362 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 province administered more than 184,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses over the last 24-hour period.

As of Saturday, 91.1 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than 88.4 per cent have both doses.

The province says it is adding 10 additional COVID-19 vaccine clinics to accelerate booster doses for education and child-care workers.

The additional clinics says will be located in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas — including one at the Toronto Zoo. Sites will also be added in Mississauga, Vaughan, Pickering, Hamilton, Oakville and Brampton.

The clinics will offer “dedicated time slots” for booster appointments for school and child-care staff, with eligible workers able to book starting Saturday.

With files from the Canadian Press