Ontario reports 28 new COVID deaths as hospitalizations continue decline

Ontario reported 28 new COVID-related deaths on Friday as hospitalizations and ICU admissions continue to trend downwards across the province.

Health officials say 821 people are currently in hospital with the virus, compared to 834 yesterday and 1003 a week ago.

ICU admissions have also slightly dipped from 267 on Thursday to 262 today.

In a tweet, Minister of Health Christine Elliott noted that 80 per cent of patients admitted to the ICU were admitted for COVID-19, while 20 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have since tested positive for the virus.

The test positivity rate for Friday stands at 10.7 per cent and 2,085 new cases of COVID-19 were reported.

#COVID19Ontario:
Daily new cases vs. test % positivity in #Ontario
Line = 7 day moving average. #COVIDー19 #onhealth

Case counts severely undercounted due to limited testing since Dec 31 (cannot access PCR unless high-risk, rapid tests not counted). pic.twitter.com/xyX3WRrovf

— Dr. Jennifer Kwan (@jkwan_md) March 4, 2022

Ontario health officials warn that the number of new cases is underreported following changes to the province’s testing policy.

On Thursday, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, said the actual number of cases is likely 10 times higher than what’s reported daily, putting Friday’s case count in the 20,000 range.

NEW: Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Moore says it is estimated that actual Covid cases in Ontario are estimated to be 10 times confirmed daily cases. Today there were just over 2k cases so …there are likely over 20-thousand new cases in Ontario today. #onpoli

— Cynthia Mulligan (@CityCynthia) March 3, 2022

Moore confirmed on Thursday that the province would be lifting its mask mandate at the end of March despite citing an ongoing risk of the BA.2 Omicron variant.

The province’s top doctor cited the high vaccination rate and declining hospitalizations, saying he believes the worst is behind us.

With files from Lucas Casaletto