Ontario reports 16 more COVID deaths as hospitalization decline continues
Posted March 16, 2022 11:16 am.
Last Updated March 16, 2022 11:17 am.
Ontario is reporting 16 new COVID-related deaths on Wednesday as hospitalizations and ICU admissions continued to decline.
A total of 649 people are in hospital with the virus, down from 688 yesterday.
There are now 204 patients in the ICU with COVID, down from 220 the day before.
In a tweet, Minister of Health Christine Elliott said 79 per cent of patients admitted to the ICU were admitted for COVID-19, while 21 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have since tested positive for the virus.
Around half of current ICU patients (103) are on ventilators.
The province conducted 15,702 COVID tests Tuesday for a positivity rate of 12 per cent.
#Covid19Ontario daily cases vs. total current hospitalizations pic.twitter.com/5lKRUIiJWP
— Dr. Jennifer Kwan (@jkwan_md) March 16, 2022
There are 2011 new cases of COVID Wednesday, but that number is underreported due to restrictions placed on who is eligible for PCR testing in the province.
Earlier this month, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, said COVID cases in Ontario are estimated to be 10 times more than the confirmed daily cases, putting the actual number in the 20,000 range.
Despite the downward trend of hospitalizations, Ontario remains on edge with surges of the Omicron subvariant BA.2 reported around the globe.
On Tuesday, Elliott said the province was following the so-called stealth Omicron variant “very closely,” adding that it could soon make up 50 per cent of cases in Ontario.
Elliott added that at this point, it does not appear to be generating any additional strain on the health system — though that could change.
The province is dropping mask mandates in most settings on March 21.
