COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ontario climb for fourth straight day

Ontario is reporting its highest number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 since mid-February.

The province says 1,188 patients are in hospital, an increase of 53 over the previous day and an almost 30 per cent increase in admissions from a week ago. The number of patients in ICU also rose slightly to 168 with 87 of them on a ventilator.

According to Ontario’s science table, hospital occupancy is doubling every 16 days.

Forty-five per cent of patients in hospital are directly due to COVID-19 while almost 64 per cent of those in critical care are there because of the virus.

Health officials confirmed 11 new deaths on Saturday, with one occurring more than a month ago and added to the total due to a data clean up. The number of Ontarians who have died due to coronavirus now stands at 12,548.

The province administered 30,444 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine – the highest number since February 23. That total includes more than 6,000 booster shots, however, no data was provided on the number of fourth doses administered since the government began accepting appointments for anyone aged 60 and older on Thursday.

Health officials report 3,797 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, however, that number is underreported due to changes in who is eligible to receive a PCR test in the province.

Wastewater surveillance has suggested that COVID-19 activity is almost as high as the January peak, with Ontario likely seeing between 100,000 and 120,000 new cases a day.

The province says it processed 18,678 tests in the previous 24-hour period, for a test positivity rate of 18.4 per cent.

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Despite some pleas to bring back masking mandates to help mitigate the current wave, the Ford government has stated it has no plans to bring back any the previous COVID-19 measures.

“We need to learn to live with COVID,” Ontario health minister Christine Elliott said during question period this week. “Sadly it isn’t going away. In fact, the increase in cases we’re seeing now is expected.”

Toronto’s medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, recently encouraged people to wear masks in most daily settings, especially in public spaces.