Ontario reports 43 more COVID-19 deaths, almost 4,000 hospitalizations
Posted January 15, 2022 10:39 am.
Last Updated January 15, 2022 11:40 am.
Ontario is reporting more than 40 deaths due to COVID-19 for the second straight day and almost 4,000 hospitalizations.
Provincial health officials report 3,957 are hospitalized with the virus, a 34 per cent increase over the past seven days. Of those, 52 per cent were admitted to hospital due to COVID-19 while 47 per cent were in hospital for other reasons but have since tested positive for the virus.
There are 588 patients in intensive care due to COVID-19 with 319 of those on a ventilator, a increase of 31 from the previous day. A week ago, there were 385 patients in the ICU with the virus. The seven-day rolling average of ICU patients sits at 475.
Ontario health officials say 78 per cent of patients admitted to the ICU were due to COVID-19 while 22 per cent had tested positive for the virus after being admitted to intensive care.
Another 43 Ontarians have died as a result of COVID-19, bringing the provincial total up to 10,565. It continues the trend of double-digit deaths since Jan. 4, with this being the fourth day this month of more than 40 deaths reported.
Dr. Kieran Moore said health officials are attempting to understand what is behind the large numbers, but that many deaths will be due to the previous wave of Delta, a COVID-19 variant with higher virulence, and some will be attributed to Omicron — shown to be less severe — because there are so many more cases.
The province is reporting 10,732 new COVID-19 cases but health officials warn the number of infections is much higher due to the province’s testing capacity and accessibility.
There were 56,318 tests completed in the last 24-hour period for a positivity rate of 24.8 per cent. The province has a backlog of more than 59,000 pending tests.
The province administered 157,357 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, including 13,049 first doses and 130,559 booster shots. Provincial data shows 91.3 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 88.7 per cent have two doses.
