Ontario COVID numbers: 1,342 people in hospital, 356 in intensive care

Ontario added 37 more COVID-related deaths on Thursday, 36 of which occurred in the last 27 days.

Ontario is reporting 1,342 people in hospital with COVID on Thursday, with 356 in intensive care units as overall figures continue to trend downwards.

This is down by 61 hospitalizations and a decrease of eight in ICUs since the previous day. Last Thursday, there were 1,897 hospitalizations with 445 in ICU.

The province recently began distinguishing between those who were admitted to hospital directly because of COVID, and those who were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for the virus.

Of the 1,342 people in hospital with COVID-19, 52 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 48 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.

Of the 356 people in ICUs with the virus, 80 per cent were admitted because of COVID, while 20 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

Meanwhile, Ontario also reported 2,327 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, though that is an underestimate of the true widespread transmission of the virus due to recent testing restrictions. The provincial case total now stands at 1,080,937.

The death toll in the province has risen to 12,204 as 37 more virus-related deaths were added. A ministry of health spokesperson said 36 of the deaths occurred over the past 27 days. One death was from more than a month ago.

“Of these, one death occurred on Feb. 16, nine deaths occurred on Feb. 15 and six deaths occurred on Feb. 14, with the remaining occurring in the preceding days,” the spokesperson said.