Ontario's COVID-19 test positivity rate still over 20% as hospitalizations reach new high of 3,630
CBC
Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore is providing an update on the province's COVID-19 response at 3:00 p.m. ET. CBC News will carry the news conference live.
Ontario reported a new high of 3,630 patients in hospital with COVID-19 on Thursday, which also marked the fourth straight day where the number of hospitalizations climbed.
Thurday's figure is a jump of over a thousand from the same day last week when there were 2,279 people hospitalized with the virus.
Of those hospitalized with COVID-19, 54 per cent were admitted to hospital seeking treatment for COVID-19, while 46 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have tested positive for the virus, according to data by the Ministry of Health. That data does not list a breakdown for previous waves of the virus for comparison.
As of Thursday, there are 500 people with COVID-19 in ICUs. That's a slight decrease from 505 patients the day before and an increase from 319 one week ago.
Approximately 82 per cent were admitted to the ICU seeking treatment for COVID-19 and 18 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have tested positive for the illness, according to the dataset.
The seven-day rolling average of ICU admissions linked to COVID-19 now sits at 436.
Ontario reported at least 9,909 new cases of the virus Thursday.
As the province recently changed its guidelines to significantly limit who qualifies for a PCR test, the case total for today is likely a drastic undercount of the real situation. Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table estimates that roughly one in five cases are currently being confirmed by the province's testing regime.
For the 58,831 tests that were completed, Public Health Ontario reported a positivity rate of 21.4 per cent.
The health ministry also recorded the deaths of 35 more people with COVID-19, pushing Ontario's official toll to 10,480.
In a statement, a ministry spokesperson said that the 35 deaths occurred "over the span of 11 days" and were included in Thursday's figures due a data catch-up.
Meanwhile, public health units collectively administered another 164,160 doses of vaccines on Wednesday.
Roughly 82 per cent of Ontarians aged five and older have now received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 88 per cent have at least one dose, according to provincial data.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.