TORONTO – New decline in Covid-19 hospital admissions in Ontario: from 847 patients on Wednesday, they dropped to 834 today, the lowest number since last December 29, when the number of hospitalized patients was 726. Attendance in intensive care also falls: today 267, yesterday 278. However, the number of victims remains high: today another 19 people died from or with Covid-19. Now the total deaths in Ontario, since the start of the pandemic, are 12,497. 

Also today, Ontario reported 2,262 new cases of coronavirus, out of 16,606 tests processed (tests which, we recall, are limited to the “at risk” categories only): the positivity rate is 10.2%. In the Greater Toronto Area, 324 new cases were recorded in Toronto, 134 in the Durham region, 120 in the Peel region, and 92 each in the York region and Halton region. 184 new infections were also reported in Simcoe-Muskoka and 136 in Ottawa. All other areas recorded fewer than 100 new cases. 56 cases concern residents (and another 8 staff) of long-term care facilities and 2 of today’s 19 deaths are affected by the same facilities. There are still 69 nursing homes in which a Covid-19 outbreak is active: yesterday there were 71. Today, another 2,293 healings: 1,077,985 since the beginning of the pandemic, out of a total of 1,107,408 cases registered in Ontario where the cases still active, officially – that is, based on molecular swabs – , are 16,926: yesterday they were 16,976.

Also in Quebec hospitalizations related to Covid-19 continue to decrease, with a decrease of 17, today, for a total of 1,364. The number of patients admitted to intensive care is also decreasing: 76 (-6). But even in the French-speaking province there are always too many deaths: today another 24, bringing the total, since the beginning of the pandemic, to 14,040.

As for the infections, today 1,257 were registered but, as is known, the number is not very indicative, the molecular tests remain limited to vulnerable and priority groups. To get a clearer picture of the situation, the Quebec government is encouraging people to report the results of rapid home tests through a dedicated online portal, so that provincial health officials can have a more realistic “picture” of the levels of infection in the province. Since the opening of the self-assessment portal, a total of 100,220 rapid tests have been declared and 78,129 have tested positive. Of those entered today (416), 286 were positive.

In Manitoba, 2 deaths were recorded on Tuesday (latest data available as we write) bringing the province’s total from the start of the pandemic to 1,685. There are 232 Covid patients in the hospital. The active and known cases are 6,968 and the positivity rate is 13.7%. In the coming days, starting from March 15, however, several restrictions should drop: the obligation to self-isolate for positives will turn into a “recommendation” and the mandatory use of masks will be lifted.

Photo by Viki Mohamad on Unsplash