TORONTO – Another 20 deaths, never so many in 24 hours since last May 29 when they were 22, and a boom in hospitalizations. Today’s data on the pandemic in Ontario are even more negative, if possible, than those of the previous days. 

More than 300 people with Covid-19 are now in intensive care units across the province. The number of people admitted to hospital went from 2,081 on Wednesday to 2,279 today, while admissions to intensive care went from 288 to 319, raising the average daily attendance to 252. Worrying numbers, given that during previous waves provincial health officials said it became nearly impossible to provide medical care unrelated to Covid-19 once there are more than 300 ICU patients in Ontario hospitals.

Of the 319 people admitted to the ICU, 232 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 87 are fully vaccinated. According to data Wednesday from the Ontario Science Table, people who have been fully vaccinated with at least two doses are 80.1 percent less likely to end up in hospital and 92.2 percent less likely to end up in intensive care than to all unvaccinated people.

Today, the province reported also 13,339 new cases of Covid-19, but at this point it is almost superfluous to report it, given that for days the provincial health officials have had to repeat that the daily number is underestimated due to the limits introduced on the tests (which are carried out only in the presence of “risky” situations) and arrears. The fact remains that with the 59,241 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the provincial positivity rate is still close to 30%: 29.2%.

As for the territorial distribution of today’s cases, in the Greater Toronto Area, 2,645 were registered in Toronto, 1,500 in the Peel region, 1,238 in the York region, 772 in the Durham region and 675 in the Halton region. In addition: 1,238 new cases in Ottawa, 665 in Hamilton, 569 in the Waterloo region, 543 in Windsor-Essex and 506 in Middlesex-London. All other regions reported fewer than 500 new cases.

According to the epidemiological report of the province, of the 13,339 new infections reported today, 946 were identified in children under the age of 12, 1,068 cases among young people between 12 and 19 years and another 5,522 between 20 and 39 years, 3,866 in people aged 40 to 59, 1,484 in people aged 60 to 79 and 449 in people over 80. The virus therefore continues to affect more and more young people and very young people. And this is also true for hospitalizations: those involving children continue to increase in Ontario, particularly in children under the age of 5. In fact, those who cannot get vaccinated. Public Health Ontario says there were 38 children between the ages of zero and four hospitalized with Covid-19 as of January 4.

Photo by SJ Objio on Unsplash