TORONTO – Hospitalizations on the rise, but there are only two more patients in intensive care. Today, in Ontario, the number of patients in hospitals increased by 296 units: now they are 4,183, of which 580 in intensive care, even if for the latter the increase is very slight (on Monday the people present in the hospital were 3,887, of which 578 in intensive care). 

It should also be considered, however, that of the total number of hospitalized patients, 53.5% goes in hospital for Covid-19 while 46.5% tested positive after being hospitalized for another reason. In intensive care, on the other hand, 82.1% of patients were hospitalized for Covid-19 while 17.9% tested positive after hospitalization for other diseases.

The Omicron version of the virus, however, affects everyone, vaccinated and unvaccinated: the vaccination status of patients currently hospitalized includes 2,050 fully vaccinated patients, 739 unvaccinated patients and 195 partially vaccinated patients. The vaccination status of the remaining 1,199 patients is unknown, according to data released by the provincial government. In the ICU, 196 patients are fully vaccinated, 195 are unvaccinated and 17 are partially vaccinated, while no information on vaccination has been provided for the remaining 172 patients.

As for infections, even if the number represents the tip of the iceberg given the limitations of tests to the “at risk” categories only, 7,086 new cases were recorded in Ontario today: more than 5,400 of these cases were identified in fully vaccinated individuals , 1,087 in unvaccinated individuals and 245 in partially vaccinated individuals. The vaccination status of the remaining 314 cases is unknown.

With 31,355 tests performed in the past 24 hours, Ontario’s positive rate stands at 24.5%. Most of the cases reported today were detected in Toronto (1,628), the Peel region (1,106) and the York region (545). Other areas with a high number of recorded cases include the Durham region (465), the Halton region (418), Ottawa (333) and Hamilton (327). There are now 91,473 active and known cases in Ontario.

The death toll is still heavy: today 38 deaths related to Covid-19 were reported, bringing the death toll in the province, since the beginning of the pandemic, to 10,666. On the vaccine front, 91.4% of Ontarians over the age of 12 received one dose of the vaccine and 88.7% received two.

In Quebec, a 4-year-old girl died “due to circumstances related to Covid-19”, as reported by the hospital in Quebec City where the little girl was hospitalized. Exactly one month ago, a newborn less than two months old died of Covid-19 in a Montreal children’s hospital. 12,453 total deaths have occurred since the beginning of the pandemic in the province.

Currently 3,417 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus: 336 people have been hospitalized in the last 24 hours and 300 people have been discharged. ICU cases increased slightly with three other people in ICU, for a total of 289. The number of active (known) cases in the province dropped to 51,489, down from 54,139 on Monday. The positivity rate in Quebec therefore dropped to 14%, based on the 29,042 samples analyzed.

As for the status of hospitalizations across Canada, the updated situation as of 1pm today is as follows: Ontario 4,183, Quebec 3,417, Alberta 1,007, British Columbia 819, Manitoba 569, Saskatchewan 167, New Brunswick 113, Nova Scotia 73 , Newfoundland and Labrador 15, Prince Edward Island 7.

Image by fernando zhiminaicela from Pixabay