In Ontario over 3,200 COVID-19 hospitalizations, with a record number of ICU admissions

Key takeaways:

• In the last 24 hours, over 3,200 people have been admitted to hospitals with COVID-19, with a record number of adults admitted to ICU.
• 477 people with the virus are currently in intensive care units, up from 438 yesterday and 266 a week ago, according to the Ministry of Health.
• The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) reported that 1,765 ICU beds were full, leaving 578 adult ICU beds available across the province.

Over 3,200 people have been admitted to hospitals with COVID-19, and a record number of adults have been admitted to ICU in the last 24 hours.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted that 3,220 people with the virus are in Ontario hospitals, up from 2,467 the day before. However, because more than 10% of hospitals do not report over the weekend, yesterday’s data was only a partial count.

As of Monday, 61 children aged 0 to 4 years old had been admitted to hospitals with the virus, the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate among patients under the age of 60.

According to the Ministry of Health, 477 people with the virus are currently in intensive care units, up from 438 yesterday and 266 a week ago.

Also read: At least 2,467 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalised in Ontario

As per data from Critical Care Services Ontario offered by the Ontario Health Association, a total of 80 adults were admitted to the ICU yesterday, setting a new high for daily ICU admissions even before the pandemic started over two years ago (OHA).

According to Elliott, 54% of admitted hospital patients tested positive for COVID-19 to treat COVID symptoms, while 46% were there for another reason and occurred to test positive for coronavirus.

Eighty-three percent of patients of COVID-19 in intensive care are being handled for coronavirus infection, while seventeen % were admitted to the ICU and tested positive for COVID-19 by chance.

On Monday, the OHA reported that 1,765 ICU beds were full, leaving 578 adult ICU beds available throughout the province. Over 90% of all hospital beds were occupied as of Jan. 9, up 1.5 % from the prior day.

Although hospitals are overburdened with COVID-19 patients, Ontario Health CEO Matthew Anderson asserts the rate of hospitalizations is slowing.

“The one thing I might say is that the rate of increase in hospitalizations appears to be slowing, and also the rate of positivity on our PCR network also appears to be slowing… it ‘s still a little bit initial days to assert what that implies from a trend perspective,” he stated during a news briefing Tuesday afternoon.

“…it’s predicted that the number of cases will continue to rise over the next week or so. Cases should then begin to peak or plateau, and we should begin to see that phenomenon with hospitalizations at the January end and ICU admissions in February,” he added.

Over 87 % of Ontarians aged five and up have got at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 82 percent receiving two doses and 35 percent receiving three doses.

According to the ministry, another 21 people have died in the last month, bringing 10,399.

Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, another 9,893 people have recovered from the virus.

According to the ministry, provincial labs handled 45,451 tests yesterday, with a positivity rate of 24.4%. The 7-day rolling norm of the positivity rate is 27.6%, down from 30.9 percent this time last week.

Today, 7,951 new coronavirus cases were reported in Ontario, down from 9,076 and 11,352 cases a week ago. Due to limited testing capacity, which is reserved for the highest-risk individuals, case counts are likely underestimated.

COVID-19 outbreaks are becoming more common in high-risk areas. COVID-19 outbreaks are now active in 369 long-term care homes across the province, up from 231 a week ago.

Since January 2020, there have been 896,248 lab-confirmed coronavirus infections and 747,289 coronavirus recoveries.

The latest figures coincide with the government’s announcement yesterday that students will resume in-person learning on Monday after switching to remote learning last week after the holiday break.

Source: CBC News

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