The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 was virtually unchanged from a week earlier as Ontario’s health care system remained under pressure, despite a marked decline in viral activity in the community.
The latest figures from the Ministry of Health show that there are currently 1,662 people in hospital with COVID-19, which is less than 1,679 at the time last week and the peak of the sixth wave from 1734 on 27 April.
The number of patients treated in intensive care is also maintained. As of Friday, there were 210 patients with COVID in the Ontario Intensive Care Unit, an increase from that time last week. About half of these patients (99) are currently breathing with a ventilator.
In the midst of the initial wave of Omicron in January, more than 4,000 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 and it took weeks to reduce patient volumes.
“Hospitalization, although it seems to be declining, has really taken a long time,” Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr Susie Hotta warned in an interview with CP24 on Friday morning. “We are somehow stabilized in about 1,700 patients in Ontario hospitals with COVID, and that’s a lot. This really increases the stress of everything. Fortunately, it seems that the wave is already beginning to descend in all regions of the province. But over the next few weeks and months, there is still a lot of recovery that needs to happen in hospitals. “
Wastewater monitoring is currently showing a reduction in viral activity in all parts of Ontario, although the decline has only just begun in the GTA, where transmission remains close to the peak of the sixth wave.
Meanwhile, other public health indicators, such as the number and percentages of positivity, are increasingly suggesting a break from the sixth wave of the pandemic.
According to the latest data, there are another 2,418 cases detected by PCR testing in the last 24 hours, down from 2,760 in the same one-day period last week and 4,668 on April 22.
The positivity rate over the past seven days has also been declining from week to week and now stands at 13.8 percent. It was 14.8% last Friday and 18% the previous Friday.
“I think it’s reassuring that in all the regions or all six types of areas where we monitor wastewater, we see this trend, everything is going down right now,” Hota told CP24. “While in the past we have seen that in some regions it is declining and others are stable or still increasing, now it seems that each group is declining. So I think that’s a very positive sign. This does not mean that we are abandoning all measures and, you know, we are going crazy, but I think it is important to know that we are on the right track. Things are going downhill and we need to get some relief over the next few times. “
17 new deaths
Ontario continues to report a high number of COVID-19 deaths, as deaths are considered the most backward.
On Friday, he confirmed another 17 net new deaths, bringing the total number of people who died after becoming infected with COVID-19 in the past two years to 12,938.
The number of active outbreaks in vulnerable conditions also remains close to the peak of the sixth wave, reached last week.
As of Friday, there were a total of 214 active outbreaks in long-term care homes and another 166 in retirement homes. At that time last week there were 221 active outbreaks in long-term care homes and another 187 in retirement homes.
The numbers used in this story are in the Ontario Department of Health’s daily epidemiological summary for COVID-19. The number of cases for each city or region may differ slightly from that reported by the province, as local units report figures at different times.
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