Ontario reports 2,254 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 474 in ICUs

Ontario is reporting a bump in hospitalizations of people with COVID-19 while the number of patients in intensive care see a slight dip.

The Ministry of Health said Tuesday morning that, on Monday, there were 2,254 people with COVID-19 in the province's hospitals. That's up from 2,155 the day before, but down from 3,091 at the same time last week. As some hospitals do not report figures on weekends, today's number is likely a more accurate reflection of the situation in the province.

About 56 per cent of those patients were admitted for COVID-related illnesses while 44 per cent were already in hospital when they tested positive for the virus, according to the ministry.

As of Monday, there were 474 patients who required intensive care, down from 486 the day before and 568 the same time last week.

About 82 per cent of the people with COVID-19 in ICUs were admitted for reasons directly related to the virus.

The Health Ministry also reported an additional 42 COVID-19 deaths, pushing the province's official toll to 11,878.

Just under half of the province's long-term care homes — 285 out of 626 — were experiencing outbreaks as of Tuesday.

The province isn't reporting on COVID-19 cases in schools but five schools were closed for operational reasons and 173 schools reported absences of 30 per cent or higher the previous day.

As of this week, roughly 92 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 and older have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine while roughly 90 per cent of Ontarians aged 18 or older have received two doses, according to data from the ministry.

'Clearer picture' of Omicron

New data from Toronto Public Health suggests that individuals with three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine had the lowest hospitalization, ICU and death rates compared to any other level of vaccination.

Only about 2.4 per cent of individuals who have at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are getting infected throughout the Omicron wave in Toronto, according to the data.

"Thanks to the data we collected in recent weeks, we now have a clearer picture of how Omicron is affecting Torontonians and further confirmation that the COVID-19 vaccines continue to offer strong protection against severe outcomes from this variant," said Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa at a news conference Tuesday.

The data suggests that the older and the more under-vaccinated an individual is, the more likely they are to require hospitalization.

Unvaccinated individuals aged 60 or older have at least six times more risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 infection and a 14-times higher risk of ICU admission from COVID-19 illness compared to those with three doses, according to the data.