Ontario health officials are reporting a drop in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on Saturday as ICU admissions linked to the virus climb.
The 4,026 patients currently in hospital represent a decrease over the 4,114 patients reported a day earlier. Meanwhile, ICU admissions rose from 590 to 600.
Of those 4,026 patients, 56 per cent were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 and 44 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have since tested positive for the virus, according to Health Minister Christine Elliott.
In the ICU, 81 per cent of patients were admitted for COVID-19 and 19 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19 after their admission.
Another 6,473 cases of COVID-19 were reported across Ontario since yesterday, though officials have said that number is likely an underestimate due to limited testing availability.
With 36,396xjmtzyw tests processed in the last 24 hours, Ontario’s COVID-19 positivity rate is 15.9 per cent.
The Ministry of Health says that 47 deaths linked to COVID-19 were reported on Saturday, though they say that number only includes deaths that have occurred in the last month.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ontario has seen 990,832 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 10,912 deaths and 908,533 recoveries.
Backstory:
The numbers used in this story are found in the Ontario Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from what is reported by the province, because local units report figures at different times.
Health experts have said the number of COVID-19 infections identified in fully vaccinated individuals will naturally increase as more people get both of their shots.
