Ontario COVID-19 update: 977 people in hospital, 173 in intensive care

The number of people in Ontario hospitals receiving care for COVID-19 has dropped Sunday, according to data released by the provincial government.

New figures show 977 people are in hospital with COVID-19. The number of people in an Ontario intensive care unit (ICU) rose overnight to 173 people.

The figures mark a day-on-day decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations but figures are still higher than they were a week ago.

On Saturday, Ontario reported 1,188 people in hospital and 168 in intensive care. The province reported 763 people in hospital last Sunday, April 3, and 166 in intensive care.

A total of 211 fewer people are in hospital with COVID-19 Sunday compared to Saturday, the data shows.

The province also reported 3,481 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday. That figure, experts say, is likely an underestimate of the true number of cases due to testing restrictions that limit access to PCR tests in the province.

The director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table recently estimated that the province was recording “five per cent or even less” of its COVID-19 cases.

Opposition parties in Ontario have called on the government to broaden the criteria for PCR testing to allow more members of the public to receive a test.

The test positivity for results published on Sunday was 17.6 per cent, a small decrease from the 18.4 per cent reported Saturday.

The provincial case total since the pandemic began now stands at 1,195,918.

Ontario also recorded 15 new deaths due to COVID-19 Sunday. The pandemic death toll stands at 12,563.

More to come…