Ontario is reporting another 42 virus-related deaths as the province continues to see a steady decrease in the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals week-over-week. 

Provincial health officials say there are now 2,254 patients in hospital with COVID-19, down from 3,091 just one week ago. The number of patients with the virus receiving treatment in intensive care units has also dropped to 474, nearly 100 fewer than the number reported last Tuesday.

According to the province, 56 per cent of hospitalized patients testing positive for COVID-19 were admitted due to the virus while 44 per cent were admitted for other reasons. In the ICU, 82 per cent were admitted for COVID-19 and 18 per cent were admitted for other conditions but have tested positive.

The province says of the 42 new deaths logged today, three occurred on Feb. 7, 10 occurred on Feb. 6, 15 occurred on Feb. 5 and the remaining occurred on preceding days. All 42 deaths occurred within the last 26 days.

In the epidemiological summary released Tuesday, the province cautioned that “data for hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and deaths in the most recent reporting period should be interpreted with caution due to data entry and reporting lags.”

Another 2,092 cases were confirmed by provincial labs today, a significant undercount due to testing restrictions. This is down from 2,622 last week. With 15,788 tests processed over the past 24 hours, officials are reporting a provincewide positivity rate of 14.2 per cent, down from 16.2 per cent last week.

Of the new cases confirmed today, 362 involve people who are unvaccinated, 92 involve people who are partially vaccinated, 1,402 involve those who have received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 236 involve people with an unknown vaccination status.

The number of ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes is now 277, down from 335 one week ago. The number of outbreaks in hospitals has declined from 187 last Tuesday to 139 today.

On Monday, some restrictions at Ontario long-term care visitors were lifted, allowing residents to now designate four essential caregivers, up from two during the peak of Omicron. Residents who have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine can also now resume social day trips.

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.