The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has risen week-over week but intensive care unit admissions continue to decline in Ontario, according to data released by the province today.

Provincial health officials say there are now 655 COVID-19 patients receiving treatment in Ontario hospitals, up by about 100 from last week.

This includes 158 people in the ICU, 23 fewer ICU patients than the number reported seven days ago.

Another four deaths were added to the province's cumulative total, bringing Ontario's COVID-19 death toll to 12,405. Three of the deaths confirmed today occurred within the last month, while one occurred more than a month ago.

Provincial labs confirmed 1,741 new infections over the past 24 hours, a substantial undercount given the current testing restrictions. Of those cases confirmed today, 236 involve those who are not fully vaccinated, 442 involve people with two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, 970 involve those with three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 93 involve people with an unknown vaccination status.

A little over 6,000 tests were processed over the past 24 hours, resulting in a positivity rate of 17.9 per cent, the highest that number has been since late January when the province was at the peak of the Omicron wave.

Officials previously cautioned that COVID-19 hospitalizations will likely rise between now and May but won’t approach levels anywhere near those reported at the height of Omicron.

The Ontario Science Advisory Table says wastewater data indicates that transmission is once again on the rise in all regions of the province after bottoming out earlier this month.

The uptick in transmission comes following the Ford government's decision to lift most public health restrictions, including masking requirements in most public settings and the provincial vaccine certificate program.

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.