The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is down more than eight per cent week-over-week as Ontario continues to show signs that it is exiting the sixth wave of the pandemic.
The Ministry of Health says that there are now 1,555 people hospitalized with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, compared to 1,699 at this time last week and a sixth wave peak of 1,734 two weeks ago (April 27).
The number of COVID patients receiving treatment in intensive care is also slowly declining.
The latest data suggests that there are now just 188 COVID patients in the ICU, compared to 202 at this last week.
The slow decline in hospitalizations comes weeks after wastewater surveillance data started to point towards a reduction in virus activity in the province.
Case counts and positivity rates have also been on the decline for weeks.
On Tuesday Ontario reported 1,089 new cases detected through PCR testing, which was the lowest number in any single 24-hour period in nearly two months, excluding April 20.
The positivity rate on those tests is also down to 13 per cent over the last seven days after topping 18 per cent in early April.
Speaking with CP24 on Tuesday morning, infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said that the turnaround is a good sign for a healthcare system that has been under immense pressure for the last two years.
However, he warned that patient volumes still remain elevated when compared to the pre-pandemic norm.
“Even before COVID-19 our healthcare system was stretched. Every February or January, every influenza season you would hear the same headlines - hallway medicine, beds in the hallways and not enough beds for patients – but those were predictable stressors,” he said. “Now you have COVID-19 which adds a whole lot more stress to an already stretched healthcare system and then you factor in incredible staff burnout across all professions in healthcare and people leaving the profession or scaling back in droves, which puts even more significant pressure on the healthcare system. So it is a very challenging time and there is no quick fixes, there is no silver bullet. It is a complex problem that requires a multi-faceted solution.”
19 new deaths
While most public health indicators are showing signs of improvement, Ontario continues to report a high number of deaths, likely as a result of infections contracted when transmission levels were higher.
On Tuesday the ministry added another 19 net new deaths to its tally, brining the total death total since the onset of the pandemic to 12,991.
A total of 219 net new deaths have now been reported over the last two weeks, up from 167 during the previous two week period.
Meanwhile, outbreaks in the handful of settings with widespread access to PCR testing are now declining after essentially reaching a plateau for a period of weeks.
As of Tuesday there were 193 active outbreaks in long-term care homes, 152 in retirement homes, 91 in hospitals and 18 in shelters.
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.
