Provincial health officials reported 37 more virus-related deaths and under 1,400 people in hospital with COVID-19, as capacity limits were lifted in more indoor settings Thursday.

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said 36 of the latest deaths occurred over the past 27 days, with one death on Feb. 16, nine on Feb. 15 and six on Feb. 14. One death happened more than a month ago.

The province has confirmed 12,204 virus-related deaths since March 2020.

Health officials said there are 1,342 patients with the virus in hospitals across the province, down from 1,897 a week ago.

Fifty-two per cent of hospitalized patients were admitted for COVID-19 and 48 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have tested positive for the virus, according to Health Minister Christine Elliott.

Of those in hospital, 356 are in intensive care, compared to 445 a week ago.

Elliott says 80 per cent of ICU patients were admitted for the virus and 20 per cent were admitted for other reasons but have tested positive for COVID-19.

Provincial labs processed more than 18,400 tests in the past 24 hours, producing a positivity rate of 11 per cent, according to the ministry.

The province reported 2,327 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases today, but health officials say that is an undercount due to testing restrictions.

Starting today, indoor settings that require proof of vaccination, including restaurants, gyms and cinemas, can remove capacity limits as part of the government’s reopening plan.

The phased plan aims to remove the vaccine certificate system by March 1.

As of Wednesday, 89 per cent of eligible Ontarians aged five and older had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 85 per cent had received two doses and 48 per cent had received three doses.

To date, there have been 1,080,937 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,045,685 recoveries in Ontario since Jan. 2020.

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.