COVID-19 hospitalizations and the death toll in the London region both saw increases on Wednesday.
The London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reported that it has two additional patients with COVID-19 in its care than when it last reported on Monday, for a total of 38 inpatients with the virus. That is also up from this time last week when there were 29 COVID positive inpatients at the LHSC. The number of people with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit remained at five or fewer and Children’s Hospital had five or fewer patients with COVID-19, a decrease from six on Tuesday.
The LHSC specified that, of the 38 COVID-19 patients at its hospitals, 17 are being treated for COVID-19, while 21 were admitted for other reasons but also have the virus.
The hospital network reported on Wednesday that it currently has 253 employees who have tested positive for the virus. That is unchanged from Tuesday, but is up 45 from a week ago.
The Middlesex London Health Unit logged 152 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, up from 75 the previous day. The death toll increased by one to 365. The latest person to succumb to the virus was a man in his 70s who was not linked to a seniors’ facility. Resolved cases increased to 33,332, leaving the number of known active cases locally at 951. However, public health officials have said current case numbers are likely an underestimation of the true number of people with the virus due to eligibility changes for lab-based PCR testing.
Southwestern Public Health reported 76 more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, increasing the local case count since the pandemic began to 12,243. The death toll was unchanged at 156. Resolved cases rose to 11,736 and there are now 351 known active cases in the two counties.
For a second straight day, the number of people in Ontario hospitals with COVID-19 remained above 1,000.
A total of 1,074 people infected with the virus are currently in hospitals across the province. That is down by 17 from Tuesday. At this time last week, there were 788 COVID-19 positive people in the hospital. Forty-six per cent of the people in hospital on Wednesday were admitted because of the virus, while 54 per cent were there for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.
Of those in hospital, 168 are in the ICU, down five from the previous day.
According to public health officials, there were 32 additional deaths related to the virus on Wednesday. Ten of the deaths occurred within the last month, while 22 occurred more than a month ago. The official death toll now stands at 12,511.
The province recorded 3,444 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, which is considered an underestimate of community spread. Daily case numbers are no longer thought to be a true reflection of spread of the virus in the province as the government has limited who is eligible for a free PCR test.
Ontario’s total case count since the start of the pandemic now sits at 1,180,121.
Resolved cases across the province are up by 2,872 to 1,142,051.
In the last 24 hour period, 21,553 COVID-19 tests were processed. Ontario’s positivity rate is currently 18 per cent, up from 15.1 per cent a week ago.
The province has administered 32,112,659 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Tuesday night. Figures show 91 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received both doses of the vaccine. There are more than 7.2 million people in the province who have received their third shot.
Ontarians 60 and older will be able to begin booking for their fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of 8 a.m. Thursday. The province announced expanded eligibility to that age group as well as Indigenous peoples and their non-Indigenous household members aged 18 and older on Wednesday. Prior to this, only those living in a seniors' facility or people who are immunocompromised were able to get the fourth shot.