More than 2,400 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, marking a new record for hospitalizations throughout the pandemic.
The Ministry of Health says 2,472 patients are in Ontario hospitals with the virus, up from 2,279 yesterday and breathing the previous record of 2,360 hospitalizations on Apr. 20, 2021.
Compared to 2,279 yesterday and 1,144 at the same time last week, Friday’s hospitalization figure is a 116 per cent jump.
There are also 338 patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, up from 205 last Friday and 319 on Thursday. Among the ICU patients, 232 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.
The province is also reporting 43 more virus-related fatalities today and 42 of those deaths occurred over the past 10 days, according to the Ministry of Health.
Over the past week, the ministry reported 121 virus-related deaths and the death toll now stands at 10,315.
There are currently 312 COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes across the province, compared to 291 yesterday and 135 a week ago.
Ontario logged 11,899 new coronavirus infections today, down from 13,339 yesterday, but actual case counts are likely much higher due to limited testing capacity reserved for high-risk individuals.
Among the latest cases, 9,515 are fully vaccinated, 1,543 are unvaccinated, 375 are partially vaccinated and 466 have an unknown vaccination status.
So far, 87 per cent of Ontarians five years and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 81 per cent have received two doses and 31 per cent have received three doses.
An ambulance crew delivers a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, on Jan. 3.COLE BURSTON/REUTERS
Pressure on hospitals
The pressure on Ontario’s hospitals is expected to worsen in the coming weeks as more staff are forced off the job due to COVID-19 and admissions due to the virus climb, the head of the province’s hospital association said, calling it a dire situation.
Beds are filling up rapidly, with 2,279 COVID-19 patients in hospital as of Thursday, compared to 440 two weeks earlier.
The though the 338 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units pales in comparison to the peak during the third wave of the pandemic, when 900 people with the virus were in ICU, that doesn’t mean health-care workers are breathing any easier, said Anthony Dale, president of the Ontario Hospital Association.
“We still have very, very sick people. We still have a very large number of people being admitted to intensive care,” Dale said. “I don’t know where the ceiling will be.”
As of Dec. 31, when 1,144 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, Ontario Health said overall acute bed capacity — which includes ICU beds — was 20,000, and 18,000 were occupied, including just over 2,000 in intensive care.
With COVID-19 case counts continuing to mount — rising so quickly that charted on a graph, it looks like a vertical line, Dale said — it stands to reason that hospitalization rates will do the same.
The situation inside hospitals is compounded by the rising number of doctors, nurses and other staff who have to isolate because they’ve contracted the virus or been exposed to it.
Resources:
https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-breaks-record-with-2-472-covid-19-patients-in-hospitals-338-in-icu-1.5731334
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-jan-7-2022-hospitalizaitons-pandemic-high-1.6307179
https://www.cp24.com/news/situation-in-hospitals-expected-to-worsen-as-doctors-isolate-and-admissions-rise-1.5731141
https://www.ecgmc.com/thought-leadership/articles/increasing-surgery-migration-puts-pressure-to-hospitals-to-develop-an-asc-plan
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-hospitals-gear-up-for-growing-pressure-from-omicron-wave-2/