More than 2,000 Ontarians with COVID-19 now in hospital as ICU admissions also climb

Ontario logged at least 11,582 new cases of COVID-19 and the number of people in hospital with the illness topped 2,000 on Wednesday, as stricter public health measures took effect in the province.

The Ministry of Health says there are 2,081 patients with COVID-19 in hospital, up from 726 at the same time last week — a 187 per cent jump.

Similarly, there are 288 patients being treated for COVID-related illnesses in intensive care units, up from 190 last Wednesday. 

In long-term care homes, there are 1,027 confirmed active cases among staff members and 571 among residents.

According to Critical Care Services Ontario, 42 more adults with COVID-19 were admitted to ICUs on Tuesday. A total of 124 adults were moved to ICUs in the last three days, the agency said.

As Ontario recently changed its guidelines to significantly limit who qualifies for a PCR test, the case total for today is likely a drastic undercount of the real situation. Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table estimates that roughly one in five cases are currently being confirmed by the province's testing regime.

For the 59,137 tests that were completed, Public Health Ontario reported a positivity rate of 28.1 per cent. It is the eighth straight day positivity rates have been higher than 25 per cent. Nearly 95,000 more test samples are in the backlog waiting to be completed.

The confirmed cases reported this morning include:

• 2,524 in Toronto
• 1,435 in Peel Region
• 1,294 in York Region
• 699 in Durham Region
• 584 in Hamilton
• 531 in Waterloo Region
• 511 in Halton Region
• 469 in Ottawa
• 441 in Middlesex-London
• 441 in Niagara Region
• 381 in Simcoe Muskoka
• 334 in Windsor-Essex
• 277 in Eastern Ontario health unit
• 144 in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington
• 126 in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph
• 124 in Haliburton
• 117 in Brant County
• 109 in Grey Bruce
• 105 in Peterborough
• 105 in Sudbury

The Ministry of Health also recorded the deaths of 14 more people with the illness, pushing the province's official toll to 10,252.

Meanwhile, public health units collectively administered another 180,013 doses of vaccines on Tuesday, including 161,487 booster shots. A total of 4,056,554 people in the province have now had a third shot.

Online school begins

A host of renewed health measures and restrictions are now in place in Ontario. 

Schools will run remotely until at least Jan. 17, while most other measures, including business closures, are slated to last at least 21 days.

Hospitals are ordered to pause all non-urgent surgeries to free up staff to cover absences and the rising number of hospitalized virus patients.

Several kinds of business including cinemas, gyms, theatres and restaurants must close for indoor activities.

Some other businesses including retail stores and personal care services are limited to 50 per cent capacity.

Social gatherings are limited to five people indoors and 10 people outdoors.

COVID patients, staffing shortages plague some hospitals

Niagara Health is shutting down its urgent health centre in Fort Erie on Thursday due to shortages of staff and increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients.

The hospital says nurses and doctors working there will be redeployed to other emergency departments in the region.

Residents needing health care are asked to contact their doctors, access the urgent care centre in Port Colborne or go to the nearest emergency department.

Other hospitals in Ontario are being forced to cancel surgeries and redeploy their staff to provide care for the surging numbers of COVID-19 patients.

Bluewater Health hospital in Sarnia says it has reopened a COVID-19 health unit as the number of novel coronavirus patients in the hospital quadrupled from seven to 31 during the last two weeks.

The hospital says it had to cancel most surgeries as the number of staff on sick leave increased to five times the usual number.

The William Osler Health System, however, declared its "Code Orange" over on Wednesday evening. William Osler oversees Brampton Civic and Etobicoke General hospitals.

"Triggered temporarily due to demand outpacing capacity across the organization, Code Orange mobilized Osler's staff, physicians, volunteers and system partners to work together to respond to the escalating situation and ensure the continued delivery of quality care to our communities," the health system said on its website.

"As soon as Osler was able to mitigate the urgency of the situation, we declared the Code over. However, we continue to monitor circumstances."

A code orange is typically declared "when demand outpaces capacity to ensure internal and external resources are deployed efficiently," the health system said in a news release. It was the first time William Osler issued a code orange during the pandemic.