Ontario marks highest COVID-19 test positivity since mid-January, hospitalizations up by 30%

Ontario reported 857COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday an increase of about 30 per cent from the week before.

Monday's hospitalization numbers are up from 763 on Sunday and 655 at this time last week. At least 10 per cent of hospitals do not report their figures on the weekend.

Of those hospitalized, 168of patients are in intensive care. That number is up bytwo, up from166reported the previous dayand 158reported a week earlier.

The province reported another 2,248COVID-19 cases through limited PCR testing Monday,with 11,195 tests completed the day before.

Test positivity rate has gone up to 19 per cent, the highest since mid-January, when it hit 24.5 during the Omicron wave.

Dr. Peter Jni, who heads the province's COVID-19 sciencetable,said last week he estimates the real number of daily cases provincewideto bearound 30,000 to 35,000, based on wastewater surveillance data.

No new deaths were reported Monday, with the total death toll in the province sitting at 12,470.

When asked about rising case counts and hospitalizations at a news conference this morning, Premier Doug Ford said the province expected a "little spike" when health restrictions eased, but officials expect to be able to manage it.

"We're going to continue to be cautious," Ford said, adding that the province's hospitals are "in good shape right now."

At a separate news conference, Health Minister Christine Elliott was also asked about the possibility of fourth vaccine doses for Ontarians. She said provincial officials are waiting on advice from theNational Advisory Committee on Immunization(NACI) before making any decisions.

"That is something that we'll be studying, along with the chief medical officer of health, to determine what Ontario's position is going to bewhether it's going to be for older adults, or whether it's going to be for the general population, but we need to see NACI's guidance first."