Ontario hits record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations MISSISSAUGA (CANADA), May 5, 2021 People wearing face masks line up for COVID-19 tests at a COVID-19 assessment center in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on May 5, 2021. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) (Credit Image: © Zou Zheng/Xinhua via ZUMA Press) By Michael Ranger Posted Jan 7, 2022, 10:21AM EST. Last Updated Jan 7, 2022, 10:52AM EST. Ontario has reached a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province. Health officials are reporting there are 2,472 people in the hospital due to the virus, up from 2,279 a day ago. That number has doubled in seven days. The all-time high of 2,360 was reached in April of last year and at that time there were more than double the amount of patients in the ICU due to the virus. There are currently 338 adult patients in ICU, up from 319 a day ago. The seven-day rolling average of patients in the ICU now sits at 271 and there are 177 patients on a ventilator. The number of patients in the ICU has doubled since Dec. 26 and has reached the highest point since the middle of June. icu numbers Graphic courtesy of @jkwan_md The Ministry of Health says there are 42 new virus-related deaths, but notes the number encapsulates deaths over the past 10 days due to a data catch-up. The Ministry also notes they are evaluating their methods of data collection for COVID-19 deaths. “We are evaluating whether there is a need to update reporting to distinguish between causal and incidental deaths related to COVID-19,” says a spokesperson for the Ministry. “We have heard anecdotal evidence of a small number of individuals receiving palliative care in congregate care settings who regrettably passed with COVID but not necessarily because of the virus.” Among the current ICU patients, more than 68 per cent are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. That compares to just 11.7 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older who are not fully vaccinated. As of Friday, 91 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and more than 88.3 per cent have both doses. Starting on Friday, the province says its new mass vaccination clinic at the International Centre in Mississauga will be prioritized to get booster shots for education and child care staff in the GTHA. The province administered 194,093 doses over the last 24-hour period. vaccine numbers Below is the number of new COVID-19 infections and tests in Ontario. Cases are likely much higher due to changes in testing strategy across the province. More information on these changes can be found here. Ontario is also reporting 11,899 new COVID-19 cases but Public Health Ontario warns the number of infections is likely much higher due to the province’s testing capacity and accessibility. There were 61,137 completed tests in the last 24-hour period for a positivity rate of 26.6 per cent. There were 11,946 resolved cases of the virus. The province updated its testing strategy on Thursday to rely more on rapid test kits. The recent changes to the testing strategy means large portions of the population are no longer eligible for a PCR test. Anyone who tests positive using a rapid antigen test is no longer required to seek a PCR test for confirmation. The Ministry of Health says positive tests for a symptomatic person should be treated as a confirmed case and that person and their household would be required to self-isolate. Two negative tests within two days for symptomatic individuals would only require them to isolate until their symptoms start to improve.