The number of people dying because of COVID-19 has increased this month compared to March with 29 more deaths included in today's update, all of which occurred in the last 30 days.
In the last 30 days, 327 people have died because of COVID, with between four and 20 deaths per day and between 54 and 99 deaths per week. In March there were between 55 and 84 deaths per week, with more at the beginning of the month and fewer at the end.
To compare, at the peak of the Omicron wave in January there were 432 deaths in one week, in February there were 344 deaths the first week, and 115 deaths the last week.
COVID-19 has been the cause of, or a factor in, the death of 12,889 people in Ontario since March 2020, according to the province's daily reporting.
The daily update included 2,488 lab-confirmed COVID cases. Case counts are assumed to be underestimated because of limited PCR testing and only PCR results are included in the daily case counts.
Today, there are 1,698 COVID-positive patients in hospitals, and 199 of them are in intensive care units.
Since the start of the pandemic, Public Health Ontario has confirmed 1,265,690 cases of COVID-19 and reported 1,225,755 cases recovered or resolved.
The May 4 updates provided by the province's public health agency and the ministry of health also reported the following data:
Hospitalizations
- Of the 1,699 people hospitalized with COVID, 43 per cent were admitted because of COVID-19 and 57 per cent were admitted for other reasons, but test positive for COVID-19.
- Included in the hospitalized patients, not in the ICU, are 239 unvaccinated people, 66 people with one dose of COVID vaccine, and 1,050 people with two or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
- 199 patients are in intensive care units with COVID-related illnesses, including 94 patients on ventilators.
- Among the ICU patients are 30 unvaccinated patients, five people with one dose of a COVID vaccine, and 81 people with two or more doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccination
- About 86 per cent of the population over four years old in Ontario has two or more doses of COVID vaccine (about 12.1 million people)
- More than 7.2 million people in Ontario have had three doses of a COVID vaccine.
- 10 per cent of the eligible population (aged 5 and up) is unvaccinated
Testing
- Ontario labs processed 18,320 tests, resulting in a 14.3 per cent positivity.
