Ontario reports 655 COVID-19 hospitalizations, 158 patients in ICU

Ontario is reporting 655 people hospitalized with COVID-19, with 158 patients in intensive care on Monday.

The number of hospitalizations reported Monday is up from 551 one week ago, although at least 10 per cent of hospitals do not report their figures on the weekend.

"We anticipate the number of hospitalized patients may increase when reporting compliance increases," the Health Ministry noted on its website.

According to the ministry, there are 158 patients in intensive care, which is up from 119 reported a day before but down from 181 at this time last week.

The test positivity rate Monday of 17.9 per cent is the highest it's been since it hit 18.8 per cent on Jan. 25 during the height of the Omicron wave — although the total number of tests, 6,243, is a 90-day low.

Another four deaths were logged Monday, pushing the official death toll to 12,405.

Another 1,741 new COVID-19 cases have also been logged, though the province's medical officer of health has warned the actual number of new cases is likely 10 times higher, due to limited PCR testing available.

Here are some other key pandemic indicators and figures from the Ministry of Health's daily provincial update:

Active cases: 19,436.

Patients in ICU requiring a ventilator to breathe: 92.

Long-term care homes in outbreak: 57.

Vaccinations: 3,928 vaccine doses were administered on Sunday in Ontario with a total of 32,040,321 given out to date. Currently, 92.8 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 and older have received at least one dose, while 90.9 per cent have received two doses.

About 89.9 per cent of Ontarians aged five or older have received at least one dose, while 86.4 per cent have received two doses.