Provincial health officials say there are currently 977 COVID-19 patients receiving hospital treatment, up from 1,188 on Saturday but from 763 a week ago.  It should be noted that hospitalization numbers are usually lower on Sundays due to a lack of reporting from some hospitals.
The number of patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit rose to 173 today, from 168 on Saturday and 166 last week.
The province does not disclose details of hospitalization on Sundays.
Another 15 virus-related deaths were added to Ontario’s death toll, which now stands at 12,563.  The county says 11 of those deaths occurred in the last four months and four more than a month ago.
Another 3,481 new infections have been confirmed by provincial laboratories in the last 24 hours, but this number is significantly underestimated due to test restrictions. 
Only 16,816 tests were processed on Saturday, resulting in a 17.6% positivity rate, officials said.
Of the new cases confirmed today, 450 are people who have not been fully vaccinated, 801 are people with two doses of COVID-19, 2,051 are people with three doses and 179 are people with an unknown vaccination status.
Earlier this week, Dr.  Peter Juni, scientific director of the province’s Scientific Advisory Board, said Ontario wastewater data brings the number of new daily infections in Ontario to about 100,000.
The increase in Community transmission of COVID-19 in recent weeks has caused a sixth wave of the Ontario pandemic, driven by the most contagious BA.2 Omicron subtype.  Many experts have called on the province to reinstate the mandatory mask in key public areas in an effort to curb the spread, but the Ford government has said it has no intention of re-imposing restrictions on public health at this time.
A recently published Ontario Public Health report suggests that the increase in infections in the province is linked to the Ford government’s decision to lift mask orders in most public areas.
“Close monitoring of epidemiological trends since 21 March 2022 (the date required to remove the mask) suggests a corresponding time correlation with a consequent increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations,” the report said. Public Health Ontario (PHO).  .
The numbers used in this story are in the Ontario Department of Health’s Daily Epidemiological Summary COVID-19.  The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from that reported by the province, as local units report data at different times.