The latest figures released on Thursday afternoon by the Ministry of Health reveal that there are now 985 people hospitalized with the disease caused by the new coronavirus, more than 38% compared to the previous week.
The number of patients requiring ICU care also increased each week, but not nearly at the same rate, from 110 to 118.
Some other public health indicators point to a similar increase in virus activity.
The positivity rate for PCR tests over the past seven days was 14.2 percent, up from 12.3 percent at that time last week and 9.8 percent two weeks ago.
The seven-day average of cases detected through the PCR test, meanwhile, was 1,439 compared to 1,072 in that period last week.
However, the Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore, has warned that the true number of daily infections in Ontario is likely “three to four” times higher than the PCR number due to limited availability for testing. That would mean Ontario actually saw between 5,000 and 6,000 new cases a day last week.
The latest data comes as Ontario expands eligibility for a fourth dose to include all adults who are at least five months removed from their last shot.
Health Canada also approved Moderna’s vaccine for infants, toddlers and preschoolers on Thursday, making that group eligible for vaccination for the first time.
Speaking to reporters during a press conference on Wednesday, Moore said he was “not considering proposing to the government any other public health measures” at this time.
However, he said the recent increase in virus activity should serve as a “call to arms” for Ontarians who are not up to date with their vaccinations.
“We went from about 8,000 (doses given) on average a day to 16,000 people vaccinated yesterday and I absolutely hope and expect that we will see those numbers increase day by day in the coming weeks,” he said.
In the last week Ontario added 39 new net deaths to its COVID-19 tally, bringing the number to 13,493.
