Ontario reports 1,403 COVID-19 hospitalizations, 47 new deaths as province set to ease rules Thursday

Ontarioreported 1,403people hospitalized with COVID-19 and 47 more deaths on Wednesday as the province gears up to lift capacity limits on businesses that were imposed amid a surge in Omicron cases.

On Thursday, the province will liftallcapacity limits for restaurants, bars, cinemas and gymsa move that was initially set to take effect on Family Day.

Premier Doug Ford announced earlier this week that the COVID-19 reopening plan will be sped up askey health indicators continueto show improvement.

Chief medical officer, Dr. Kieran Moore, recently pointed to the drop inhospitalizations and intensive care admissions across the province as a positive signal that is allowing the government to proceedin easing public health rules.

Meanwhile, the province's COVID-19 science advisory table's online dashboard showsCOVID-19 levels in wastewater data is steadily declining in all regions except for northern Ontario.

Whilewastewater data is not as exact as case counts, officials say tracking coronavirus infections in an area is helpful as it can monitorthe trajectory of disease in a community as PCR testing remains limited in the province.

Meanwhile, the number of hospitalizations reported Wednesday is downfrom 1,550 the day before and down from 2,059at the same time last week.

According to the Ministry of Health,54per cent of those peoplewere admitted to hospital specifically for COVID-19 treatmentwhile 46per centwere admitted for other reasons but have since tested positive for the virus.

Of those, 364people are in intensive care units. That is down from 384 the day before and 449 at the same time the week prior. Roughly 82 per cent were admitted to intensive care specifically for the virus, while the rest were admitted for other reasons.

The 47additionaldeaths reportedpushtheofficial death toll to 12,167.

About 85 per cent of Ontariansaged five and older have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and 89 per cent have at least one.