Ontario’s Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health says 22 Ontarians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, but it’s a moving target.
“There’s a proviso that they may not be aware of all of them and they may be discharged as we speak, or there may be new ones,” Dr. Barbara Yaffe said as of Thursday afternoon. “So it’s a moving target.”
As for the strain on hospital capacity, Yaffe said the number does not appear to be having a significant effect at this point.
"They have been working on reducing elective surgery and opening up more beds so I don’t think this has caused any undue pressure on the system at this point, but certainly the system is preparing for that," she said.
The update comes Halton Region Public Health announced the second death linked to the novel coronavirus, a man in his 50s.
The region’s medical officer of health said while he did have an underlying health condition, he was still in a good quality of life before contracting the virus, believed to be by community spread.
Officials said he had not recently travelled, nor been in contact with a known positive case.