TORONTO — Ontario's expert science advisers say COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions will likely rise as more public health measures are lifted, but nowhere near the levels seen at the peak of the Omicron wave.
New modelling released today by Ontario's science advisory table – ahead of mask mandates being lifted Monday in most settings – suggests that if there is a moderate increase in COVID-19 transmission, hospitalizations will likely rise, though they won't exceed 1,000.
There are currently 644 people in hospital with COVID-19, and a modelling graph suggests that there could be fewer than 900 hospitalization at a peak in early May - a far cry from the more than 4,000 people in hospital with COVID-19 in January.
Cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions have steadily declined since that peak, but the modelling shows that decline has stopped and is now plateauing across most of the province.
The science table also says that administration of COVID-19 booster doses has plateaued, but notes that the third doses helped cut hospitalizations and ICU occupancy by about 30 per cent at the peak of Omicron.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott says Ontario's public health trends are significantly better than the best case scenario laid out in the science table's previous modelling update, and hospitals can continue to manage what is projected in today's modelling.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2022.
The Canadian Press
