Hospitalizations have been shorter during Omicron wave: Dr. de Villa
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Toronto appear to be shorter than in previous waves, according to the City’s medical officer of health.
At a COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday, Dr. Eileen de Villa told reporters that it is still too soon to tell if the surge of COVID-19 cases has hit its peak but offered a silver lining.
“A recent summary of our hospitalized cases confirmed that we are seeing shorter lengths of hospital stays than in previous waves,” she said. “Toronto’s high vaccination rate is also having a significant impact in this wave of COVID-19 infection compared to previous waves.”
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While infection rates, hospitalizations, and ICU admissions have continued to increase in the city, Dr. de Villa said that case rates might be beginning to flatten.
“We are seeing initial indicators that the rate of infection may have plateaued or started to decline,” she said.
1/2: #COVID19 update: As of Jan 17 at 8:30am, there have been 263,206 cases (6,158 new over the past 3 days/2,053 on avg.), 421 ppl are in hospital (144 new/48 on avg.), 3,854 deaths (36 new/12 on avg.) & 238,908 recoveries (8,150 new/2,717 on avg.): https://t.co/CkCG04C1q3. pic.twitter.com/qKYy3o2yu1
— Toronto Public Health (@TOPublicHealth) January 17, 2022
She added that vaccination is the best defence against severe outcomes from COVID-19 and offered some stark statistics for those who have not yet been vaccinated.
“For cases reported between December 24 and January 6 in the province, the rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 was four times higher for unvaccinated individuals than for those with three doses,” said Dr. de Villa. “The difference was even starker for the recorded rate of ICU admission, which was eight times higher for unvaccinated individuals than those with three doses of vaccine.”
If you or someone you know still need to book a first, second or third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, click here for the province’s vaccine portal.