Ontario reports 68 new COVID-19 deaths; toll for January 2022 now exceeds 1,100
Ontario reported another 68 new deaths due to COVID-19 on Friday, pushing the death toll for the month of January so far above 1,100.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Alexandra Hilkene said four of the deaths reported today occurred on Thursday, 17 occurred on Wednesday and the 46 remaining occurred in the 11 days prior to Wednesday.
607 people are in ICU with #COVID19. 82% of patients admitted to the ICU were admitted for COVID-19 and 18% were admitted for other reasons but have tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 5,337 new cases of #COVID19.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) January 28, 2022
Period of infectiousness does not appear shorter with Omicron: Public Health Ontario
A new guide developed by Ontario’s public health agency suggests Omicron coronavirus infections are contagious for no less time than those of earlier variants, calling into question the province’s move to reduce self-isolation to five days for vaccinated people.
In a guide about how to best cohort patients in hospital published Jan. 21, Public Health Ontario (PHO) said they do not have any evidence to suggest Omicron is infectious for a shorter period of time.
