COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions decrease in Windsor-Essex: WECHU

An inside look of the ICU unit at Windsor Regional Hospital in Windsor, Ont. on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2020. (Michelle Maluske/CTV Windsor)

COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions are decreasing in the region, according to the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

WECHU released its revamped weekly epidemiological summary on Thursday.

“I remain cautious, but also optimistic in terms of where we are as a region,” says Ramsey D'Souza, manager of epidemiology for the health unit.

The health unit adjusted the reporting of cases due to the recent surge in Omicron cases and changes in eligibility for testing, testing capacity is limited and case, contact, and outbreak management has been modified to focus on high-risk settings.

Health unit officials say they are also closely monitoring hospital admissions as an indicator of the burden of disease on the community.

Hospitalization and ICU Admissions

• For the most recent week (Jan. 17 - 23, 2022), there have been 103 new hospital admissions compared to 135 new admissions seen during the previous week (Jan. 10 – 16, 2022).
• There were seven new COVID-19 patients were admitted to ICU for this week (Jan. 17 - 23, 2022), a decrease of 10 compared to the number of ICU admissions reported last week.
• After consistent increase for the past three weeks, a decreasing trend in ICU admissions was observed for Ontario.In-patient hospitalizations in Windsor, Ont., and Ontario as of Jan. 25, 2022. (Source: WECHU)

WECHU data highlights (week of Jan. 17 - 23, 2022)

• For the week of January 17 - 23, 2022, the high-risk case rate is 389.2 cases per 100,000 population, a decrease of 32.7% compared to the previous week.
• Percent positivity increased by 0.3% percentage points from 22.9% (Jan. 10 - 16, 2022) to 23.2% (Jan. 17 - 23, 2022).
• Hospitalizations decreased locally and across Ontario.
• For ICU admissions, a decline was observed for Windsor-Essex and a slight increase was reported across Ontario.
• Wastewater surveillance showed an increase in viral signals of COVID-19 towards the end of the week (Jan. 21, 2022) after a decline was observed for the previous days.
• 16 deaths were reported this week (Jan. 17 – 23, 2022) compared to 7 deaths reported last week (Jan. 10 – 16, 2022).