Ontario reported 17 more COVID-19 related deaths as hospitalizations continue to fluctuate.

There are 1662 people with COVID-19 in Ontario hospitals, including 210 patients in intensive care.

This represents a slight decrease in total hospital admissions, but also an increase in ICU admissions. At the time of publication, the province had not updated its classification of patients being treated for or confirmed to have COVID-19.

The 17 newly confirmed deaths occurred on Friday over the past month, raising the death toll in Ontario to 12,938. Three deaths occurred in a long-term care facility.

With just over 17,700 COVID-19 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province is now about 13.8 percent.

The positivity rate in Ontario has remained below 15 percent for just over a week. Officials recorded 2,418 new confirmed cases on Friday; despite ongoing restrictions, this number is lower than reality. At the same time, wastewater data from the COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Table continues to show a decline in novel coronavirus concentrations across all regions.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Suzie Hota told CP24 on Friday that while hospitalizations have started to decline, it takes some time to do so. "We have seen a sort of stabilization at around 1,700 patients across Ontario hospitals with COVID, and that is considered a lot.