ont Ontario transfers dozens more COVID-19 patients as GTA ICUs buckle under 3rd wave Ornge transferred an unprecedented 80 patients on Thursday to relieve stress on crowded ICUs Ontario hospitals have transferred another 26 COVD-19 patients from intensive care units struggling to cope with the surging third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of the latest transfers saw patients displaced from several Greater Toronto Area hospitals, which account for the bulk of Ontario's new COVID-19 cases. While Ontario's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases has now declined for three consecutive days, the number of patients in hospitals and intensive care units continues to hit numbers not seen before in the pandemic. As of Friday, there were 818 people with COVID-related illness being treated in ICUs, with 593 of those requiring a ventilator to breathe. Hospitals sending out patients include: Nine patients transferred from Scarborough Health Network. Eight patients transferred from William Osler Health System. Four patients transferred from Trillium Health Partners. Two patients transferred from Toronto General Hospital. One patient transferred from each of Humber River Hospital, Kingston Health Sciences Centre and London Health Sciences. Hospitals in Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Windsor, Stratford, Owen Sound, Belleville, Brockville, St. Catharines and Oakville were among those taking on new patients on Friday. clots Ontario man speaks out after father has severe stroke from rare blood clot following AstraZeneca vaccine 5 cases of blood clots have been reported in Canada. An Ontario man whose father suffered a severe stroke from a rare blood clot after receiving the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine is revealing new details about the condition for the first time in hopes of helping Canadians better understand the risk. Kyle's father lives in Hamilton, Ont., and received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the end of March. While the family initially breathed a collective sigh of relief that he was vaccinated against COVID-19, they were blindsided by what happened next. His father, who is in his 60s and has underlying medical conditions including obesity, cancer and diabetes, seemed like a perfect candidate for the vaccine given his high risk of severe complications from COVID-19 and the fact that he often went into the office for work. "At his age with all his myriad of health issues it was a no brainer — take the first one," said Kyle, who CBC News agreed to speak to on condition of anonymity due to health privacy and safety concerns. "He's just unbelievably unlucky."

home More COVID-19 patients dying at home, Ontario coroner says At least 25 Ontarians have died of COVID-19 without seeking medical attention in recent weeks Some COVID-19 patients are now becoming so ill so quickly that they die before seeking medical attention, Ontario's chief coroner said. At least 25 people have died in their homes rather than in hospitals or nursing homes since April 1, Dr. Dirk Huyer told CBC News on Friday. There could be more cases that his office is unaware of, he added. The new reality is a deviation from earlier waves of the pandemic, when most COVID-19 deaths took place in nursing homes and hospitals. It indicates how dangerous the current caseload is in Ontario, Huyer said. He said he was particularly troubled that some of the people who have died at home were in their 30s, 40s and 50s. "That is not what we saw in the earlier waves. It was not common for younger people to die. So absolutely, it is concerning."