12 per cent of patients in hospital for COVID-19 are under the age of 40, says Canada's chief public health officer. 

Despite studies that show older adults and seniors are at higher risk to the novel coronavirus spreading globally, Dr. Theresa Tam warned Canadians Saturday that 12 per cent of hospitalized Canadians are under 40 years-old. 

As of Saturday, there are 5,153 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 across Canada, though it's unclear the number and ages of those being hospitalized today. 

Canada's chief public health officer Theresa Tam now says she misspoke Saturday when she said 30% of those who've been hospitalized because of COVID-19 in Canada are under the age of 40. In fact, about 12% are younger than 40. A tweet citing the incorrect figure has been deleted.

— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) March 29, 2020

The locations, genders, ages, or methods of transmission for newly-confirmed patients in Ontario are no longer available on the Province's official coronavirus updates page as of a few days ago. 

But one of the last updates, on Wednesday, showed that a significant number COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Ontario were males and females in their 20s, or younger. 

Some had recently come back from travelling abroad, which has sparked a ban on all non-essential travel between the U.S. and mandatory 14-day self-isolation for all residents who've recently returned to Canada after travelling. 

Other young folks had reportedly contracted the virus through close contact, which is in line with the studies that show 25 per cent of COVID-19 cases are being attributed to community spread. 

So far, there have been 55 deaths in Canada to date. 

Though measures have been taken to help curb the spread and assuage the fears of older folks trying to function in the midst of COVID-19, Canada is now taking extra steps to enforce social distancing with fines and limiting the number of social gatherings to just five people.