Hamilton reports 47 new COVID-19 cases, AstraZeneca pilot for ages 60 to 64 starts Saturday

Hamilton will administer the recently approved  AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccine to residents aged 60 to 64 in a provincial pilot project set to roll out on Saturday.

In a release on Wednesday, the city said select residents in good health at primary care settings will get the shot as per recommendations from Hamilton’s family medicine partners.

Those eligible for the vaccines will be contacted directly by primary care physicians and booked accordingly. The city says there will be no direct bookings for anyone not receiving contact from a doctor.

It’s expected opportunities for others in the age category to get the vaccine will be through large-scale vaccination clinics at a later date.

Residents 80-plus can start booking their shot on Monday as the province’s online vaccine booking tool launches on March 15.

In preparation for the move, the city temporarily closed its COVID-19 hotline in an effort to “streamline the booking process” prior to the launch.

When the hotline returns it will be available for those who don’t have the ability to book online.

“Just have that continued patience. We expect the crush on Monday will be large,” emergency operations centre chief Paul Johnson told Global News.

“We’re here to try and support people through that and hopefully we can get as many people booked as possible.”

Hamilton reported 47 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and three more variant cases as of Mar. 10.

The city now has 128 positively screened variant cases with the lineage of five confirmed to come from the B.1.1.7 variant that first emerged in the U.K.

There are no confirmed cases for any of the other subtypes of the coronavirus.

Three are a part of ongoing outbreaks in the city with single cases at Electromart Inc. on Brampton Street, AbleLiving Services York Supportive Housing, and the West 5th campus of St. Joe’s hospital.

There were no new outbreaks reported in the city on Wednesday. Hamilton has more than 300 cases tied to the 29 facilities currently in outbreak, which includes eight seniors homes, six shelters, six schools and two hospitals.

Active cases dropped slightly day over day to 441 as of March 10.

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Public health says 45 per cent (220) of the city’s 490 new cases in the last 10 days are from people under the age of 29.

The city’s weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 population is at 65 as of March 10.

Halton Region reported 33 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with active cases dropping slightly to 305 as of March 10.

The region has had 9,883 total cases since the pandemic began.

Halton has 17 active outbreaks that include 68 cases from two long-term care homes and 86 cases from two retirement homes.

Public health saw variant cases go up by 13 day over day to 165 as of March 10, with 21 confirmed.

The region reported no new deaths on Wednesday. Halton has had 198 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began.

Halton’s seven-day rolling case average is at 43.0 as of Mar. 10.

So far, public health has administered 33,255 COVID-19 vaccines as of Thursday. Close to 10,000 doses have been given out by mobile teams and just over 23,000 from fixed clinics as of March 4.

Niagara public health reported 23 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and saw active cases go up for the fifth day in a row to 224 as of March 10.

St. Catharines and Niagara Falls have the most active cases with each recording 45.

The region has had 8,814 cases and 369 deaths since the pandemic began.

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Niagara’s seven-day rolling case average is at 25.88 as of March 10.

Public health says it’s dealing with 23 active outbreaks with three at retirement homes and one at a long-term care home.

The region added 10 new variant cases on Wednesday with 86 confirmed total cases in the region, four identified as the B.1.1.7 variant.

There are no confirmed cases for any of the other subtypes of the coronavirus.

The region has had 8,814 cases and 369 deaths since the pandemic began.

Public health has administered close to 12,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Niagara as of March 9.

Haldimand Norfolk reported five new coronavirus cases on Wednesday and saw active cases drop to 39 after two days of increased cases.

Both counties have accounted for 1,473 total COVID-19 cases amid the pandemic and 39 deaths.

The health unit declared the outbreak at the Cedar Crossing retirement home in Simcoe over on Tuesday. The home had just one staff case over 15 days.

A pair of farms in the county are also in outbreaks — EZ Grow Farms in Frogmore and Ryder Farms Inc. in Delhi.

Over 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in both counties as of March 10, with about 1,600 people having completed their series of shots.

The Brant County Health Unit reported 10 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with active cases dropping slightly day over day to 42 as of March 10.

Public health is managing five outbreaks in the community at a nursing home, LTCH, two schools and two workplaces.

The outbreak at St. Peter Elementary was declared over on Tuesday. The school had eight total cases among students since the start of the surge on March 10.

The county has had 1,547 coronavirus cases and 12 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began last March.

The region added one more variant case on Wednesday. The county now has eight variant cases with none of the cases having their lineage classified.

Public health says more than 12,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Brant County with over 2,500 people having completed their vaccinations as of March 8.