Hamilton reports 2 new COVID-19 deaths, mass vaccine clinic at FirstOntario to start March 22

Hamilton public health has set a March 22 launch date for the first of two large-scale COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

FirstOntario Centre is a part of the province’s Phase 2 plan, which has earmarked 113 large clinics in 26 of 34 public health units for mass vaccinations.

Vaccinations will follow Ontario’s phased approach and be dependent upon adequate vaccine supply.

Those who are eligible for a shot will be able to book a spot once at the arena when it’s fully functional.

The clinic is expected to have capacity to administer 3,000 vaccine shots per day.

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS), primary care physicians and Hamilton Paramedic Services will help manage and staff the sites.

Queen’s Park is expecting to administer 80 per cent of all provincial vaccinations through mass clinics during phases 2 and 3 of its plan.

Ontario is also set to launch its online vaccine booking tool next week, March 15, which will be complemented by a service desk, media announcements, flyers delivered to households and calls from health units.

Hamilton reported 56 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and a spike in variant cases as of March 11.

The city saw a bump of 47 new recorded variant cases and now has 128 positively screened cases with the lineage of only five of those from the B.1.1.7 variant that first emerged in the U.K.

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

Hamilton General’s Unit 5 West was added to the list of entities that have recorded at least one variant case amid an outbreak.

Three others, Electromart Inc. on Brampton Street, AbleLiving Services York Supportive Housing and the West 5th campus of St. Joe’s hospital, have also recorded at least one variant case.

There were three new outbreaks reported in the city on Wednesday at a shelter, a shipping company and a school.

The outbreak at DHL logistics outlet at Mount Hope has three cases among staffers, the Good Shepherd women’s shelter at the Admiral Inn has just a single case with a patron, and St. Lawrence Catholic Elementary has cases with two students.

Outbreaks at the Wesley Urban Ministries day centre, St. Eugene Catholic Elementary School, Amica Dundas and Queensdale Elementary School have been declared over. The largest of the four outbreaks was at Wesley Urban, which had four total cases among two patrons and two staffers over 23 days.

Hamilton has more than 300 cases tied to the 28 facilities currently in outbreak, which includes seven seniors’ homes, six shelters, five schools and two hospitals.

The city recorded two more virus-related deaths on Thursday, with one tied to an outbreak at a seniors’ home, West Valley Suites. The outbreak at home started on March 2 and has seen seven total cases among four residents and two staffers.

One of the deceased reported by the city on Thursday was a person aged between 50 and 59, while the other was someone over 80.

Active cases increased slightly day over day to 454 as of March 11.

Public health says 45 per cent (221) of the city’s 493 new cases in the last 10 days involve people under the age of 29.

The city’s weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 population is at 65 as of March 11.

Halton Region reported 31 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with active cases dropping slightly for the second day in a row to 295 as of March 10.

The region has had 9,914 total cases since the pandemic began.

Halton has 19 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 17 day over day to 182 as of March 11, with 21 confirmed.

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

Halton’s seven-day moving case average is at 40.0 as of March 11.

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 27 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and a pair of deaths.

The region has now had 8,837 total coronavirus cases and 371 deaths since the pandemic began.

For the seventh day in a row, active cases were up. The region has 231 total cases with Niagara Falls having the most at 53.

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Niagara’s seven-day rolling case average is at 24.83 as of March 11.

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 three new variant cases on Thursday with 89 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.

Public health has administered close to 12,500 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Niagara as of March 10.

Haldimand Norfolk reported six new coronavirus cases on Thursday and saw active cases creep up slightly to 41.

Both counties have accounted for 1,479 total COVID-19 cases amid the pandemic and 39 deaths.

Over 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in both counties as of March 11, with about 1,600 people having completed their series of shots.

The Brant County Health Unit reported 15 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday with active cases up for the fourth day in a row by 12 for a total of 59 as of March 11.

Public health is managing five outbreaks in the community at a nursing home, LTCH, two schools and two workplaces, the largest with seven cases among workers at a food processing plant.

The county has had 1,562 coronavirus cases and 12 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began last year.

The region added three more variant cases on Thursday. The county now has 11 variant cases with none of the cases having their lineage classified.

Public health says close to 13,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Brant County with over 2,500 people having completed their vaccinations as of March 11.