Hamilton reports another COVID-19 death, over 9K book vaccinations with public health

The province says more than 9,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments were booked for Hamilton during the first day of service from Ontario’s new COVID-19 vaccine portal.

Despite reports of some error messages and technical issues, the province says more than 133,000 people successfully booked appointments province-wide on the new system, with average wait times of about an hour for each user.

Hamilton’s emergency operations centre (EOC) director says those first in the queue on Monday morning saw their appointments scheduled within days while others got pushed back weeks as the volume of calls increased.

“I will say in terms of the time frame that we do know, hearing from residents who are able to book, that they were offered appointments as early as today and others tomorrow,” Johnson said on Monday.

“So it’s not a case of the appointments being offered weeks from now, those able to book and get appointments were getting them fairly quickly in the early stages.”

Meanwhile, the city says those who received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca will now have to wait out the 16-week interval for the second dose as per an order from the province.

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The instruction is tied to the province’s decision to extend the period between the first and second doses of vaccines as recommended by Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).

The province told Global News in a March 3 statement that the move was to allow Ontario to use remaining vaccine supplies to get shots “into more arms as quickly as possible.”

Anyone who has an appointment booked for a second dose on or after March 10 will be contacted by the city for a rescheduled date. The exceptions will be residents of long-term care homes, retirement homes, assisted living facilities and some people tied to remote and isolated First Nation communities.

Hamilton reported 66 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and another virus-related death.

Public health says the death is a person in their 50s. The city has now had 296 deaths tied to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

There were two new outbreaks recorded at an elementary school in the city centre and a community church in Flamborough.

The outbreak at Central Elementary was declared on the weekend and involves a pair of students while the community church in Millgrove says its surge was declared on Monday and believed to be tied to a service on March 7.

Four staff and five patrons have been connected to the outbreak.

An outbreak at the Queen’s Garden long-term care home was declared over on Monday after 12 days. The home only had a single case among a staff member.

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There are 31 ongoing coronavirus outbreaks in the city involving more than 300 cases including 82 cases at seven shelters and 71 cases at five hospitals.

The city’s two hospitals have a combined 93 patients being treated for COVID-19, 77 at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) facilities and 16 at St. Joe’s.

Active cases are up for the third day in a row by 15 to 547 as of March 16.

Public health says 43 per cent (268) of the city’s 623 new cases in the last 10 days involve people under the age of 29.

As of Tuesday, the city’s weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 population is now at 76, with 2.9 per cent of all COVID-19 tests reported to public health producing a positive result in the last seven days.

Hamilton has administered at least 59,000 COVID-19 vaccines as of Tuesday. More than 14,000 doses have been given out by mobile teams and around 45,000 through fixed clinics.

Halton Region reported 30 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and another bump in variant cases day over day.

Public health says there are now 257 possible variant cases adding 17 new cases to the list on March 16.

The region has had 10,113 total coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.

Halton has 17 active outbreaks as of Tuesday but only three tied to health facilities in Oakville and Halton Hills. The outbreaks, at a retirement home and LTCH in Oakville plus the Georgetown hospital, account for a combined 31 coronavirus cases.

The hospital has had five virus-related deaths since the surge which began on Feb. 13.

Active cases were down nine on Tuesday to 272.

Public health had administered 40,922 COVID-19 vaccines as of Thursday. Close to 11,000 doses have been given out by mobile teams, just over 28,000 of which are at fixed clinics and about 1,200 at community sites as of March 11.

Niagara public health reported 51 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with active cases up again day over day.

For 12 days in a row, active cases have gone up in Niagara. The region has 278 total active cases, with Niagara Falls having the most at 57.

The region has had 9,004 total coronavirus cases and 373 deaths since the pandemic began.

Niagara’s seven-day rolling new case average per 100,000 is at 44.45 as of March 16.

Public health says there are 24 active outbreaks with three at health facilities, a pair of retirement homes and a long-term care home.

The region added no new variant cases on Tuesday and has 118 total cases.

Four of the cases have been 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 14,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Niagara as of March 16.

Haldimand Norfolk reported 10 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday with an increase in active cases to 49 (up by eight).

Both counties have accounted for 1,513 total COVID-19 cases amid the pandemic and 39 deaths.

There are no outbreaks involving health facilities as of March 16.

More than 13,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in both counties combined as of Monday, with about 1,600 people having completed their required two shots.

A provincial order has put some COVID-19 vaccinations in Haldimand Norfolk on hold for up to four months.

The order affects some 6,000 residents who have had a first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech dose.

The Brant County Health Unit reported 17 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with active cases up 10 day over day to 97 as of March 16.

Public health is now managing five active outbreaks in the community: at a nursing home, three schools and one workplace.

The county has had 1,635 coronavirus cases and 12 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began last year.

The region added four more variant cases on Tuesday. The county now has 29 variant cases with none having their lineage classified.

Public health says close to 16,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Brant County with more than 2,500 people having completed their vaccinations as of March 16.