Hamilton reported two new COVID-19 deaths on Friday and 16 new cases amid the ongoing pandemic.
The deaths were connected with a person in their 30s who had the affliction and another in their 50s. The city has now seen 404 fatalities in people who have contracted COVID-19.
As of Aug. 6, the city has 127 active cases and three new active outbreaks tied to five infections reported by public health at facilities in central Hamilton.
The largest is at The Bridge supporting housing complex on Barton Street which has three cases tied to a pair of residents and a staffer. The outbreak at the Good Shepherd Mary’s Place shelter has a single case as does the St. Leonard’s Society of Hamilton on Robert Street near John North.
The city has nine total outbreaks as of Friday involving 37 cases in all with the largest at the Arbour Creek Long Term Care Centre on the King Street East. That surge has been going on since mid-July and involves 14 resident cases and six staff cases.
The seven-day average number of cases remains steady at 16, while the number of Hamiltonians’ tests coming back with positive results continues to climb, with public health reporting a slight bump from the 2.0 per cent revealed last Friday to 2.4 per cent as of Aug. 6.
Two weeks ago the number was at 1.7 per cent.
Both Hamilton hospitals are reporting a combined 16 total COVID-19 patients requiring specialized care with eight in intensive care units (ICU).
St. Joe’s has seven COVID patients with five in ICUs, while Hamilton Health Sciences has nine with three in intensive care.
Hamilton yet to hit vaccination target for further rollback of health measures
Most public health units entered Step 3 of Ontario’s COVID-19 reopening plan on July 16 with the potential possibility of a move further relaxing safety measures after 21 days if they met certain vaccination targets.
The Ford government set three thresholds for the 21 day mark which were:
- 80 per cent of Ontarians aged 12-plus having at least one COVID vaccine shot
- 75 per cent of Ontarians aged 12-plus fully vaccinated
- 70 per cent of 12-plus residents in each public health unit fully vaccinated
Since the change to Step 3, vaccination targets have not yet reached levels to initiate another roll back in restrictions as of Friday.
As a whole, the province is at the 80-per cent target (80.7) in first doses for those 12-plus but not with those fully vaccinated which was only at 70.8 per cent as of Aug. 6.
Of the province’s 34 health units, only about half meet the second dose conditions as of Friday.
Hamilton is not one of them with just 67 per cent of those aged 12-plus having been fully vaccinated.
Both Niagara and Norfolk-Haldimand have also not reached that marker either reporting 69.1 per cent and 67.9 per cent respectively as of Thursday in residents 12-plus having completed a series of shots.
Residents under 50 represent Hamilton’s current struggle to meet the Ford government’s standards with just 58 per cent of those aged 12 to 49 having had two shots.
Just over 52 per cent of those under 30 in the city have a pair of doses.
Regionally, central Hamilton is reporting the lowest vaccination rates in the city with three of five forward sortation areas (FSAs – L8H, L8L, and L8R) combining for rates of just over 61 per cent for a first dose and about 47 per cent for a complete series of shots.
Most businesses have opened amid Step 3 of the province’s reopening plan but are still dealing with capacity restrictions, crowd limits and other rules.
A majority of those restrictions would lift after Step 3.