Hamilton reports 59 new COVID-19 cases, city averaging 64 cases a day in the last week

Hamilton is now seeing almost five times as many new COVID-19 cases reported to public health compared to a month ago, according to the latest data from the city.

On Wednesday, another 59 new infections were disclosed day over day which is 47 more than the 12 reported on July 25. The seven-day average is now at 64 new cases per day.

Active cases are up day over day from 445 on Tuesday to 463. Close to 80 per cent of all active cases are among those aged under 50 with just over 51 per cent among those under 30.

Only six of 34 public health units across Ontario reported more than 30 new cases on Wednesday with just Toronto and York region reporting more cases than Hamilton.

For the sixth week in a row, public health is reporting a bump in the percentage of cases coming back positive from Ontario labs. The percent positivity number has moved week over week from 5.70 per cent to 6.50.

The provincial average is 2.5 per cent as of Aug. 25.

Dr. Timothy Sly, epidemiologist and professor emeritus with Ryerson University, says the concern with the bump in cases across Hamilton and the province is the effect it’s beginning to have on hospitalizations, which is now more than three times as many (283) compared to the same date in July (88).

“I’ve seen the curve is going up across the country and also Ontario,” Sly told Global News.

“Nowhere near as much as it was last summer, although the number of infections is approximately where we were about the second week of August roughly. So everything’s going up.”

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Hamilton’s hospitalizations did drop ever so slightly on Wednesday with the one individual being removed from an intensive care unit (ICU), however in the last 10 days that number has almost doubled moving from 32 patients to 52, with 17 people requiring acute care.

On Wednesday, Ontario reported 660 new COVID cases with 398 of those people not vaccinated.

Sly says residents not vaccinated are the primary concern amid the fourth wave of the pandemic since the virus’ survival is contingent on finding those who are vulnerable.

“This thing is hunting out there for the unvaccinated — it’s on a mission,” said Sly.

On Monday, the scientific director for Ontario’s COVID-19 science table told Global News that recent provincial models suggest with the current average daily case counts and vaccination rates, about nine out of 10 people not vaccinated will become infected with the Delta variant in the next six to 12 months.

“Whether it’s six or 12, I can’t tell you. It depends on the behavior of people,” said Dr. Peter Juni.

“This virus is eventually finding everybody. Therefore, it’s so important to get vaccinated. You break the problems of the virus by getting vaccinated.”

The danger for those who have not had a shot is the lack of symptoms a vaccinated person likely is to show should they come down with an infection, according to Sly.

“If we’ve been vaccinated, we may or may not know we’ve been infected,” said Sly. “We can still pass it on to others, maybe even to unvaccinated people or to children and people who cannot be vaccinated.”

Hamilton’s vaccination rate has dropped significantly month over month, moving from a July average of around 6,000 inoculations per day to just under 1,700 in August.

Just over 71 per cent of the city’s eligible population aged 12-plus have been fully vaccinated which is below the Ontario average of 75.3 per cent as of Wednesday.

The latest data from IC/ES reveals that five Hamilton census areas – L8M, L8K, L8L, L8R, and L8J – have high percent positivity rates for COVID and low vaccination uptake averaging between 48 and 56 per cent of residents with two shots as of the second week of August.

During a pandemic update on Monday, Hamilton’s medical officer of health said the city is doing “what needs to be done” by offering “all sorts” of vaccination options.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said “trusted” community entities, businesses and school boards are the partners the city has enlisted to get the message out to those not vaccinated.

The MOH says those busy doing the “essential parts of life” like working and looking after children, residents that “aren’t interested in getting vaccinated,” and others “waiting to see what’s going on,” appear to be challenges for public health’s campaign.

“So it’s going to continue to be this way for the next many months as we go forward to bring those vaccination rates up as much as we possibly can,” Richardson said.

A Hamilton nightclub in the midst of an outbreak saw its cases go up again for the third day in a row. Public health says 42 people in total have now come forward since the surge which was revealed on Aug. 19.

All of the cases involve patrons and are connected with three club dates – Aug. 7, 13 or 14.

Those who may have been at the club on those nights are being advised to get tested and self-monitor for symptoms.

Hamilton has 10 ongoing outbreaks across the city tied to a total of 79 cases. There are 19 cases tied to outbreaks at three shelters in central Hamilton and eight cases among three workplace surges.