Pam Menegakis on Unsplash
This is the Wednesday, August 18, 2021 coronavirus update. With active cases continuing to rise, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton is asking for locals to share ideas on how to "encourage more unvaccinated people to get their first dose."
Active cases in Halton and Oakville are actually down today (for the first time in two weeks) but still rising considerably in Ontario, other provinces and internationally.
Ontario's active cases are again above 4,000, and Canada's total is at nearly 20,000 - both numbers that have more than doubled in the last 14 days. Vaccinations remain slow but steady, though interest spiked yesterday among 11-year-olds turning 12 later this year, who are now eligible.
Ontario today has mandated COVID-19 vaccine policies, but not vaccines themselves, for employers in several healthcare, public service and public education settings. All four teachers unions in Ontario have released a joint statement urging the government to make vaccinations in schools mandatory.
The province has added almost 150 active hospitalized cases this week alone, as the added burden from Delta variant cases begins showing up in hospitals.
NIAID via Foter.com
**Vaccine booking update: Halton is now booking first AND second dose vaccinations for all residents age 12 and older. Halton is also now offering same-day, walk-in appointments at multiple locations.
All vaccines approved for use in Canada are highly effective in protecting you against COVID-19 and all known variants of concern, including the Delta variant.
Note: Oakville figures, including Halton vaccine updates, are again being published seven days a week. Effective August 9, 2021, Oakville News will share Halton's new data from Monday to Friday and Ontario, Canada, daily global updates.
Oakville and Halton COVID-19 update
- Oakville and Halton's active cases are down today due to a high number of recoveries.
- A new outbreak at an unnamed workplace opens in Oakville
- Mayor Rob Burton comments on the "drastic and unexpected drop in vaccinations," urging everyone to get vaccinated and to share ideas on how to "encourage more unvaccinated people to get their first dose."
Summary of local vaccinations
- 77% of eligible Halton residents are fully vaccinated
- 83% have received at least one dose
- 821,483 vaccine doses have been administered - plus 1,202
Changes in figures are since the last Oakville News update yesterday, on August 17, 2021.
- 40 active cases - minus 3
- 1 patient at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - no change
- 5,781 total cases (confirmed and probable) - plus 3
- 67 deaths - no change
- 5,674 recoveries - plus 6
- 5,741 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 99.6% of cases
- 1,862 variant cases - plus 2
- 1 active outbreak - plus 1
Status in Halton
- 117 active cases - minus 17
- 5 cases in hospitals across Halton - plus 2
- 18,469 total cases (confirmed+probable) - plus 12
- 237 deaths - no change
- 18,115 recoveries - plus 29
- 18,352 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 99.5% of cases
- 6,164 variant cases - plus 2
- 4 active outbreaks - no change
Note: Halton Region combines its recovery count into one number with probable, now closed cases. This total includes some cases that were not coronavirus recoveries. Halton Region does not publish the names of workplaces with active outbreaks.
Ontario COVID-19 update
- Ontario mandates COVID-19 vaccine policies, but not vaccines themselves, for employers in several healthcare, public service and public education settings
- 11-year-olds born in 2009 and turning 12 this year are now eligible to receive a vaccination
- All four Ontario teacher unions release a joint statement calling the government to mandate vaccinations for all schools immediately
- With a stall in those willing to be vaccinated, Dr. Kieran Moore says, "I’m sorry to say, but I think the fall and winter will be difficult with Delta."
- 82.28% of all eligible Ontarians (age 12 and older) have received one or more doses of vaccine
Summary of provincial vaccinations
- 10.65 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (72.03% of total pop.)
- At least 9.64 million people are fully vaccinated (65.19%)
- 20.29 million vaccine doses administered - plus 41,000
Changes are from figures over 24 hours. The province released this information on August 18, 2021, as of the end of yesterday.
- 4,067 active cases - plus 137
- 174 people hospitalized - plus 11
- 556,920 confirmed cases - plus 485
- 543,422 recovered cases - plus 345
- 9,428 deaths - plus 10
- 552,860 resolved cases (deaths & recovered) or 99.2%
- 26,307 tests conducted with a positive rate of 2.5%
- 98 people in ICU (that are COVID-19 positive) - plus 6
- 57 people on ventilators (COVID-19 positive) - plus 1
- 8 active, ongoing institutional outbreaks - no change
Note: There have been discrepancies with ICU and hospitalization numbers in Ontario for almost two months; some days, the number of people in hospital is less than that of those in the ICU, which is impossible.
The aggressively fluctuating numbers of patients in hospitals are likely the cause, with those in ICU easier to track province-wide. Until the province resolves these errors, Oakville News reports only on ICU and ventilator patients still testing positive for COVID-19 and not those recovering from the virus but still in ICU care.
Summary of variants of concern (VOC)
- 145,705 confirmed cases of the Alpha variant - plus 11
- 1,496 confirmed cases of Beta variant - plus 3
- 5,206 confirmed cases of Gamma variant - plus 23
- 6,656 confirmed cases of Delta variant - plus 117
Canadian and Global COVID-19 updates
- A federal election will take place amidst the pandemic, set for September 20, 2021
- U.S. deaths are now above 620,000 people
- 82.70% of all eligible Canadians (age 12 and older) have received one or more doses of vaccine
Summary of national vaccinations
- 27.46 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (72.03% of total pop.)
- At least 24.35 million people are fully vaccinated (63.84%)
- 51.81 million vaccine doses administered - plus 138,000
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on August 17, 2021. With the high number of cases nationwide and globally, all numbers are approximate (within 0.1% of the total.)
- 19,759 active cases - plus 546
- 687 active hospitalizations - plus 22
- 1.45 million confirmed and suspected cases to date
- 1.41 million recoveries - plus 1,194
- 26,719 deaths - plus 4
- Ranked 72nd in global deaths per capita at 70.81 per 100,000 people
US COVID-19 Update
- 36.95 million cumulative cases
- 620,493 deaths
- 59.9% of people have one dose (70.1% of those age 12+ who are eligible)
- 50.9% are fully vaccinated (59.5% of those eligible)
- Ranked 22nd in global deaths per capita at 187.92 per 100,000 people
World COVID-19 Update
- 208.47 million cases
- 4.37 million people have died worldwide
- At least 4.72 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide (source: Our World Data) - plus 35.64 million
Sources:
