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This is the Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021 coronavirus update. Oakville reports 88 new cases today - making this the most infectious day in Oakville of the pandemic to date. But in an incredible milestone, Halton Region has now administered over one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
The reproduction number of new cases in Halton has now risen to 1.9, meaning cases are reproducing at the fastest rate since August 2020. Active cases in Halton have nearly doubled in the last four days, now over 1,300, and test positivity is above 4.0% in Halton. In the past 30 days, 80% of Halton residents infected were unvaccinated, and of those who required hospital care, 93% were unvaccinated.
Active cases in Ontario are above 25,000 and active cases in Canada surpass 75,000 today. More than two million Ontarians have now received a booster dose, and the province is averaging just under 200,000 booster dose appointments per day.
Canada's cumulative cases reach 1.9 million as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and British Columbia all announce more restrictions that will begin before Christmas Day. The city of Montreal has also declared a new state of emergency.
**Vaccine booking update: Halton is now booking first and second dose vaccinations for all residents age 5 and older, plus third dose boosters for all adults age 18 and up.
Booster doses and appointments for children must be made in advance, but first and second doses for those 12 and up are available on a walk-in basis.
All vaccines approved for use in Canada effectively protect you against COVID-19 and all known variants of concern.
Note: Oakville News updates are published at least five days a week, sharing new Halton data from Tuesday to Friday and Ontario, Canada, and globally Monday through Saturday.
Oakville and Halton COVID-19 update
- Oakville reports 88 new cases today - a one-day record in town
- Halton Region has administered over one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
- Test positivity in Halton is above 4.0%
- Active cases in Halton have nearly doubled in the last four days, now over 1,300
- The reproduction number of new cases in Halton has now risen to 1.9, meaning cases are reproducing at the fastest rate since August 2020
- Halton has resumed walk-in appointments of first and second doses for those age 12 and up
Summary of Oakville vaccinations
- 74% of all Oakville residents are fully vaccinated
- 80% of all Oakville have received at least one dose
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Dec. 20, 2021.
- 458 active cases - plus 53
- 3 patients at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - minus 1
- 7,128 total cases (confirmed and probable) - plus 88
- 69 deaths - no change
- 6,601 recoveries - plus 35
- 6,670 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 93.5% of cases
- 5 active outbreaks - no change
Status in Halton
- 76% of all Halton residents are fully vaccinated
- 82% of all residents have received at least one dose
- 74,878 Halton residents have received a booster shot - plus 5,300
- 1,005,540 total vaccinations administered - plus 6,583
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Dec. 20, 2021.
- 1,320 active cases - plus 168
- 8 cases in hospitals across Halton - plus 2
- 22,570 total cases (confirmed+probable) - plus 258
- 246 deaths - plus 1
- 21,004 recoveries - plus 89
- 21,149 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 93.7% of cases
- 16 active outbreaks - minus 1
School cases (as of Dec. 20, 2021)
- Oakville: 38 total cases across 15 different schools
- Halton: 153 total cases across 51 different schools
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 release the names of businesses with active outbreaks.
Ontario COVID-19 update
Ontario announced a long list of new rules and regulations to combat the incredibly fast spread of the Omicron variant in the province. which went into effect on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021, and can be read at this Oakville News story by clicking here.
- Ontario is adding thousands of new cases every day; active cases are now above 25,000
- More than two million Ontarians have now received a booster dose
- Dr. Kieran Moore updates provincial modelling today, saying "We are tracking to have more cases per day than we have ever had in the entire pandemic"
- The seven-day rolling average of new cases is now 3,153/day, more than double the average of 1,400/day just one week ago
- Premier Doug Ford was temporarily locked out of his house due to anti-vaccination protesters outside his home in Etobicoke
- Indoor and outdoor gatherings are currently capped at 10 and 25 people respectively
- 80.54% of all eligible Ontarians (age 5 and older) are fully vaccinated
Summary of provincial vaccinations
- 12.13 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (81.85% of total pop.)
- At least 11.36 million people are fully vaccinated (76.67% of total pop.)
- 25.63 million vaccine doses administered (first, second and third) - plus 206,500
Changes are from figures in our last update. The province released this information on Dec. 21, 2021, as of the end of yesterday.
- 25,702 active cases - plus 2,111
- 412 people hospitalized - plus 128
- 657,180 confirmed cases - plus 3,483
- 621,355 recovered cases - plus 1,332
- 10,123 deaths - plus 11
- 631,478 resolved cases (deaths & recovered) or 96.1%
- 49,285 tests were conducted with a positive rate of 9.9%
- 165 people in ICU - plus 1
- 105 people on ventilators - minus 4
- 36 active, ongoing institutional outbreaks - plus 4
Note: institutional outbreaks count only hospitals, retirement homes and long-term care homes.
Summary of School Cases
- 11,777 total cases in schools - plus 234
- 10,367 student cases - plus 173
- 1,202 staff cases - plus 30
- 1,248 schools with confirmed cases currently - 25.76% of those in Ontario
- 10 schools currently closed - plus 1
Summary of Variants of Concern (VOC)
These numbers are for the number of people who tested positive and further testing confirmed their specific case is one of a particular variant of concern. All totals are only for cases since November 1, 2021.
- No new cases of the Alpha, Beta or Gamma variants
- 15,290 confirmed cases of Delta variant - plus 569
- 735 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant - plus 395
Canadian and Global COVID-19 updates
- Active cases in Canada are now above 75,000
- New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and British Columbia announce more restrictions that will begin before Christmas Day
- Montreal declares a state of emergency in response to hundreds of Omicron variant cases
- All international arrivals to Canada must have a negative molecular test result, regardless of citizenship or length of trip
- There is an advisory in effect against all non-essential travel
- Research from the University of Hong Kong and health officials in South Africa say the Omicron variant infects and reproduces 70 times faster than Delta, but creates a less severe infection
Summary of national vaccinations
- 31.58 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (82.58% of total pop.)
- At least 29.31 million people are fully vaccinated (76.65% of total pop.)
- 65.75 million total doses administered
- 4.85 million booster doses administered
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Dec. 20, 2021. With the high number of cases nationwide and globally, all numbers are approximate (within 0.1% of the total.)
- 75,627 active cases
- 1,618 active hospitalizations - plus 108
- 1.90 million confirmed cases to date
- 1.80 million recoveries - plus 1,735
- 30,082 deaths - plus 34
- Ranked 85th in global deaths per capita at 80.07 per 100,000 people
US COVID-19 Update
- 51.11 million cumulative cases
- 805,112 deaths - plus 1,519
- 61.6% of the total population is fully vaccinated
- Ranked 20th in global deaths per capita at 245.69 per 100,000 people
World COVID-19 Update
- 274.62 million cases - plus 543,400
- 5.35 million people have died worldwide
- At least 8.74 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide (source: Our World Data)
The evidence is clear: vaccination is the best way to be protected. Local, provincial, national and international health units all affirm the same data that Canada's approved vaccines are effective at protecting you from COVID-19 and significantly reducing your risks of getting sick, going to hospital, and dying from the disease.
Pictured right is a graph from Halton region showing how dramatically your risk of getting sick or being admitted to hospital is when vaccinated.
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