Rod Long / Unsplash
This is the Christmas Eve, Friday, Dec. 24, 2021 coronavirus update. Halton Region is not reporting any new data until Monday, Dec. 27, but the Ontario's epidemiology report today cites over 700 cases from Halton in the most recent 24 hours.
More than half of all Halton COVID-19 patients are at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital while an outbreak at OTMH has led to ten cases in the last week. Local testing positivity remains above 10%.
Ontario reported over 9,500 new cases today, including more than 7,000 added active cases, both crushing all previous one-day records by thousands. This is the second day in a row Ontario's one-day record of new cases was broken.
The provincial Ministry of Health says they will not update COVID-19 data on their website from Dec. 25 to Dec. 28, and Jan. 1 to Jan. 3 because of the holidays. The testing positivity rate in Ontario today is over 18.7% (the highest ever recorded), meaning nearly 1 in 5 of all PCR tests are coming back positive.
Active cases are up more than 7,000 today in Ontario having more than doubled in the last five days. Active cases in Canada today surpassed 100,000 people, having more than doubled in less than a week.
Eight provinces have set one-day case records, B.C. has reached maximum testing and tracing capacity, and multiple airlines today are cancelling flights by the thousands, citing a high rate of staff calling in sick.
NIAID via Foter.com
**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
Halton Region is not reporting any new data until Monday, Dec. 27, but the provincial epidemiology report cites over 700 cases from Halton in the most recent 24 hours. All other local data is from yesterday, Dec. 23.
- Oakville reported 174 new cases yesterday - almost twice as many as the previous one-day record (88) set just earlier this week
- More than half of all Halton COVID-19 patients are at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH)
- An outbreak at OTMH has led to ten cases in the last week
- Test positivity in Halton last week is reported at 10.1% - the highest rate since April 2020
- Halton Region has administered over one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
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. 22, 2021.
- 618 active cases - plus 111
- 7 patients at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - plus 1
- 7,211 total cases (confirmed and probable) - plus 174
- 69 deaths - no change
- 6,698 recoveries - plus 63
- 6,767 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 93.8% of cases
- 4 active outbreaks - minus 1
Status in Halton
- 76% of all Halton residents are fully vaccinated
- 82% of all residents have received at least one dose
- 87,581 Halton residents have received a booster shot - plus 6,799
- At least 1.02 million total vaccinations administered - plus 7,632
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Dec. 22, 2021.
- 1,774 active cases - plus 331
- 12 cases in hospitals across Halton - plus 2
- 23,322 total cases (confirmed+probable) - plus 515
- 246 deaths - no change
- 21,302 recoveries - plus 184
- 21,447 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 91.9% of cases
- 14 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 reports over 9,500 new cases today, including more than 7,000 added active cases, both crushing all previous one-day records by thousands
- The one-day record of new cases was broken for the second day in a row
- Ontario's Ministry of Health will not update COVID-19 data on their website from Dec. 25 to Dec. 28, and Jan. 1 to Jan. 3 because of the holidays
- The testing positivity rate in Ontario today is over 18.7% (the highest ever recorded), meaning nearly 1 in 5 of all PCR tests are coming back positive
- Dr. Kieran Moore says new daily records, like those this week, are expected to continue into early January: "We are tracking to have more cases per day than we have ever had in the entire pandemic"
- Indoor and outdoor gatherings are currently capped at 10 and 25 people respectively
- 80.65% of all eligible Ontarians (age 5 and older) are fully vaccinated
A long list of new rules and regulations to fight the spread of the Omicron variant in Ontario is now in effect. The full list of these new measures can be read at this Oakville News story by clicking here.
Summary of provincial vaccinations
- 12.18 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (82.20% of total pop.)
- At least 11.38 million people are fully vaccinated (76.78% of total pop.)
- 26.34 million vaccine doses administered (first, second and third) - plus 229,700
Changes are from figures in our last update. The province released this information on Dec. 24, 2021, as of the end of yesterday.
- 39,980 active cases - plus 7,568
- 508 people hospitalized - plus 68
- 676,954 confirmed cases - plus 9,571
- 626,798 recovered cases - plus 1,997
- 10,146 deaths - plus 6
- 636,944 resolved cases (deaths & recovered) or 95.1%
- 72,639 tests were conducted with a positive rate of 18.7%
- 164 people in ICU - minus 5
- 102 people on ventilators - minus 4
- 57 active, ongoing institutional outbreaks - plus 11
Note: institutional outbreaks count only hospitals, retirement homes and long-term care homes.
Summary of School Cases
- 12,062 total cases in schools - plus 86
- 10,582 student cases - plus 65
- 1,272 staff cases - plus 21
- 1,097 schools with confirmed cases currently - 22.6% of those in Ontario
- 24 schools currently closed - plus 3
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.
- 3 cases of the Alpha, Beta or Gamma variants - no change
- 16,081 confirmed cases of Delta variant - plus 193
- 1,298 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant - plus 303
Canadian and Global COVID-19 updates
- Active cases have surpassed 100,000 in Canada, having more than doubled in the last seven days
- Multiple airlines are cancelling flights by the thousands today and tomorrow, citing a high rate of staff calling in sick
- Ontario, Quebec, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and B.C. all report one-day records of new cases either today or yesterday
- British Columbia's public health officials said today contact tracing and testing sites have reached maximum capacity
- There is a national advisory in effect against all non-essential travel
- U.S. health regulators have approved the first COVID-19 pill
- As of this afternoon, nearly six million booster doses have been administered in Canada
Summary of national vaccinations
- 31.63 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (82.72% of total pop.)
- At least 29.35 million people are fully vaccinated (76.75% of total pop.)
- 66.95 million total doses administered - plus 329,700
- 5.96 million booster doses administered
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Dec. 23, 2021. With the high number of cases nationwide and globally, all numbers are approximate (within 0.1% of the total.)
- 109,180 active cases - plus 10,374
- 1,778 active hospitalizations - plus 68
- 1.95 million confirmed cases to date
- 1.81 million recoveries - plus 4,715
- 30,137 deaths - plus 7
- Ranked 85th in global deaths per capita at 80.25 per 100,000 people
US COVID-19 Update
- 51.57 million cumulative cases
- 809,300 deaths - plus 1,903
- 61.7% of the total population is fully vaccinated
- Ranked 20th in global deaths per capita at 247.40 per 100,000 people
World COVID-19 Update
- 276.43 million cases - plus 822,300
- 5.37 million people have died worldwide
- At least 8.85 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide (source: Our World Data)
Halton Region
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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