February 17, 2022 coronavirus update for Oakville

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This is Oakville's coronavirus update for Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. New local, daily cases have dropped more than 65% since February 1 this year. Local hospitalizations and ICU cases are unchanged, but many outbreaks are ending in Halton. Only two are left in Oakville.

The vaccination clinics at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington have now closed, ending the hospital vaccination program. Walk-in appointments are still available at pharmacies and other Halton clinics.

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer, said today, "The Omicron peak is behind us," and vaccine rules are being re-examined. Ontario announced they will end the proof of vaccination program on March 1, though businesses can choose to continue enforcing proof of vaccination on a case-by-case business.

As Ottawa's city-wide criminal protest reaches the end of its third week, local police have issued orders to all demonstrators they must leave or they will be arrested. Consequences could also include $100,000 fines, five years in jail, and a permanently suspended trucking license.

Active cases today are slightly up for the first time this week across Canada, as the country now administered a cumulative 80 million doses of vaccine. Saskatchewan becomes the first province to end daily COVID-19 reporting; monthly updates will begin in March.

Starting next Monday, Feb. 28, fully vaccinated travellers can choose between either a PCR test to enter Canada 72 hours in advance or a lab-administered rapid test within 24 hours of arrival. More details will come in the next few days.

Halton Region has revised its website for reporting COVID-19 data, with far less information being provided daily as local case counts decrease. The regional data is no longer reporting the number of recoveries or active cases of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the percentages of Oakville and Halton residents who are vaccinated has been lowered in Halton's official counts without explanation; Oakville News has reached out for comment.

**Vaccine booking: Halton continues to book first and second-dose vaccinations for all residents age five and older, plus third-dose boosters for all adults age 18 and up.

Parents must make booster doses and appointments for children 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.

CLICK HERE to book a first, second or third vaccination appointment at a Halton Region vaccine clinic

Oakville and Halton COVID-19 update

Summary of Oakville vaccinations

  • 70% of all Oakville residents are fully vaccinated
  • 71% of all Oakville have received at least one dose

Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Feb. 16, 2022.

  • 10 patients at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - no change
  • 13,857 total cases in Oakville (confirmed and probable) - plus 10
  • 93 deaths - no deaths
  • 2 active outbreaks - no change

Status in Halton

  • 71% of all Halton residents are fully vaccinated
  • 73% of all residents have received at least one dose
  • More than 1.24 million total vaccinations have been administered
  • 47% of the population has received a third, booster dose

Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Feb. 16, 2022 or taken from provincial epidemiological reports.

  • 27 patients in hospitals across Halton - minus 1
  • 42,519 total cases (confirmed+probable) - plus 54
  • 338 deaths - no change
  • 8 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 release the names of businesses with active outbreaks.

Ontario COVID-19 update

Summary of provincial vaccinations 

  • 12.53 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (84.55% of total pop.)
  • At least 11.92 million people are fully vaccinated (80.43% of total pop.)
  • 6.92 million people have received a third dose (45.79% of total pop.)
  • 31.36 million vaccine doses administered (first, second and third)

Changes are from figures in our last update. The province released this information on Feb. 17, 2022, as of the end of yesterday.

Note: As directly quoted by the province of Ontario, "Case counts are an underestimate of the true number of individuals with COVID-19 in Ontario." Listed below are only the reported figures from the province and do not include all known active cases. Known active cases are no longer a reliable indicator of COVID-19's spread, given restrictions to testing access. 

  • 23,048 active cases - minus 878
  • 1,342 people hospitalized - minus 61
  • Over 1.08 million confirmed cases - plus 2,327
  • Over 1.04 million recovered cases - plus 3,204
  • 12,204 deaths - plus 36
  • Over 1.05 million resolved cases (deaths & recovered) or 97.4%
  • 18,462 tests were conducted with a positive rate of 11.0% 
  • 356 people in ICU - minus 8
  • 229 people on ventilators - minus 3
  • 267 active institutional outbreaks - minus 16

Note: institutional outbreaks count only hospitals, retirement homes and long-term care homes.

As of Dec. 31, 2021, Ontario stopped reporting new confirmation numbers on how many cases are testing as a variant of concern, including the Omicron variant.

Canadian and Global COVID-19 updates

Summary of national vaccinations in Canada

  • 32.63 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (84.96% of total pop.)
  • At least 30.68 million people are fully vaccinated (80.23% of total pop.)
  • 80.13 million total doses administered - plus 92,100
  • 16.82 million booster doses administered (43.88% of total pop.)

Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Feb. 16, 2022. With the high number of cases nationwide and globally, all numbers are approximate (within 0.1% of the total.)

  • 137,736 active cases - plus 54
  • 6,721 active hospitalizations - minus 389
  • 3.22 million confirmed cases to date
  • 3.04 million recoveries - plus 9,172
  • 35,895 deaths - plus 145
  • Ranked 80th in global deaths per capita at 93.73 per 100,000 people

U.S. COVID-19 Update

  • 77.83 million cumulative cases
  • 920,097 deaths - plus 4,672
  • 64.5% of the total population is fully vaccinated
  • 80.8% of the eligible population has at least one dose
  • Ranked 18th in global deaths per capita at 278.89 per 100,000 people

World COVID-19 Update

  • 414.52 million cases - plus 2.07 million
  • 5.83 million people have died worldwide
  • At least 10.42 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide (source: Our World Data)
  • Only 10.6% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose

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 effectively protect you from COVID-19 and significantly reduce your risks of getting sick, going to the hospital, and dying from the disease.

Pictured right is a graph from the Halton region showing how dramatically your risk of getting sick or being admitted to hospital is when vaccinated.

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