January 15, 2022 coronavirus update for Oakville

January 15, 2022

12:30 PM

This is Oakville's coronavirus update for Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. New regulations at Canada's border begin today, such as a reduced window for those who test positive to enter the country (now allowed only 11 days after testing positive instead of 15) and fewer exceptions to the mandatory proof of vaccination rule.

Newest Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) modelling says the Omicron variant will push hospital admissions to "extremely high levels" in the coming weeks. Active hospitalizations are now just below 9,500, with the number growing every day of 2022 so far.

While Halton Region does not report new data on the weekends, three more Halton deaths from COVID-19 were reported yesterday, all from Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. After a surge in early December from opening vaccine appointments to children, the number of first and second dose appointments in Halton has dwindled to only a few hundred per day.

Ontario reports the second pandemic record of daily COVID-19 hospitalizations in a row, with a total now just below 4,000 patients. Fourth doses of vaccine are being made available to anyone immunocompromised in Ontario (so long as 84 days have passed since their third dose.)

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, said in a new modelling update, "It will be a difficult January, but the sacrifices you are making now means a better February and a better March for all of us."

Reopening measures, ending the modified step 2 restrictions for businesses are "unlikely" to begin as scheduled on Jan. 26, 2022. Ontario students are confirmed to be returning to in-person classes this coming Monday, Jan. 17, 2022.

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**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

Note: Oakville News updates are published 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 does not publish new data on the weekends
Active cases were down in both Oakville and Halton yesterday
Three more Halton COVID-19 deaths are reported in the last 24 hours, all from Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital
After a surge from opening vaccine appointments to children, the number of first and second dose appointments in Halton has dwindled to only a few hundred per day
Oakville remains the least vaccinated municipality in Halton, but the gap has shrunk in recent weeks

Summary of Oakville vaccinations

75% of all Oakville residents are fully vaccinated
81% of all Oakville have received at least one dose

Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Jan. 13, 2022.

762 active cases - minus 64
66 patients at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - no change

11,925 total cases (confirmed and probable) - plus 177
75 deaths - plus 3
11,088 recoveries - plus 240
11,163 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 93.6% of cases
16 active outbreaks - no change

Status in Halton

76% of all Halton residents are fully vaccinated
83% of all residents have received at least one dose

194,722 booster doses have been administered in Halton
At least 1.13 million total vaccinations were administered - plus 7,189

Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Jan. 13, 2022 or taken from provincial epidemiological reports.

2,298 active cases - minus 133
116 patients in hospitals across Halton - minus 1

36,144 total cases (confirmed+probable) - plus 588
263 deaths - plus 3
33,583 recoveries cases - plus 718
33,846 completed (resolved+deaths) cases - 93.6% of cases
42 active outbreaks - plus 2
14 patients in the ICU - plus 1

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 is reporting a pandemic record of 3,957 hospitalizations with COVID-19; that's the second day in a row of record hospital admissions
Fourth doses of vaccine will be made available to anyone immunocompromised in Ontario (so long as 84 days have passed since their third dose)
Students are confirmed returning to in-person classes on Monday next week
Low testing continues the fast decline of reported active cases in Ontario; the total is now below 100,000
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore says: "It will be a difficult January, but the sacrifices you are making now means a better February and a better March for all of us."
81.69% of all eligible Ontarians (age five and older) are fully vaccinated

A list of "modified step 2" rules and regulations to slow the spread of the Omicron variant in Ontario is currently in effect. The complete list of these new measures can be read at this Oakville News story by clicking here.

Summary of provincial vaccinations

12.36 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (83.40% of total pop.)
At least 11.53 million people are fully vaccinated (77.78% of total pop.)
29.33 million vaccine doses administered (first, second and third)

Changes are from figures in our last update. The province released this information on Jan. 15, 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." This is "due to changes in the availability of testing [effective Dec. 31, 2021] driven by increasing COVID-19 cases related to the Omicron variant."

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.

99,315 active cases - minus 12,181
3,957 people hospitalized - plus 143

937,636 confirmed cases - plus 10,732
827,756 recovered cases - plus 22,870
10,565 deaths - plus 42
838,321 resolved cases (deaths & recovered) or 87.9%
56,318 tests were conducted with a positive rate of 24.8%
558 people in ICU - plus 31
319 people on ventilators - plus 31
944 active ongoing institutional outbreaks - plus 32

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

New rules for Canada's border entry begins today, such as a reduced window for those who test positive to enter the country and fewer exceptions to mandatory proof of vaccination
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) modelling today says the Omicron variant will push hospital admissions to "extremely high levels" in the coming weeks
Canadians with at least one dose of vaccine reached 32 million this morning
There remains a national advisory in effect against all non-essential travel
Active hospitalizations now total nearly 9,500 Canada-wide
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote (along party lines), has blocked President Biden's vaccine mandate for large employers

Summary of national vaccinations in Canada

32.05 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (83.80% of total pop.)
At least 29.65 million people are fully vaccinated (77.52% of total pop.)

73.62 million total doses administered - plus 272,600
11.91 million booster doses administered

Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Jan. 14, 2022. With the high number of cases nationwide and globally, all numbers are approximate (within 0.1% of the total.)

366,787 active cases - minus 14,347
9,464 active hospitalizations - plus 420

2.73 million confirmed cases to date
2.34 million recoveries
31,462 deaths - plus 155
Ranked 84th in global deaths per capita at 83.16 per 100,000 people

U.S. COVID-19 Update

64.28 million cumulative cases - plus 890,000
844,841 deaths - plus 1,967
62.9% of the total population is fully vaccinated
Ranked 21st in global deaths per capita at 257.78 per 100,000 people

World COVID-19 Update

318.64 million cases - plus 3.12 million
5.52 million people have died worldwide
At least 9.60 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide (source: Our World Data)
Only 9.5% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose

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 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.

Sources: