Today is Saturday, July 31, 2021, and for the last coronavirus update of the month, all leading stories about COVID-19 revolve around two things: slowly rising cases amid continuing spread of the Delta variant and the urgent need for more eligible adults to be vaccinated immediately.
Here are the five most important coronavirus stories this week:
#1 - For the first time in three months, active cases are regularly rising not just in Oakville but all areas of Halton Region. This is due to the spread of variants (notably the Delta variant) among almost exclusively unvaccinated local residents.
#2 - Ontario has announced guidelines for the "exit step" of it's Roadmap to Reopening, but no date is given when that will begin. We do know that 75% of everyone eligible (age 12 and up) must be fully vaccinated and all 34 health units in Ontario must have at least 70% of the local population fully vaccinated.
#3 - Mask wearing and mask mandates are going to be sticking around: Ontario will keep mask rules in place even as the province exits COVID-19 framework and most areas of the USA are re-introducing them.
#4 - Canada could be seeing the start of a much-feared fourth wave: Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the seriousness of the pandemic's resurgence will depend largely on vaccination coverage. Active cases nationally have risen 20% in less than three weeks.
#5 - The United States is in real trouble: they reported nearly 200,000 new cases yesterday, which is the biggest spike in over six months. Deaths and hospitalizations nationwide are also approaching levels not seen since the winter. The impact is even more dire in cities with the lowest vaccination rates.
Finally, in good news, the number of vaccine doses administered worldwide surpassed four billion this week. But residents in Oakville and across Ontario need to get vaccinated to ensure a fourth wave doesn't come.
NIAID via Foter.com
**Vaccine booking update: Halton is now booking and rebooking first AND second dose vaccinations for all residents, regardless of when your first dose appointment once. Halton is now in general booking for everyone age 12 and older for first and second doses.
The wait time between the first and second doses of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) is 28 days.
Note: Oakville figures, including Halton vaccine updates, are updated Monday to Friday. Ontario and global cases are also updated on Saturdays.
Oakville and Halton COVID-19 update
Halton's eventual goal is for 90% of everyone age 12 and up to be fully vaccinated.
Summary of local vaccinations
- 68% of eligible Halton residents are fully vaccinated
- 82% have received at least one dose
- 761,337 vaccine doses have been administered
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on July 30, 2021, because Halton no longer updates COVID-19 numbers on weekends.
- 10 active cases - plus 1
- 3 patients at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - no change
- 67 deaths - no change
- 5,685 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 99.8% of cases
- No active outbreaks - no change
Status in Halton
- 57 active cases - plus 6
- 4 cases in hospitals across Halton - no change
- 237 deaths - no change
- 18,138 completed (recoveries+deaths) cases - 99.6% of cases
- 178 Delta variant cases
- 2 active outbreaks - plus 2
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's active cases have risen 15% in the last week, with more than 100 new active cases just today. If more people aren't vaccinated soon and provincial health restrictions aren't more closely followed, a fourth wave of cases will emerge - primarily in the Greater Toronto Area. More than 80% of eligible Ontarians has received at least one dose.
Summary of provincial vaccinations
- 10.47 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (70.81% of pop.)
- At least 8.99 million people are fully vaccinated (60.75%)
- 19.46 million vaccine doses administered - plus 81,000
Changes are from yesterday’s figures. The province released the information on July 31, 2021, as of the end of yesterday.
- 1,606 active cases - plus 115
- 105 people hospitalized - minus 3
- 258 new cases today
- 137 new recoveries today
- 9,345 deaths - plus 6
- 548,830 resolved cases (deaths & recovered) or 99.8%
- 8 active, ongoing institutional outbreaks - minus 1
Summary of variants of concern (VOC)
- 145,538 confirmed cases of the Alpha variant - plus 2
- 1,493 confirmed cases of Beta variant - no change
- 5,161 confirmed cases of Gamma variant - no change
- 4,741 confirmed cases of Delta variant - plus 176
Canadian and Global COVID-19 updates
While active cases have risen over 20% in the last few weeks, more than two-thirds of Canada's eligible population is now fully vaccinated, or close to 60% of everyone (regardless of age.)
Summary of national vaccinations
- 27.02 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (70.86% of pop.)
- At least 22.26 million people are fully vaccinated (58.32%)
- 49.28 million vaccine doses administered - plus 327,000
Changes in Canadian figures are since the last Oakville News update on July 30, 2021. With the high number of cases nationwide and globally, all numbers are approximate (within 0.1% of the total.)
- 6,555 active cases - plus 480
- 444 active hospitalizations - minus 11
- 1.43 million confirmed and suspected cases to date - plus 897
- 1.39 million recoveries - plus 412
- 26,598 deaths - plus 10
- Ranked 71st in global deaths per capita at 70.58 per 100,000 people
US COVID-19 Update
- 34.82 million cumulative cases
- 610,264 deaths - plus 411
- 57.4% of people have one dose (67.1% of those age 12+ who are eligible)
- 49.5% are fully vaccinated (57.9% of those eligible)
- Ranked 22nd in global deaths per capita at 186.39 per 100,000 people
World COVID-19 Update
- 196.55 million cases - plus 623,000
- 4.20 million people have died worldwide - plus 10,300
- At least 4.07 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide (source: Our World Data)
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