
Photo: CDC (Unsplash)
This is Oakville's coronavirus update for Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Today is the first day non-essential businesses in Ontario can allow non-vaccinated residents to return, but some businesses will still choose to enforce a proof of vaccination policy.
Oakville has announced a set of rules in response, including reopening Town Hall to in-person (by appointment) visits for the first time in nearly two years.
Beginning today, March 1, Oakville News will be transitioning from near-daily coronavirus updates to weekly updates, which will publish every Tuesday moving forward.
After five days of slight increases or unchanged figures over the last week, active cases in Ontario are down today. Active cases are now below 18,000 for the first time since November 2021 - though that number is still somewhat skewed due to restricted PCR testing access.
Canada's new eligibility rules of using Rapid Antigen Testing for international travel into Canada has begun, meaning a lab-administered rapid test is now acceptable for entry into Canada instead of a more expensive PCR test. Cumulative cases worldwide reach 430 million.
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.
**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.
Oakville and Halton COVID-19 update
- Town Hall reopens to in-person visits by appointment; Oakville also ends proof of vaccination rules for town facilities
- Halton's percent of the population who has been vaccinated hasn't improved in over three weeks
- 1.25 million total vaccinations have been administered in Halton
- While no new outbreaks have opened in Halton this week, nor have any of the active outbreaks been resolved
Summary of Oakville vaccinations
- 70% of all Oakville residents are fully vaccinated
- 72% of all Oakville have received at least one dose
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Feb. 26, 2022.
- 4 patients at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - no change
- 14,061 total cases in Oakville (confirmed and probable) - plus 79
- 94 deaths - plus 1
- 2 active outbreaks - no change
Status in Halton
- 72% of all Halton residents are fully vaccinated
- 73% of all residents have received at least one dose
- More than 1.26 million total vaccinations have been administered
- 48% of the population has received a third, booster dose
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Feb. 26, 2022 or taken from provincial epidemiological reports.
- 12 patients in hospitals across Halton - plus 1
- 43,122 total cases (confirmed+probable) - plus 215
- 341 deaths - plus 1
- 5 active outbreaks - minus 3
Note: As of Feb. 12, 2022, Halton Region is no longer reporting the number of active cases, new recoveries, or people currently in the ICU. Halton Region does not release the names of businesses with active outbreaks.
Ontario COVID-19 update
- Ontario ends remaining capacity limits and mandatory COVID-19 vaccine passport system use today
- Hospitalizations are below 1,000 for the first time in months, but the total is up for the second day in a row
- Active cases are now below 18,000 for the first time since early December 2021 - though that number is still somewhat skewed due to restricted PCR testing access
- More than seven million Ontarians have now received a booster dose
- 85.11% of all eligible Ontarians (age five and older) are have two doses of vaccine; now only 5% from the provincial goal
Summary of provincial vaccinations
- 12.58 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (84.89% of total pop.)
- At least 12.01 million people are fully vaccinated (81.02% of total pop.)
- 7.13 million people have received a third dose (47.15% of total pop.)
- 31.72 million vaccine doses administered (first, second and third)
Changes are from figures in our last update. The province released this information on March 1, 2022, as of the end of yesterday.
Note: 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.
- 17,455 active cases - minus 723
- 914 people hospitalized - plus 65
- Over 1.10 million confirmed cases - plus 2,338
- Over 1.07 million recovered cases - plus 2,153
- 12,451 deaths - plus 18
- Over 1.08 million resolved cases (deaths & recovered) or 98.3%
- 13,087 tests were conducted with a positive rate of 10.3%
- 278 people in ICU - minus 6
- 162 people on ventilators - minus 10
- 185 active institutional outbreaks - minus 10
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 research identifies a Wuhan, China market, not a laboratory, as the origin of the coronavirus
- Almost all of Alberta's remaining restrictions have been lifted; Nova Scotia will lift all COVID-19 restrictions by March 21, 2022 and New Brunswick will lift theirs on March 14
- Fully vaccinated travellers can now choose between either a PCR test to enter Canada 72 hours in advance or a lab-administered rapid test within 24 hours of arrival
- Cumulative cases worldwide reach 435 million, cumulative deaths approach six million
Summary of national vaccinations in Canada
- 32.72 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (85.19% of total pop.)
- At least 30.91 million people are fully vaccinated (80.82% of total pop.)
- 81.62 million total doses administered - plus 843,000
- 17.63 million booster doses administered (46.09% of total pop.)
Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on Feb. 26, 2022. With the high number of cases nationwide and globally, all numbers are approximate (within 0.1% of the total.)
- 115,710 active cases - minus 2,300
- 5,098 active hospitalizations - minus 378
- 3.29 million confirmed cases to date
- 3.14 million recoveries - plus 3,990
- 36,642 deaths - plus 130
- Ranked 80th in global deaths per capita at 95.44 per 100,000 people
U.S. COVID-19 Update
- 78.85 million cumulative cases
- 947,882 deaths - plus 8,251
- 65.0% of the total population is fully vaccinated
- 81.2% of the eligible population has at least one dose
- Ranked 18th in global deaths per capita at 283.86 per 100,000 people
World COVID-19 Update
- 435.62 million cases - plus 1.20 million
- 5.95 million people have died worldwide
- At least 10.77 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide (source: Our World Data)
- Only 12.9% 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.
Sources:
- Halton Region (and halton.ca/covid19)
- Halton Healthcare
- Joseph Brant Hospital
- HDSB COVID Advisory Page
- The Government of Ontario dashboard
- Public Health Ontario COVID-19 Data Tool
- Government of Canada
- COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker Canada
- The U.S. Centre for Disease Control
- Our World in Data
- Johns Hopkins University Research Centre
- World Health Organization