March 19, 2022 coronavirus update for Oakville

March 19, 2022

12:00 PM

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This is Oakville's coronavirus update for Saturday, March 19, 2022, with COVID-19 news from the last week. While Halton still has some COVID-19 patients in hospital, none are in Oakville. Halton reports two more deaths this week.

Halton Regional Council held a special meeting this morning, where the council voted 20-1 to repeal Halton's mask mandate starting Monday, March 21.

This means (with the exception of using public transit and visiting the hospital), masks will no longer be required indoors. Individual businesses, however, can continue to enforce mask wearing on their premises if they wish.

After nearly two years since the Town of Oakville declared COVID-19 an emergency, in light of declining cases and public health improvements, Mayor Rob Burton this week officially ended that declaration.

The first round of Ontario's repealed mask mandates also begins on Monday, with all mask mandates set to end in April 2022. Non-essential businesses in Ontario can allow non-vaccinated residents to return, but some businesses are still choosing to enforce a proof of vaccination policy.

Nationally, Canada has said its arrival testing requirement to enter Canada from international travel will be scrapped as of April 1, 2022. Proof of vaccination will still be required for all air, train and cruise ship travel in the country.

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.

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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

Oakville and Halton COVID-19 update

Halton Regional Council has repealed the regional mask by-law, effective March 21
Mayor Rob Burton ends Oakville's COVID-19 emergency declaration, made nearly two years ago
Six of Halton's seven hospital cases are at Burlington's Joseph Brant hospital
The percentage of Halton's population that is vaccinated has not improved for over a month

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 March 12, 2022.

Zero patients at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital - minus 1

14,456 total cases in Oakville (confirmed and probable) - plus 149
95 deaths - no change
1 active outbreaks - minus 1

Status in Halton

72% of all Halton residents are fully vaccinated
73% of all residents have received at least one dose

More than 1.27 million total vaccinations have been administered
49% of the population has received a third, booster dose

Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on March 12, 2022 or taken from provincial epidemiological reports.

7 patients in hospitals across Halton - plus 2

44,154 total cases (confirmed+probable) - plus 397
345 deaths - plus 2
2 active outbreaks - minus 2

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

Active cases are very slightly higher in Ontario this week (by less than 1%)
Over the next two months, all mask mandates will be ending in Ontario
Active cases are now below 16,500 for the first time since November 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

12.62 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (85.17% of total pop.)
At least 12.07 million people are fully vaccinated (81.47% of total pop.)

7.23 million people have received a third dose (47.96% of total pop.)
31.92 million vaccine doses administered (first, second and third)

Changes are from figures in our last update. The province released this information on March 19, 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.

16,352 active cases - plus 111
613 people hospitalized - minus 109

Over 1.13 million confirmed cases
Over 1.10 million recovered cases
12,329 deaths - plus 102
Over 1.1 million resolved cases (deaths & recovered) or 98.5%
185 people in ICU - minus 47
97 people on ventilators - minus 32
117 active institutional outbreaks - minus 28

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

The federal government is ending pre-departure COVID-19 testing to enter Canada on April 1
For now, 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
Cumulative cases worldwide reach 460 million, cumulative deaths surpass six million

Summary of national vaccinations in Canada

32.79 million people have received at least one vaccine dose (85.37% of total pop.)
At least 30.91 million people are fully vaccinated (81.23% of total pop.)

81.79 million total doses administered - plus 170,000
17.93 million booster doses administered (46.89% of total pop.)

Changes in figures are since the Oakville News update on March 12, 2022. With the high number of cases nationwide and globally, all numbers are approximate (within 0.1% of the total.)

120,760 active cases - minus 3,626
3,830 active hospitalizations - minus 447

3.38 million confirmed cases to date
3.22 million recoveries
37,104 deaths - plus 392
Ranked 80th in global deaths per capita at 98.75 per 100,000 people

U.S. COVID-19 Update

79.52 million cumulative cases
967,769 deaths - plus 4,482
65.3% of the total population is fully vaccinated
81.6% of the eligible population has at least one dose
Ranked 18th in global deaths per capita at 295.52 per 100,000 people

World COVID-19 Update

464.80 million cases to date
6.06 million people have died worldwide
At least 10.97 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide (source: Our World Data)
Only 14.4% 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.

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