COVID-19: Hamilton case counts remain low but data indicates spread is not under control

Hamilton | Ontario | COVID |

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Published August 3, 2021 at 6:54 pm

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Hamilton is reporting 40 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday (Aug. 3).

This is a cumulative total, including new cases confirmed between Thursday afternoon (July 29) and Monday afternoon (Aug. 2). The current seven-day average for new cases is 17.

There are currently 133 active cases in the community and seven active outbreaks. One such outbreak, at St. Joseph’s Villa long-term care home in Dundas, was declared over on Monday.

The local death toll remains 401.

For the past several weeks, Hamilton’s case counts have remained relatively low but data on the City of Hamilton website suggests we’re not quite out of the woods.

The current reproductive number in Hamilton remains at 1.26. This number indicates the average number of secondary infections generated by an individual infected with COVID-19. A number above one indicates that the virus continues to spread in the community, while a number below one indicates that the spread has been brought under control.

Meanwhile, Ontario is reporting 164 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday and one death.

The numbers are based on more than 11,500 tests completed on Monday.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said Tuesday’s numbers include 45 new cases in Toronto, 23 in York Region, and 22 in Peel Region.

Across the province, there are 106 people in intensive care due to COVID-related critical illness, and 78 people are on ventilators.

The latest provincial data show 99.5 per cent of all COVID-19 ICU admissions from mid-June to mid-July were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people, and nearly 96 per cent of related deaths were in the same group.

More than 72,000 vaccine doses were administered over the last two days in Ontario, for a total of nearly 19.6 million.

Locally, 735,774 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered with 67.4 per cent of eligible Hamiltonians aged 18 and older having received both jabs.

— File and photo courtesy The Canadian Press

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