Hamilton and Ontario report highest daily COVID-19 case counts in months

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Published December 16, 2021 at 12:11 pm

Hamilton is reporting more than 100 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday (Dec. 16), the first time since May the city has seen a single-day increase that high.

According to Hamilton Public Health Services (HPHS) data shared on the City’s website, there are 108 new cases, bringing the total number of active cases in the community to 604 as of Thursday.

The number of active outbreaks across the city is also on the rise, with HPHS reporting 28 at the moment, more than half of which have been declared in schools.

The city’s seven-day average for new cases is up to 62 and the current local reproductive rate is 1.32.

The rising number of cases comes as Ontario announced measures to help reduce the spread of COIVD-19, fuelled, in recent days, by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Part of the province’s strategy includes expanding booster eligibility and increasing access to rapid antigen testing with pop-ups at various locations in Ontario.

One such pop-up at Dundurn Castle in Hamilton on Thursday reportedly ran out of the tests in under an hour after opening.

Meanwhile, Ontario is reporting 2,421 new cases of COVID-19, the most on a single day in seven months.

According to Health Minister Christine Elliott, 165 people with COVID-19 are in ICUs across the province, 143 of which are not fully vaccinated against the virus.

Updated modelling presented Thursday by the province’s science table suggested that without more stringent measures, including reducing one’s contacts by 50 per cent, Ontario could see new cases rise to between 6,000 and 10,000 per day by the end of the year.

More information on Hamilton’s response to COVID-19, including testing availability and vaccination rollout, can be found on the City’s website.

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