Hospitalizations in Hamilton rise as city reports nearly 700 new COVID-19 cases

Hamilton | COVID |

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Published January 6, 2022 at 1:00 pm

Hamilton reported 691 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday (Jan. 6), bringing the total number of active cases in the community to 7,280.

Hamilton Health Sciences

Hamilton Hamilton Sciences (HHS) reports that 170 people are being treated at its hospitals for COVID-19, compared to 151 the previous day. There are 22 individuals being treated in HHS intensive care units (ICU) compared to 25 the day prior.

Hamilton General Hospital is at 101 per cent occupancy — down from 105 per cent the previous day. Juravinski Hospital has remained at 116 per cent occupancy over the last 24 hours.

HHS is reporting that 539 staff are self-isolating, compared to 471 the day prior.

Ninety-eight per cent of HHS employees are fully vaccinated and 14 individuals have had their employment terminated for not following vaccination guidelines.

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is reporting that 93 people are being treated for COVID-19 at its hospital, compared to 79 the previous day. Twelve individuals are in the ICU compared to 11 the day prior.

St. Joe’s hospital occupancy is at 92 per cent compared to 91 the previous day. ICU occupancy is 85 per cent.

There are currently 281 St. Joe’s employees are self-isolating.

Data shows that 97.9 per cent of the staff at St. Joe’s is fully vaccinated while three individuals are currently on unpaid leave for violating vaccination guidelines.

City of Hamilton vaccination numbers

As of Thursday, 79.7 per cent of eligible Hamiltonians are fully vaccinated, with 84.9 per cent receiving at least one dose. 39 per cent of children between the ages of four and 12 are fully vaccinated. The vaccination percentage of the other age groups ranges between 84 and 99 per cent.

Unvaccinated Hamilton residents are being infected at 1.9 times the rate as the vaccinated, according to City data collected from Aug. 18, 2021, to now. The unvaccinated have also been 9.4 times more likely to be hospitalized and 16.1 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU. The risk of death among the unvaccinated is 7.4 times higher than it is for the fully vaccinated in Hamilton.

Provincial COVID-19 numbers

Meanwhile, the province is reporting 13,339 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday but Public Health Ontario says the actual case count is likely higher due to the current testing policy.

Ontario is also reporting 2,279 patients in hospital with COVID-19, including 319 people in intensive care.

That’s up from 2,081 patients hospitalized and 288 people in ICUs one day ago.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 232 intensive care patients are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 87 are fully vaccinated.

Twenty new deaths were reported in the province.

— with a file from The Canadian Press

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