133 new cases of COVID-19, 3 more deaths reported in Hamilton

Hamilton is reporting 133 new cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths linked to the virus.

As of Tuesday, the city has recorded 363 deaths during the pandemic.

A total of 17,814 cases have been tallied so far. Of those, 1,660 are active and roughly 87 per cent are considered resolved.

Statistics from public health show 11.8 per cent of people swabbed for the virus test positive.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton's medical officer of health, cautioned residents on Monday that data reporting issues may affect the reported number of daily cases for the next week.

The seven-day average for new cases, considered a more stable marker for the situation in the city, is at 154.

Seven per cent of people known to have COVID-19 in the city have been hospitalized since the pandemic began, and hospitals continue to care for a high volume of patients who contracted the virus.

Hamilton Health Sciences has 102 patients confirmed to have COVID-19 and is at 87 per cent of its overall funded adult acute care capacity. St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton has 48 patients with the virus and is at 79 per cent of its overall capacity.

Thirty-six outbreaks are ongoing.

Horwath, Nann want hot zones added to online portal

Adults who live in postal codes with L9C or L8W are currently able to vaccinations book online, while those 18 and older who live in L8L, L8N or L9K currently need to call the public health COVID hotline at 905-974-9848, option 7 to book a shot.

Residents reported calling hundreds of times on Monday, with officials saying the number of callers overwhelmed the line and wait list, causing it to automatically hang up on people.

On Tuesday NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Ward 3 councillor Nrinder Nann called on the province to add the other three high-risk zones to Ontario's online booking portal.

Extra doses of the vaccine are being directed to hot spots, meaning leaving three off the list in Hamilton is having an impact, according to the NDP.

"For the province to exclude these postal codes is inequitable and unfair," Nann stated in a media release.

"People who live in my ward spent hours on the phone yesterday, desperately trying to book a shot to protect themselves and their loved ones. They're trying to do the right thing — but the province has thrown extra roadblocks in front of them."

Halton

Halton saw 119 new cases Tuesday, raising its total to 15,582 (both confirmed and probable cases), including 4,037 that are variants of concern.

The region has 875 active cases and 14,512 that are resolved.

A total of 213 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.

Niagara

Niagara added 116 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total number there to 14,245.

Data on the region's website shows 11,780 of those cases are resolved, while 2,070 are active.

"There is a sharp reduction in active cases today," Niagara Region Public Health posted on Twitter, adding an error had been discovered in the code used to calculate active cases.

"This caused our daily reported active cases to be too high over the last several days," it said. "The coding error has been corrected."

Niagara has recorded 395 COVID-related deaths.

The region has administered 188,621 vaccinations and reports 2.6 per cent of residents have received both shots.

Brant

Thirty more cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Brant County and Brantford within the past 24 hours.

The area has seen 2,785 cases, including 2,590 that are resolved and 178 that are active.

Seventeen people who had the virus have died. Fifteen have been hospitalized.

Brant has administered 53,588 doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far and 4,564 people have received both doses.

Haldimand-Norfolk

There are 259 active cases in Haldimand and Norfolk on Tuesday.

The counties have reported 2,350 cases, of which 2,045 people have recovered.

Forty-one deaths have been linked to the virus.

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit has administered 40,002 vaccines. That includes 3,955 people who have received both doses.

Six Nations

Six Nations of the Grand River announced on Monday that an 11th member of the community has died after contracting COVID-19.

The elected council shared its condolences to family and friends in a media release.

Six Nations had 28 active cases on Tuesday one person with the virus was in hospital.

The reserve has reported 513 cases, including 474 that are resolved.

The community remains at the "black" level of its COVID-19 response.

As of Wednesday, Six Nations had administered 1,152 vaccines, meaning nine per cent of its on-reserve members were partially vaccinated.