Hamilton reports 494 new cases of COVID-19, highest daily case count since pandemic began
CBC
Hamilton Public Health Services is reporting 494 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the highest daily case count since the pandemic began.
Record numbers of new cases were also reported on Wednesday and Thursday — 257 and 268 respectively.
Prior to Wednesday, the largest single-day increase was 238, in April.
There are currently 1,379 active cases and a positivity rate of 8.3 per cent.
Fifty-two people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 — 42 at Hamilton Health Sciences and 10 at St. Joseph's Healthcare.
Over the course of the pandemic 28,276 people have had COVID-19. Of this number 89.7 per cent have been marked as resolved.
A total of 424 deaths have been linked to the virus since March 2020.
Meanwhile, 999,416 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the city.
There are 24 cases linked to a Dec. 10, Grey Cup-related event at the Corktown Pub — the largest of the city's 37 reported active outbreaks.
There are 13 cases linked to an outbreak at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Elementary School.
Other outbreaks with 10 or more cases are:
It was also a record-setting day for COVID-19 cases in Ontario with the province reporting 9,571 new cases.
A spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott said due to the highly-transmissible nature of the Omicron variant, it was expected that case numbers would increase in the winter months.
"We expect they will continue to increase over the coming days and weeks, as other jurisdictions are seeing similar case rate increases per capita," press secretary Alexandra Hilkene wrote in a statement.
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