COVID still likely to hospitalize hundreds of Hamiltonians between fall and end of 2022

COVID-19 activity as “high and stable” with the possibility of an uptick in infections among residents come the fall.During the city’s Board of Health meeting on Wednesday, epidemiologist Ruth Sanderson told councillors the city has seen small increases in transmission since mid-June but hospitalizations tied to the affliction remain steady.“Wastewater signals, COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions indicate that we are in a stable state overall,” Sanderson said.

Is the pandemic over? What to expect from COVID-19 in the months ahead In recent weeks, the seven-day average of hospitalizations has been above one new admission per day in the city, reaching as high as two new admissions on a few occasions in late July and early August.Over the past two weeks, specifically, that average hit 1.9 on July 22, 1.7 on July 29, and 2.0 on Aug.

5.“What we have not seen is a big increase in hospitalizations as we have seen in previous waves,” said Sanderson.“It is important to keep in mind that this indicator does lag behind other indicators, such as cases per cent positivity and wastewater.”Intensive care unit (ICU) admissions over the seventh wave have remained low, with numbers averaging slightly above zero between late June and mid-July.Meanwhile, institutional outbreaks in the last two weeks have moved from 33 reported across the city in late July to 27 as of Wednesday.The latest Scarsin forecasting for Hamilton is predicting more COVID activity in the fall due to waning immunity, increased transmission through potential new sub-variants, as well as close contact between residents spending more time indoors.It suggests hospitals will experience 323 new COVID-related admissions between Aug.