Omicron variant BA.5 rising fast in Hamilton

COVID transmission is no longer decreasing in Hamilton.

Public health reports that spread has levelled out for the past two weeks after dropping steadily since May 4.

COVID-19 transmission in Hamilton is remaining stable overall," stated the weekly update posted Wednesday by the city.

However, there has been increased frequency of Omicron subvariant BA.5 in Hamilton, which was expected to become Ontario's dominant strain as early as this week.

BA.5 already made up 40 per cent of Hamilton's COVID cases for the week of June 5 to June 11, showed data from Public Health Ontario. The subvariant has been rising fast from four per cent of cases for the week starting May 15 to 18 per cent for the week starting May 29.

It means BA.5 has increased tenfold locally in just three weeks.

There has been concern the variant has greater potential to infect the vaccinated or to reinfect someone who has already had Omicron. Although, so far, there have been no signs that it sends more people to hospital compared to other Omicron waves.

Vaccination remains the most important way to protect against COVID-19 and its health effects," stated the weekly update.

While the Ontario government has hinted at making a fourth COVID-19 shot more available soon, Hamilton's vaccination campaign has been stalled for months. Fewer than 50 per cent of those age 18 to 39 have had three shots. For those age 40 to 54, fewer than 60 per cent have been boosted.

Vaccination rates for kids are even worse with only 17 per cent of those age 12 to 17 having three shots. Just 40 per cent of those age five to 11 have had two doses.

Even seniors at higher risk of COVID have rates below 90 per cent for three shots. The most vulnerable are those age 85 and older, but their booster rate is just 79 per cent.

The city has reported two deaths of seniors age 80 and older since June 10. This age group makes up 63 per cent of Hamilton's 575 pandemic fatalities.

Of Hamilton's nine ongoing outbreaks, seven were in retirement or long-term care homes, while another was in a hospital satellite facility that cares primarily for seniors.

The only outbreak that wasn't in a seniors' home was at Juravinski Hospital, where 14 patients have been infected since June 17 on unit E3.

The largest active outbreak was at the Village of Wentworth Heights, where 43 have tested positive at the Mountain long-term care home since June 11.

There was also a large outbreak at Villa Italia Retirement Home on the west Mountain with 19 cases since June 11.

The city's update shows the number of active outbreaks has remained roughly the same since around June 14.

The per cent of COVID tests coming back positive has been hovering around seven per cent since June 9.

The average number of Hamiltonians hospitalized for COVID each day has been around one since June 12.

However, average daily new cases have started to potentially show some signs of a possible increase. The number had been at 35 or below since June 1. It has been between 36 and 40 from June 22 to June 26.

Overall, this key metric has gone up from 25 average daily new cases on June 6 to 40 on June 26. Cases are a significant underestimate because the majority of the population doesn't have access to PCR testing.

Hamilton Public Health Services strongly recommends wearing a well-fitting mask indoors, especially when it's crowded," stated the update.

-With files from The Toronto Star

Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at The Spectator. jfrketich@thespec.com