Hamilton records eight new COVID-19 cases Friday

Hamilton public health is reporting eight new COVID-19 cases Friday as the city's active case count continues to drop.

Of the city's 21,192 total novel coronavirus cases recorded since last March, 109 of them are considered active, a drop of five from the day before.

It's a marked decrease from a month ago when there were 494 active cases in Hamilton, as per The Spectator's records.

The rolling seven-day average for new cases was at 13 on June 30 and the rate per 100,000 population was at 15. The city's test positivity rate is hovering around 2.4 per cent, which is still high compared to the province's rate of 1.0 per cent as of June 29.

The city's lone active outbreak is at Meadowlands Preschool and Daycare, where two students have tested positive since the outbreak was declared on June 23.

No new outbreaks have been declared since then.

There were no new hospitalizations for the second day in a row, as per Spectator data. A total of 1,465 residents have been hospitalized with the virus.

Hamilton's hospitals were caring for 28 COVID-19 patients as of Friday. Of those, 15 are currently in the city's intensive care units.

More than 95 per cent of those infected have since recovered, according to public health.

As of Friday, nearly 74 per cent of Hamilton adults have had a first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 38 per cent have received the full two doses.

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com