WELLINGTON COUNTY – Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) is reporting 13 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend (Aug. 13 to 15).
The region’s active case count now sits at 37, a decrease from 47 cases on Aug. 9.
The region’s case rate per 100,000 population has dropped drastically since reaching 96.8 during the first week of May. But the case rate has risen from 6.4 on Aug. 1 to 9.3 as of Aug. 14.
On Aug. 1 less than one per cent of COVID-19 tests were returning positive for the virus, but that rate has increased to 1.4% as of Aug. 12.
The region’s effective reproduction number, which is used to measure how many additional cases spread or result from a single case, has decreased after a rise in past weeks.
As of Aug. 14 the reproductive number is 0.99, a decrease from 1.41 on Aug. 7. A value of one or above means cases will increase; below one and spread will eventually cease.
There are three people in the region hospitalized due to COVID-19, with one in an ICU as of Aug. 12. Their vaccination status is not known.
According to provincial data, as of the morning of Aug. 16, there are 68 unvaccinated persons hospitalized with COVID-19, of which 53 are in an ICU. Eleven fully vaccinated individuals are hospitalized in the province, with one in an ICU.
Variants
On June 10, the province declared the WDGPH region a COVID-19 “hotspot” due to the presence of the Delta variant. Since then, the number of confirmed cases of the variant has been on the rise.
As of Aug. 15, Delta represents 2.4% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in the health region (8,410), according to Public Health Ontario data.
On June 14, the provincial health agency began allowing all positive COVID-19 samples to be sent for full genome sequencing, the only way to truly determine how many cases of Delta there are within local health units.
According to PHO data, the proportion of Delta cases across the province rose from 85.7% (July 11 to 17) to 89.4% between July 18 and 24.
Of all 2,750 positive COVID-19 tests that had their DNA sequenced between June 27 and July 24 across the province, 81.7% were positive for the Delta variant.
From July 18 to 24, there were less than 20 sequenced cases which returned positive for Delta in the WDGPH region, dropping it from the provincial list of health units with the most prevalence of the variant.
More up-to-date localized data, however, shows Delta representing an estimated 100% of cases in Wellington County between Aug. 8 and 14. Region-wide, that estimate is 48.3% of variants-of-concern for the same time period.
Local trends
Wellington County had a single new case reported over the weekend, with three total active cases in the county – down from seven last week.
Active cases in both Guelph and Dufferin County are sitting at 23 and 10, respectively.
The death toll attributed to COVID-19 across the region remains unchanged since last week’s report: 126 total deaths, including 37 in Wellington County.
Municipality-specific active COVID-19 case counts as of Aug. 16, 2021. (WDGPH image)
Vaccinations
Since Aug. 9, another 4,379 residents have become fully vaccinated with two doses in the WDGPH region, bringing the total as of Aug. 16 to 204,872 or 75.9% of the population aged 12 or older. That’s an increase of 2.18% from a week ago.
There are 18,250 residents who have received only their first dose as of Aug. 16.
In Wellington County 70% of eligible residents are two-dose vaccinated as of Aug. 16, slightly behind Dufferin County (70.9%) and significantly behind Guelph (81.7%).
Across the region, there are an estimated 9,088 high school students who are vaccinated with two doses; 1,538 with only a single dose; and 3,228 students who have not yet received a single dose.
At least 423,261 COVID-19 doses have been administered in the region as of Aug. 16.
Vaccination rates for local high schools as of Aug. 16, 2021. (WDGPH image)
