The omicron variant of COVID-19 is running wild in Ontario, as there were nearly 9,600 new cases of the virus reported in the province in the past 24 hours.
And 47 of those new cases are from Chatham-Kent, according to provincial figures. A day earlier, 25 new cases were reported locally.
If you are having out-of-town visitors, such as family, coming home from the big cities over the holidays, they might be bringing an extra present with them. In Toronto, 2,456 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the past 24 hours alone. Other hot spots for the virus included Peel Region (1,113), Halton Region (745), Ottawa (624), York Region (604), Hamilton (487), Middlesex-London (379), and 298 in Waterloo region.
At the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, officials reported 12 people – of which 10 are unvaccinated and 11 are from C-K – in hospital locally with the virus.
Three people are in the ICU with COVID-19, two of whom are on ventilators.
The average age of the 12 COVID patients is 66.
Majority are unvaccinated, you say?