Page last updated on September 7, 2021 at 1:04 pm
Hello, this is Mayor John Hamilton. It's Monday, August 30th, 2021, giving an update on the pandemic. If you told me 18 months ago that I would be here talking about a resurgence of the virus, I probably would not have believed it. Actually, even six months ago, if you had told me, this is where we would be, I would have been very concerned, shocked, disappointed, and I guess all that is true. We are at an alarming spot.
The State Health Officer said that last week. We said it in our press conference on Friday, "We are at an alarming spot in this resurgence of the virus." Just to give one data point: In, around July 4th, late June, early July, the state showed two or 300 positive cases a day back then, a few short few weeks ago. Most recently, that has gone up to 4000 or 5000 cases a day. From two or 300 to averaging 4000; lately, 5000 cases a day. That is an alarming increase in cases.
We've seen a local multiple as well, not quite as big, but multiple here, too. Multifactor more cases in the last few short weeks. Hospitalizations and deaths are increasing, and these are hospitalizations and deaths of unvaccinated people. It's overwhelmingly clear that this is a resurgence and a toll that's being taken on unvaccinated people. The Pfizer vaccine has been fully approved now. The others are expected. We've known they're safe and efficient.
This is damage and a challenge in deaths that are happening because not enough of us are getting vaccinated. It's why we have a local mask ordinance back in place, a rule that requires indoor masking in any public place. It's why it's so important that you take these steps. We have thousands of kids back at school who can't get vaccinated and they're not recommended to be vaccinated.
They're masking. They're doing what they can to protect themselves, but all the adults around them are not. And these kids, actually young people, are in the hospital higher than any rate we've seen before. This new Delta variant is hitting them. We don't know what variants are around the corner. I'm just alarmed and disappointed that we have to report this, but that's what it is. So we're going to continue to monitor.
We've restored our weekly press conferences. We've gone back to every other week, but we're doing weekly now to update the community and we're evaluating every step along the way. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who are vaccinated and all who wear masks. Those of you who are not, please read the tragic stories of what can happen if you're not vaccinated. Read the good facts.
If you do get vaccinated, it keeps you and your loved ones healthy and our community strong. So I appreciate all who are doing that. Please ask your health advisor or other friends who've gone through this about the importance of vaccinations.
We'll keep you updated. Thanks so much. And we'll keep steady on doing what we need to do to protect the public.
