‘People are dying,’ says mayor as Hamilton breaks record with 150 new COVID cases

Current COVID restrictions aren't working, said Hamilton's mayor as the number of new infections continued to smash records with 150 cases in one day.

A lockdown is possible and based on the numbers ... it may even be likely," said Mayor Fred Eisenberger. We need ... to get these numbers down. If we fail ... a lockdown is imminent and hurtful."

The city also reported five more deaths on Monday as the number of active cases shot up to 799.

People are dying," said Eisenberger. We're announcing numbers of deaths every day ... We've got to care about that."

Hamilton has been setting local COVID records almost daily for more than two weeks. The 799 active cases is a new high from 716 on Sunday and 684 on Saturday. At the end of November, the record was 511.

I think we're sitting on a knife edge as we speak," said medical officer of health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson. I understand the fatigue but we are very much at risk of continuing to drive up those numbers and overwhelming our health system."

The 150 new infections reported Monday comes on the heels of 230 new cases over the weekend. It breaks the record of 142 set Saturday. The daily record was less than half of that - 71 - on Nov. 26.

Some sobering numbers again and I think I've been saying that now for quite a few weeks ... and unfortunately, they do continue to grow," said Richardson. At this point I'm not sure there are additional measures other than going into lockdown that I can bring in."

Ontario's chief medical officer of health said Hamilton's numbers are being reviewed as the province considers whether any red zone areas should move to lockdown grey which is ultimately decided by cabinet.

I agree with the concerns," said Dr. David Williams. We monitor it very carefully and discuss it with the (medical officer of health) there."

Richardson said her advice to the province will certainly be again a significant message of concern coming from me about where we're sitting here in Hamilton and then we'll wait to see what cabinet decides."

Mayors across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), hoping to move out of lockdown or avoid it altogether, have been watching Hamilton as it stayed in red with additional measures put in place by Richardson, such as capacity limits and screening to shopping malls, retail businesses and workplaces.

They're looking to Hamilton as a model and, unfortunately, we have to report to them so far it hasn't worked," said Eisenberger. It's very disappointing to see us not get the results of this enhanced red category ... It's been a week, but it's not encouraging numbers."

Grace Villa has now tied for the deadliest COVID outbreak in Hamilton after three more deaths brought the toll to 18 at the long-term care home at 45 Lockton Cres. on the east Mountain. Two women in their late 90s died Dec. 13 and a man in his early 70s died Dec. 12.

It equals Chartwell Willowgrove in Ancaster, which has also had 18 deaths in an ongoing outbreak that has seen 95 cases since Oct. 22.

Grace Villa has the largest outbreak of the pandemic, which is now up to 173 cases - 115 residents and 58 staff. The home is listed by the Ministry of Health as having 184 beds.

Hamilton has 23 ongoing outbreaks including three schools and daycares, two workplaces, two community agencies and 16 institutions, which are mostly seniors' homes.

Another fast-growing outbreak is at Juravinski Hospital which has now spread to five units - E3, B3, F5, M2 and E4. It has jumped to 62 cases - 30 patients, 30 staff and two students.

It adds an additional challenge to already a strained and stressed health-care system and staff," Eisenberger said about the outbreak. If numbers of them are going off sick or have to isolate themselves, that takes that many people out of the health-care system."

Two patients have died in the outbreak at Juravinski, including a man in his early 80s on Dec. 13.

The fifth death reported Monday was a man in his early 60s who died Dec. 13 and wasn't associated with any outbreak. Just 14 of Hamilton's 119 COVID deaths have been in those under the age of 70.

Hospitalizations continue to rapidly rise - they have now been 303 total since the beginning of the pandemic compared to 270 roughly one week ago.

Richardson said the hospitals are very aware that they need to make a decision about making changes in what they're doing in the elective surgeries ... It's very actively being watched and discussed."

The president of St. Joseph's tweeted a provincial graph on Dec. 12 showing a nearly 92 per cent increase in COVID hospitalizations in Ontario in four weeks and a nearly 166 per cent increase in intensive care unit admissions.

COVID is REAL," tweeted Melissa Farrell. It is overwhelming our health system in some regions and is getting worse."

The weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 has shot up to 104 in Hamilton. This key metric used to decide lockdowns by the province was around 50 at the end of November.

The surge of cases has left public health pushed" when it comes to contact tracing and case management, with new staff hired and current staff being redeployed

We're very much struggling to keep up," said Richardson. The province is trying to hire staff for us and they're struggling because pretty much anyone who is trained ... have been deployed at this point."

She said socializing continues to be a major driver of new infections.

I know a lot of people consider, Well it's just my extended family and it will be fine.' But it's not and that's what we're seeing time and again. Unfortunately we're also seeing people who go for testing quite late ... and by then their family members are infected and all the people they saw are infected so the spread just continues on. We'll continue to do our best in public health, but ultimately it comes down the choices that were made as a community."

Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com