Hamilton reports four new COVID-related deaths and 136 new cases
Hamilton reported four new COVID-19 deaths and 136 new cases on Friday, as the city said it won't meet its original vaccination goal.
Three of the new deaths appear to be people in their 80s and over, with the fourth in their 70s. All of the deaths appear to be in outbreaks, including two in a long-term-care facility operated by the city.
Public health reported Macassa Lodge's first two deaths on Jan. 15. The city-run home on Upper Sherman Avenue reported one new resident case, bringing its total to 26 cases since Jan. 1.
The city's numbers are cumulative from the beginning of the outbreak, and current as of Jan. 14 at 3 p.m. They do not reflect active case numbers, which the city doesn't provide.
A third death in a seniors' home occurred at the Meadows long-term-care home in Ancaster. This is the fifth death in the facility's outbreak since Dec. 16. The home has 41 cases overall, including two new staff cases.
Juravinski Hospital's outbreak in Unit E3 reported its second death.
Shalom Village, the city's second-worst outbreak, has eight new staff cases, with 91 total staff cases to date. The outbreak has had 204 cases overall since Dec. 9, including 108 resident cases. Twenty people have died.
The city also reported one new resident case each at Blackadar Continuing Care Centre in Dundas and Aberdeen Gardens Retirement Residence in Kirkendall. Blackadar has 10 cases while Aberdeen Gardens now has seven overall.
Three new outbreaks were reported: Rygiel Supports for Community Living, Pettinelli Mastroluisi accounting firm and metal supplier ArcelorMittal Dofasco.
There are 972 active cases and 182 new resolved cases in the city. But there are also 285 cases with unknown outcomes" that don't appear in either category because public health doesn't know if those patients are still sick.
These are cases that we have been unable to make contact with after the 14-day isolation period to followup," said spokesperson Jacqueline Durlov in an email. That's 16 more cases than yesterday whose status is unknown.
There are nine new hospitalized cases.
Hamilton Health Sciences has confirmed to The Spectator that an additional COVID-19 unit has been prepared" at the Juravinski Hospital.
The existing" ward has 40 beds, said spokesperson Veronica Magee, in an email. The unit was open as of Friday evening.
As of Friday afternoon, there were 24 COVID-19 patients at St. Joseph's Hospital and another 86 at the Hamilton General Hospital. More than 530 Hamiltonians have been hospitalized with the virus since the pandemic began last March.
Other key COVID-19 metrics dropped. The city's weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 population is down by five, at 138.
The reproduction number is 0.92, down from 1.16 reported the previous day. It means, on average, every 100 cases would infect 92 people. Also, 4.7 per cent of tests in the past seven days are returning positive, down from six per cent.
On Friday, the city announced it won't meet its original vaccination target. While the city's previous goal was to vaccinate 4,900 residents in 37 seniors' homes through its mobile clinic by Jan. 18, that date has been extended to Jan. 20.
So far, the city has administered about 1,200 vaccines in its mobile clinic, and 10,400 when combined with inoculations at Hamilton Health Sciences.
The mobile vaccine clinic travelled to Clarion Nursing Home and Lakeview Retirement Centre in Stoney Creek, and Alexander Place in Waterdown on Jan. 15.
The outbreaks at Good Shepherd Centre in Hamilton and Stoney Creek's Ridgeview long-term-care home were declared over on Jan. 14.
-With files from Fallon Hewitt
Maria Iqbal's reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows her to report on stories focused on aging issues. Reach her via email: miqbal@thespec.com.