These 12 Hamilton neighbourhoods have higher rates of positive COVID tests than the provincial average
More than five and a half per cent of COVID-19 tests in Hamilton are coming back positive.
That is among the highest rates in the province, according to figures released by IC/ES, a not-for-profit Ontario research institute.
Hamilton's current test positivity rate of 5.55 per cent is trumped only by Peel (9.10), Toronto (7.26), York (7.21) and Durham (6.72).
The overall average for the 34 public health units in Ontario is 5.03 per cent.
The IC/ES data - which was collected from March 21 to 27, a week that saw Hamilton record 723 cases and go back into lockdown - paints a clear picture of how the variant-fuelled third wave has ravaged Ontario communities.
Twelve postal codes in Hamilton have greater test positivity rates than the provincial average.
At 8.66 per cent, L9K grabs the city's largest share of COVID tests coming back positive. The postal code covers parts of Meadowlands in Ancaster, as well as Scenic Drive to Highway 403 from Chedoke Golf Club to the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway.
Next up at 7.93 per cent is L8K, which is made up of neighbourhoods near the east end such as Rosedale, Red Hill and Delta East.
Two postal codes in Stoney Creek that stretch out to Winona - L8G and L8E - have positivity rates of 7.49 and 7.43, respectively.
The areas are home to multiple outbreaks, including one at Jayne Industries on Seaman Street where eight staff have been infected with coronavirus and another at Paddock Transportation on Arvin Avenue where nine people have tested positive.
The remaining eight postal codes above the provincial average hover between positivity rates of 5.26 and 7.13 per cent.
One of them - L9C on the west Mountain at 5.88 per cent - was identified as a hot spot" by the province Tuesday and selected for Ontario's second phase of the vaccine rollout, which prioritizes residents age 50 and over.
Also included as an area of concern in the provincial announcement was L8W on the east Mountain, which has a positivity rate of 4.73 per cent.
It is unclear why either of them were selected for prioritized vaccinations despite having lower positivity rates than several other postal codes.
Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton's medical officer of health, said at a COVID briefing Tuesday that the province used a review of hospitalizations and deaths over the course of the pandemic to designate L9C and L8W as hot spots.
She said public health has asked the province to add in more areas to its targeted list, which would include parts of the lower city.
Many of those populations have already been vaccinated," said Richardson. We're looking at what we're seeing now and what fits more with this particular wave, and negotiating with the province how those hot spots areas could be vaccinated."
Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com