Rebecca Towers residents demand vaccine; say Hamilton public health failed to inform them about outbreak

Rhea Kumar didn't have the easiest pregnancy. The Hamilton resident's son was a preemie. Then they contracted COVID-19.

And Rhea, her husband, Bharath, and four-month-old Reyansh are surrounded by others with coronavirus at 235 Rebecca St.

The latest count puts the accumulated cases in the 17-storey highrise at 68, including one death.

This has been very stressful," Rhea said Friday.

Bharath tested positive about a week ago, after he felt body aches a couple of days earlier. Then the illness was confirmed in Rhea and Reyansh, too.

We don't have our family around," said Rhea, noting she and her husband are from India. Just a few friends who help us out, but with this disease, we can't expect them to come over. They will also fall sick."

Like others at the 165-unit Rebecca Towers, Rhea is upset the city didn't tell them earlier that coronavirus was in their midst, despite public health confirming cases there in mid-March.

They never even let us know. I don't know for what reason they kept it with themselves."

Public health says it delivered notices to all units Monday, followed by a news release Tuesday.

As of Friday, there were 34 active cases in the outbreak that involves a more transmissible variant, B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom.

In an email, a city spokesperson said case activity started to spike the week of April 20 with 80 per cent of current cases reported on or after April 24. Prior to this, cases had been sporadic beginning in mid-March."

When public health found a number of active cases with the same address and in different households in late April, this led to further investigation."

Once transmission was identified between residents of different units confirmed as close contacts, public health notified all at 235 Rebecca St. about the outbreak, the city said.

On Thursday, paramedics tested 102 residents for the virus, offering their services door to door on 10 floors. They returned to the building at the corner of Wellington Street North on Friday.

But a group of Rebecca Towers residents who formed a committee with the help of outside organizers say the city and landlord have let them down.

On Friday, a small group of committee members told reporters they wanted the city to send a mobile vaccination clinic to their building, which isn't located in one of Hamilton's five designated hot spot" areas.

I am scared. I'm not able to get my vaccination," Debra O'Neil, who turned 37 last week, said as tenants gazed down from balconies at the street below.

The city should also offer mobile clinics for any Hamilton apartment buildings that may be in outbreak, organizer Emily Power said.

The city needs to investigate this now and set up mobile vaccine clinics at affected apartment buildings urgently," said Power, noting she lives nearby but not at 235 Rebecca St.

The tenants also urged the city and landlord to post regular updates to inform them which floors have active cases, but not specify individual units to respect privacy concerns.

They also reserved outrage for Medallion Corporation, the Toronto-based landlord, for leaving one of two elevators out of commission since January, which they say discourages the physical distancing needed to keep the virus at bay.

Both were working perfectly fine before this. Why do an elevator upgrade in the middle of a pandemic?" Serena Pollock said.

Among other demands, the tenants said the landlord should provide a team of cleaners" to sanitize common areas every day; open hallway windows screwed shut" to create better ventilation; set up hand-sanitizer dispensers throughout the building and hire a security guard to ensure non-residents don't enter.

If the landlord and the city do not respond, tenants are prepared to take escalating action to assert these demands," Power said. The lives of our loved ones and our neighbours are at stake."

Medallion executives didn't address a number of the tenants' demands The Spectator forwarded them Friday but offered a brief emailed response via a spokesperson.

Conclusions about the current COVID-19 situation at 235 Rebecca are best left to public health officials, and as such, we intend to co-operate fully with these officials and will continue to follow their direct guidance and advice," Danny Roth wrote.

As we have stated publicly already, the elevator work at the building was essential and couldn't be avoided. We have been working hard to complete the replacement of the elevators and expect the work to be concluded by end of this month," he added.

Finally, any criticism of the cleanliness of the building, or, disparagement of our ongoing management efforts are without merit."

Rhea Kumar also argued the landlord needed to do more to keep tenants safe, including stepping up its cleaning efforts.

Throughout her pregnancy, she and husband Bharath were extra cautious" to not get sick or infect others, she said.

And now this. That's one of the most frustrating parts."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com