Outbreak declared at Hamilton Mountain Fortinos; cases spike at lower city highrise

A new outbreak was declared at a Hamilton Mountain grocer and the case count at a lower city highrise spiked, even as public health's daily COVID-19 report appeared to show a glimmer of hope.

Hamilton reported 130 new cases, continuing a trend going back to late March. The city has reported 100 or more cases 37 of the last 40 days.

The city notified the Spectator of a reporting error over the past two weeks, but a more reliable way of looking at the numbers is city's seven-day average of new cases, calculated at 115 by The Spectator, which continued decreasing from a peak this month of 176 on May 3 and a third-wave high of 183 on April 18.

Also decreasing are the active cases at 962. The cases have now been reported below 1,000 for the second day in a row, since climbing over that mark in early April.

The city declared one new outbreak and ended one Saturday.

Nine staff members tested positive at the Mall Road Fortinos, near Lime Ridge Mall, up from seven case previously reported by Loblaw on Friday.

This is the second Fortinos in outbreak status. An outbreak was declared at the Upper Centennial Parkway South location on May 7 after four employees tested positive.

Of the city's 40 active outbreaks, 21, accounting for 156 cases, are classified as workplace or businesses.

Three outbreaks - classified as other" by the city - at Hamilton apartment buildings combine for 214 of the city's COVID cases.

At Wellington Place Apartments, cases jumped by 14, to 36, and four more people tested positive at the Village Apartments on Queen Street West Saturday, bringing the total to 69 after Friday surge of 31 cases.

Hamilton's largest outbreak, at Rebecca Towers, stayed steady at 109.

The chief executive of Victoria Park Community Homes, which manages the Village Apartments, told The Spectator on Friday that the increase of cases was expected after door-to-door testing.

Hamilton reported one new death Saturday, a person 80 or over. In total, 374 people have died with COVID.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 19,204 Hamilton residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and 1,332 people have been hospitalized.

Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com