COVID-19 cases: Which areas of the city are hit hardest? Depends on where you live
An analysis of Hamilton's COVID-19 cases by geography shows noticeable differences when communities are broken down to smaller areas.
The rate of COVID-19 cases in upper Stoney Creek, with 221 infections per 100,000 people, is more than twice as high as lower Stoney Creek, where there have been 88 infections per 100,000 people. Winona has had just 41 cases per 100,000 people.
Upper Stoney Creek's rate is elevated in part due to a coronavirus outbreak that infected a dozen residents of the Heritage Green Nursing Home on Isaac Brock Drive.
The COVID-19 data have been broken down to the level of census tracts, as defined by Statistics Canada, and mapped by the city's public health department.
There are about 140 census tracts in Hamilton, with populations of about 4,000 each on average.
It's important to note the data are mapped by the home address of the infected person, not the place where the virus was likely acquired.
That's a crucial distinction because 180 of Hamilton's cases - about a quarter of the total - have been health-care workers who likely contracted the virus in a health-care setting, such as a hospital or long-term care home.
It's also important to note the rates for individual census tracts can be wildly skewed by the presence of a long-term care facility that has suffered a large COVID-19 outbreak.
For example, the census tract bounded by Ottawa Street South, Main Street East, Gage Avenue South and the escarpment has had 65 COVID-19 cases, but 64 of those have been residents of the Rosslyn Retirement Residence, site of the city's worst coronavirus outbreak. Among the other 2,000 people living in that census tract, there's only been one COVID-19 case.
In Flamborough, Waterdown's rate of 96 cases per 100,000 people is significantly higher than the rest of Flamborough, where the rate of COVID-19 infections is 66 per 100,000.
On the Mountain, there are significant differences in COVID-19 rates south and north of the Lincoln Alexander Parkway.
South of the Linc, the rate of cases is 163 per 100,000 people compared to 103 per 100,000 north of the Linc.
Some parts of the city that had poor health, social and economic results in The Spectator's ongoing Code Red project have been relatively untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the nearly 11,000 residents who live along the industrial waterfront, including much of the North End, there has only been seven COVID-19 cases, a rate of 65 per 100,000 people.
Hamilton's online COVID-19 map will be available to the public after 3 p.m. on Friday.
Steve Buist is a Hamilton-based investigative reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbuist@thespec.com