Hamilton surpasses 500 active COVID cases
Hamilton saw two COVID record-breaking days this weekend, with new highs reached for number of new cases Saturday and number of active cases Sunday.
On Saturday, public health reported 95 new COVID cases - the highest since just the day before, when the city set a record with 87 new cases, exceeding the record set a day before that, when the city reported 71 new cases. On Sunday, just 61 new COVID cases were reported but those put the city over the 500 mark for active COVID cases. The 503 active cases reported Sunday also set a record.
Three new COVID deaths were reported over the weekend.
Public health reported that a woman in her early 70s from Baywoods Place long-term care home died Thursday, while a 78-year-old woman who lived in the community died Friday. Grace Villa long-term care home confirmed its first COVID death over the weekend in an 84-year-old woman who died Saturday.
The city's total number of COVID deaths is 85, or three per cent of all recorded cases.
On Sunday, there were 3,111 total confirmed and probable cases in the city, with 81 per cent, or 2,514 cases, now considered resolved. There are 25 COVID patients receiving care in Hamilton hospitals.
Public health does not list where the new daily COVID cases come from but it does share data from the last 10 days. On Sunday, the data from the previous 10 days showed 33 per cent of cases were from close contact spread, 26 per cent were still under investigation, 23 per cent were outbreak-associated, 18 per cent were community acquired - meaning public health does not know how the person got sick - and 1 per cent was associated with travel.
An outbreak at Grace Villa on the east Mountain grew rapidly over the weekend - rising from just five cases Friday to 34 Saturday and 43 Sunday. Of those sick, 38 are residents and five are staff.
In a statement, Mary Raithby, CEO of APANS Health Services, which runs Grace Villa, said staffing is an issue at the home.
Long-term care had a staffing shortage prior to the pandemic being declared," Raithby said Saturday. Staffing remains an issue for us and we have reached out to our local LHIN and hospital for assistance."
Raithby said staff are being tested for COVID weekly. All residents were swabbed on Wednesday, the day the outbreak was declared. The home has sufficient personal protective equipment, she said.
We are working closely with public health and our hospital infection control team to manage each aspect of this outbreak as well as to implement all components of our pandemic plan," she said.
As of Sunday, there were nine long-term-care or retirement homes in outbreak in Hamilton. The largest outbreak is at Chartwell Willowgrove where 86 people - including 56 residents, 28 staff and two visitors - have tested positive for COVID. Fifteen residents have died.
The city reported just one new outbreak over the weekend: three staff as Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd. have tested positive.
An outbreak at Red Hill Orthodontics, declared Nov. 24, doubled over the weekend, growing from two cases to four on Sunday. All cases are in staff.
There are 19 active outbreaks in the city, including one at Rehoboth Christian School in Copetown where one staff and one student have tested positive.
On Friday, the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board reported six new COVID cases in students. Three students tested positive at Gordon Price Elementary School - which is not in outbreak as there's no epidemiological link to other cases at the school - and one student tested positive at each of: Ancaster High School, Saltfleet District High School and Pauline Johnson Elementary School.
The Catholic board reported one new case in a student at St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Elementary School Friday and one case in a staff member at Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School.
On Friday, Joseph Brant Hospital saw an outbreak that has claimed two lives spread to another in-patient unit.
In a Friday release, the Burlington hospital said an outbreak declared Nov. 18 in one in-patient unit - 7 South 100 - spread to a second in-patient unit - 3 North 700.
Three people have tested positive in the new outbreak, including a health care worker and two patients.
In both outbreaks, there are a total of 10 cases - four in health care workers and six in patients. Two patients have died.
In the release, the hospital said its staff are working closely with Halton public health to monitor all patients, staff and physicians who had direct contact with people who've tested positive for COVID.
The hospital has enhanced daily deep cleaning on both units and is monitoring patients for new symptoms. The two units are now closed to visitors, with very limited exceptions."
While Hamilton remains in the red zone for the foreseeable future, Haldimand and Norfolk move into the orange-restrict zone Monday. In the orange zone, restaurants and bars can only sell alcohol between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. and they must close at 10 p.m. Just four people can be seated together.
Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com