Suspected COVID variant cases surge in Hamilton; city reports three new outbreaks, two deaths
Suspected COVID-19 variant cases continue to surge in Hamilton, with three new outbreaks and two new deaths reported Saturday.
Hamilton public health reported 222 suspected variant cases Saturday, up 27 from the previous day. Those cases were screened positive for a mutation, but the type of variant has not been verified.
Only five variant cases, all B.1.1.7, originally found in the U.K., have been confirmed in a lab.
The city has 478 active COVID cases, down from 490 the previous day, after 48 new COVID cases were reported.
Two new deaths of people with COVID-19 were a person in their 60s and a person over 80, according to The Spectator's records. Those deaths bring the city's total to 295.
Hamilton has 30 active outbreaks, up one from yesterday's report. Public health listed three locations with new outbreaks and two outbreaks that have been declared over.
One case was reported at Native Women's Centre. A resident tested positive at the east Hamilton emergency shelter.
Five patients tested positive in the F3 (Acute Medicine) Unit at Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre.
And three employees tested positive in the supply chain division at DHL.
It's unclear if that outbreak is related to an outbreak at the DHL logistics division at their Hamilton International Airport location, declared March 10. At that outbreak involving suspected variant cases, three additional staff members were reported positive Saturday, bringing the total to 12 cases.
Outbreaks were declared over at Nicayne Metal Processing after three staff members tested positive and at The Carlisle Retirement Residence with one staff case.
A new case was reported at Hamilton's worst outbreak at Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre. An inmate tested positive, bringing the COVID cases at Barton jail to 73.
In total there have been 11,158 COVID-19 cases in Hamilton since the pandemic began and 92 per cent (10,205) of those cases are resolved.
Four more people were hospitalized with COVID, bringing the city's total to 819 hospitalizations due to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.
Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com