Outbreaks declared Fortinos, Shoppers Drug Mart and west Hamilton Mountain gym

Hamilton recorded 145 new COVID-19 cases and four new outbreaks Saturday.

Meanwhile, the city's test positivity rate - the percentage of tests coming back positive in the last seven days - hit another record-high of 12.6 per cent, up from 12.2 per cent Friday. The previous record of 11.3 per cent was reported April 28.

There are 41 active outbreaks across the city.

The four outbreaks reported Saturday include Fortinos on Upper Centennial Parkway South with four staff cases, Shoppers Drug Mart on Highway 8 with two staff cases and Go Hot Water on Ottawa Street North with two staff cases.

Another new outbreak is at Freshfhiit Athletic on Upper James Street, where one staff member and one patron/attendee have tested positive for novel coronavirus.

The source of the cases at the west Mountain gym is unclear.

All gyms in Ontario have been closed since April 7 amid the stay-at-home order.

The city's largest outbreak at the Rebecca Towers apartment building, located at 235 Rebecca St., grew by seven cases Saturday.

A total of 75 people have tested positive at the 165-unit, 17-storey highrise, where tenants on Friday criticized public health for not informing them earlier of the outbreak that has also left one person dead.

Public health added another death to an outbreak in the surgical unit at Jurvanski Hopsital, where two people have died and 10 have been infected since April 30.

Meanwhile, the city's seven day average of new cases is 150, a slight drop from the 155 reported Friday.

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com