Over half of Hamilton’s outbreak cases are in postal code with second worst vaccination rate
Three of Hamilton's five worst active COVID-19 outbreaks are in high-density housing situated in a lower-city postal code with the second lowest vaccination coverage.
Rebecca Towers and Wellington Place, just one block apart on Wellington Street North, straddling Wilson Street, and The Village Apartments on Queen Street North near York Boulevard, are all in the L8R forward sortation area (FSA) - a non-hot spot lower city postal code prefix with a vaccination uptick of just 26.9 per cent.
Only the L8H postal code prefix in the north east end, at 24.6 per cent, has worse coverage, according to May 9 vaccination estimates posted by Hamilton public health Friday.
As of Friday, the city was reporting 45.1 per cent of the population with one vaccine dose, but on May 9, the average of the 21 local FSA vaccination rates was 33.8 per cent.
Those three outbreaks - classified as other" by the city - combine for 215 of the city's COVID cases.
At Wellington Place, cases jumped by 14, to 36 over the weekend. Four more people tested positive at Village Apartments, bringing the total to 69 after a Friday surge of 31 cases. And Hamilton's largest outbreak at Rebecca Towers grew by one to 110.
Just around the corner from Wellington Place and Rebecca Towers is Evergreen Manor, a retirement home facing an outbreak with four staff and 20 resident cases.
Vaccinations for Rebecca Towers residents were scheduled to take place over the weekend at FirstOntario Centre after their plea for an on-site vaccination clinic was rejected. As of Friday, public health said the vaccination plan for residents of Village Apartments and Wellington Place will follow a similar approach."
Including two additional outbreaks - six in total - L8R accounts for 256 of the city's 510 outbreak cases. The one outbreak declared over on the weekend was First Class Children's Centre with 11 cases, also in L8R.
L8R is also the city's least populated postal code, with about 13,674 residents.
Meanwhile, the majority of active outbreaks in the city are at workplaces.
Public health added one this weekend, 10 staff members tested positive at the Mall Road Fortinos, near Lime Ridge Mall, up from seven case previously reported by Loblaw on Friday.
Of the 40 active outbreaks, 21 - accounting for 156 cases - are classified as workplace or businesses. Five more outbreaks - accounting for 15 cases - include a construction site classified as a school, a gym and three sites classified by public health as other" that include a manufacturer, a business that installs flooring, and the property management office of Rebecca Towers.
All but one of those 171 cases are listed as staff members. One case is a patron of the gym, facing an investigation from the city's bylaw department.
The remaining 11 outbreaks in two shelters, two hospitals, three listed as schools and childcare" and four as supportive housing," account for 128 cases.
Hamilton reported 253 cases over the weekend, 130 Saturday and 123 Sunday, and one death of a person 80 years or older.
There are currently 967 active cases.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 19,327 Hamilton residents have tested positive for COVID-19, 1338 people have been hospitalized and 374 people have died.
Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com