St. Peter’s Hospital COVID outbreak turns deadly
Two have died in a COVID outbreak at St. Peter's Hospital that has climbed to 11 cases.
The city reported the COVID deaths of two seniors Tuesday - one in their 80s and another in their 70s. Public health doesn't provide details of pandemic deaths, but it was reported on the same day that St Peter's was listed as having two deaths in an outbreak on 3W.
The outbreak has spread to 10 patients and one staff member since being declared Oct. 27. The east Hamilton hospital on Maplewood Avenue provides complex continuing care, rehabilitation and palliative care, primarily for seniors.
Another Hamilton Health Sciences' outbreak was declared over Monday. Two staff, one patient and one student tested positive at McMaster University Medical Centre at the 2F OBGYN clinic since the outbreak was declared Oct. 21.
The hospital network also had a deadly outbreak this fall on the burn trauma unit at Hamilton General Hospital that saw seven staff and one patient infected from Sept. 27 to Oct. 10. One person died.
Of Hamilton's 421 pandemic deaths, more than 80 per cent have been among those age 70 and older. Deaths of those with COVID are included in the tally whether or not the virus was determined to be a contributing or underlying cause of death.
On Tuesday, the city also corrected the age of a previous death from a person in their 60s to a person in their 50s. The change is significant because pandemic deaths have been rare among those below the age of 60. Hamilton has had nine people in their 50s with COVID die since March 2020.
In total, 17 of Hamilton's pandemic deaths - four per cent - have been among those younger than 60. In Hamilton, no one below the age of 30 has died while infected with COVID.
The hospital outbreaks show the continued vulnerability of some settings to the aggressive Delta variant. A kidney unit was closed to new admissions at the Charlton Campus of St. Joseph's Healthcare when an outbreak was declared there Oct. 9.
Area hospitals have urged Premier Doug Ford to bring in mandatory vaccination for all health-care workers. Hamilton Health Sciences has given its staff until Nov. 30 to get two COVID shots, while the workforce at St. Joseph's Healthcare has until Dec. 14.
Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com