4 more people die in Hamilton as city reports 1st case of B.1.351 variant

Four more people in Hamilton have died after contracting the virus as the city recorded 156 new cases on Thursday. 

According to city data, two people were in their 80s, one was in their 70s, and one person was in their 50s.

There have been 14,738 cases in the city, of which 1,192 are active and 88 per cent have been resolved. 

The city also recorded its first instance of the B.1.351 variant, which was first detected in South Africa. 

Other variants of concern in the city include 23 confirmed B117 cases, which was first discovered in the U.K, and two people with the P1 variant, which was first identified in Brazil. 

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton is caring for 40 COVID-19 patients, and Hamilton Health Sciences is caring for 74. 

There are 38 active outbreaks in the city. 

A new ArcelorMittal Dofasco outbreak — 1-MRA — has two people testing positive. The city's roads department has a new outbreak of two staff members, and Macassa Lodge is now experiencing an outbreak with one staff and one student. 

Heritage Green Nursing home declared an outbreak on April 10, but it only seems to be added to the list today. Hamilton Public Health said a "suspect outbreak" was declared that day, and it was confirmed on April 14 when the total number of people infected reached one resident and two staff. 

As of April 7, the Ontario Ministry of Health directs homes to categorize an outbreak as being suspect if there's only one resident with COVID-19.

The outbreak at Green Mountain Lodging Home has grown from one case to 13, including 12 residents and one staff. 

Arytza/Oakrun Farm Bakery outbreak has grown by five to 20 people. 

Brant

Brant has recorded 61 new cases. There are 276 active cases in the county, according to its online data.

There have been 2,253 cases since March 2020 and 14 deaths. Twelve people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

A total of 1,963 cases have been marked as resolved.

There have been 37,284 doses of the vaccine administered. 

Haldimand-Norfolk

There are 210 active cases of COVID-19 in Haldimand and Norfolk. The counties have recorded 1,915 cases throughout the pandemic.

Forty deaths are considered COVID-related and 1,660 people have recovered. 

There have been 28,881 doses of the vaccine administered.

Niagara

One more person in Niagara has died, as the region reported 222 new positive cases. There have been 379 deaths. 

The region has seen 11,515 cases over the pandemic, including 1,355 that are active and 9,781 resolved.

There have been 120,087 doses of the vaccine administered in Niagara. 

Halton

There were 180 new cases of the virus in Halton for a total of 12,906 throughout the pandemic.

Of these, 1,038 cases are active and 11,665 people have recovered.

There have been 203 people who have died, and 51 of those deaths were in Burlington. The city saw 39 new cases on Thursday and has 209 active cases. 

Six Nations

Six Nations of the Grand River has recorded 10 active cases of COVID-19, which is six more than yesterday. There have been 453 total cases and 433 resolved. Ten people have died. 

There have been five B117 cases, and two more variants of concern require confirmation.

Six Nations was in alert level red of its colour-coded framework.