Haldimand-Norfolk reports 2 more COVID-19 deaths, including a temporary farm worker

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit says two people who had COVID-19 have died, one of whom was a temporary farm worker.

The worker "was residing at a residence located on a farm and was hospitalized prior to their passing," according to a media release issued by the health unit Thursday afternoon.

The other person was living in the community and was also hospitalized before they died, the release states. Both deaths are "attributed" to COVID-19, it reads.

CBC News contacted the health unit asking for more information, but a spokesperson said no more details would be shared, citing privacy.

A representative of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change said the organization is also looking into what happened.

Haldimand-Norfolk has reported 43 COVID-related deaths during the pandemic.

There are 12 active cases in the counties, which have logged 2,580 positive cases as of Thursday. Of those, 2,406 have recovered.

Haldimand-Norfolk have administered 50,633 doses of vaccine, with 5,206 people receiving two shots.

Three temporary foreign workers died last summer after they arrived to work on Ontario farms and contracted COVID-19.

Ontario's deputy chief coroner recently released a report into the deaths of three temporary foreign workers who died last summer after they arrived to work on Ontario farms and contracted COVID-19.

Their names were Bonifacio Eugenio-Romero, who worked on a pepper farm near Kingsville, Rogelio Munoz Santos, who worked on a farm in Windsor-Essex and Juan Lopez Chaparro, who worked on vegetable farm near Simcoe.

The report offered 35 recommendations, including better protections for the workers, improved access to health care, and changes to boost communications between governments and agencies.

Hamilton hospitals see high occupancy rates

Hamilton reported 141 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. The city has seen 19,792 cases so far, including 970 that are active, while just over 91 per cent are resolved.

The seven-day average for new cases is 119.

Statistics on the city's website show 376 people who tested positive for the virus have died, with 6.9 per cent were ever hospitalized.

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton is currently caring for 37 people with COVID-19, while its ICU has an occupancy rate of 148 per cent after essentially doubling its number of beds.

Hamilton Health Sciences has 65 patients with the virus. It also nearly doubled its ICU capacity and is at 117 per cent as of Thursday.

There are 39 active outbreaks in the city, including two at St. Joseph's Villa, four at the UPS customer centre of Grays Road and three staff cases at Latitude Air Ambulance.

A representative of the air ambulance service said the cases are among members of its finance staff, who all have mild symptoms.

Niagara

Niagara saw 34 more cases of the virus on Thursday, increasing its total to 15,388 to date.

That includes 1,154 cases that are active and 13,831 that are resolved.

Two more outbreaks have been declared, meaning 20 are active.

The region has administered 239,680 doses of vaccine, with just over three per cent of the population fully vaccinated.

Brant

Twenty new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Brant and Brantford over the past 24 hours.

The area has hit 3,121 confirmed cases, including 133 that were active Thursday and 2,968 that are resolved.

Twenty people who had the virus have died and six are in hospital.

Brant County has administered 73,152 vaccine doses and reports 5,676 residents have completed their series of shots.

Halton

Sixty-four more cases were added in Halton Thursday, for a total of 17,065 (16,490 confirmed and 575 probable).

Among those cases are 523 that are active and 16,321 that are resolved.

Twenty-three of the new cases were in Burlington.

The region has reported 221 deaths.

Six Nations

There are two active cases of COVID-19 on Six Nations of the Grand River territory and 26 people are in self-isolation.

The reserve has seen 526 people test positive, while 513 cases are resolved. Eleven people have died.