42 new cases of COVID-19 and 3 new deaths in Hamilton on Monday
Chief medical officer of health says 25 to 35 per cent of people can't trace where they were infected
Hamilton Public Health Services (HPHS) reported 42 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of cases for the city to 2,743. There were also 3 new deaths reported.
According to HPHS, one death occurred at Chartwell Willowgrove Long Term Care Residence, another victim died at the south tower of St. Joseph's Villa, and one person in the community lost their life.
A spokesperson for Chartwell confirmed to CBC News on Monday that a total of 15 people have died at the Willowgrove LTCH since the start of the pandemic.
"I hoped we were on a bit of a downward trend but we're not. We're just going up and down," Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson told CBC News.
"[We're] really wanting to make sure people are quite diligent in terms of following all of the public health measures: the masking, the physical distancing, the staying home, the washing your hands often," Dr. Richardson said.
Contact tracing and possibility of lockdown
Another concerning trend Dr. Richardson pointed out is that there are a "significant number" — 25 to 35 per cent — of people who cannot trace where they were infected with the virus.
"That's where we don't want to see that going up further. We want to see that staying low and so that's why those measures are important," Dr. Richardson said.
Hamilton is currently in the red "control" zone of Ontario's COVID-19 framework.
The possibility of the city being upgraded to a grey lockdown zone depends on case numbers and the rate of transmission — and it will take at least another week of red zone restrictions to determine in what direction the region moves, according to Dr. Richardson.
"But the way things are going right now, we're still solidly in the red ... we're hovering at about the 50 [cases] per 100,000 per week."
Case updates in surrounding regions
Brant County Health Unit reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. There are currently 84 total active cases in the county, and 3 people are currently in hospital.
Brant has seen 448 total confirmed cases and five deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Haldimand and Norfolk counties added two more cases Monday, totalling 625 cases. There are currently 39 active cases.
Halton added 42 new cases of COVID-19, which puts the total number of confirmed cases at 3,305. There are 594 active cases in the region.
In Burlington, officials have reported nine new cases. Out of the total 828 cases, 128 of them are active.