Grace Villa now says it's not in outbreak, no positive COVID-19 tests at the home

The executive director of Grace Villa now says there's no COVID-19 outbreak at the home and that none of its staff members or residents have tested positive for the virus.

In an email to CBC Monday morning, Janette West wrote that a staff member had tested positive, but was asymptomatic. She described the situation at the home as a "suspect outbreak."

But, in a follow up email sent just before 5 p.m., she said the outbreak was over.

"We have no positive cases at Grace Villa," she wrote in a subsequent message.

Dr. Bart Harvey, Hamilton's associate medical officer of health, confirmed there was no outbreak at the home.

"All follow up testing has come back negative," he said. "There is no longer any criteria for even a suspect outbreak."

Earlier in the day Harvey said the staff member in question had been retested and officials were awaiting the results before making a decision on how to proceed.

The positive case at Grace Villa was identified after mass testing at the home, he noted at the time.

"If an asymptomatic person is identified in mass testing, there's a discussion between public health and the institution to determine whether outbreak should be declared or what other further actions need to be taken," explained Harvey.

Hamilton public health has not recorded an outbreak at a care home in more than 30 days and had not officially declared an outbreak at Grace Villa, according to its website Monday.