Some Hamiltonians are getting multiple COVID-19 tests adding to backlog: public health

Hamilton's medical officer of health says the lengthy wait for COVID-19 results is prompting some people in the city to visit clinics and take a second test in hopes of a quicker answer.

During a Tuesday afternoon media briefing, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said the clinics are also getting calls from people who are waiting 10 days or more to find out if they are infected.

"We know there's a lot of anxiety because of that uncertainty," she explained. 

"While it's very understandable that people would want to do that, I would really discourage people from doing so. In fact, what they end up doing is adding to the burden of what is going on in the laboratory system … rather than improving their turnaround time, they very well could be increasing the time it takes."

She also noted the province ordered that those visiting long-term care homes must be tested every two weeks, which may be prompting people to get multiple tests.

"If they're coming up to that requirement where they're going to need a new test anyway … we're trying to discourage people at an earlier point from waiting for results because it is in essence just making more backlog in the system," Richardson said.

She added that roughly 450 people are being tested per day, which is "well over the capacity" the testing facilities were designed for.

Paul Johnson, director of the city's emergency operations centre, also said there are fewer people wearing masks while using HSR and that people need to continue wearing masks.

The city has drafted a bylaw mandating that people wear masks indoors in public spaces, and Hamilton's board of health will vote on it Friday. Dr. Richardson couldn't go into detail about what specific public spaces will require people to wear masks.

9 in 10 COVID-19 Hamilton cases recovered

Nine out of every 10 COVID-19 cases in Hamilton have recovered from the virus and none of those infected are in hospital right now.

There are 34 active COVID-19 cases in Hamilton as of Tuesday morning. A total of 854 cases have been reported, which means there are no new cases since Monday.

Of those, 848 are confirmed and eight considered probable. The virus has killed 44 people, 776 (91 per cent) have recovered. 

There are no more hospitalized patients in local hospitals and no outbreaks in Hamilton.

Brant

Two people in Brant/Brantford have COVID-19 and they are currently not in hospital.

One of them is a Lowe's employee.

There have been 124 total COVID-19 cases. Of those, 118 people have recovered and four have died.

Haldimand-Norfolk

There are 31 active cases of COVID-19 in Haldimand-Norfolk.

There have been a total of 444 cases, a number that has not budged since Friday. Of those, 32 have died and 381 have recovered.

Halton

There are 54 active cases in the Halton region, two fewer than Friday. There were 20 new confirmed cases from over the weekend and Monday, bringing the total number to 863. Of those, 84 are probable and 779 are confirmed. 

The virus has killed 25 people and 784 have recovered. 

In Burlington, eight people have the virus right now. The city has seen 176 cases (157 confirmed, 19 probable), of which 161 recovered and seven died.

Niagara

In the Niagara region, 28 people still have COVID-19. There are 769 total cases, up seven from Friday.

Sixty-one people have died, while 680 have recovered.

There is an outbreak at the Garden City Manor in St. Catharines.