'Hooliganism' at homecoming put city at risk, say Hamilton's mayor and medical officer of health

Hamilton's medical officer of health and the mayor denounced the "hooliganism" at an unofficial homecoming event on Saturday, saying it could lead to an uptick in COVID-19 cases given the city's "fragile" phase in the pandemic.

Thousands of mostly unmasked students filled streets near McMaster University on the weekend, destroying street signs, trees and a car. The weekend's activities are now the subject of an active police investigation.

"You have to be living under a rock to not understand and appreciate getting together on this level of a scale is potentially going to spread a virus," said Mayor Fred Eisenberger during a media briefing on Monday.

"I think better of our youth and certainly those that are going for higher education ought to know better."

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said those who participated were being "irresponsible" and "selfish."

"We fully recognize young people have been profoundly impacted by this pandemic, whether it's from an academic perspective or a social perspective ... but absolutely that doesn't excuse the kinds of things that went on when it comes to considering where we're at in this pandemic," she said.

It's unclear how many students were from McMaster University and how many people visited from other cities.

Homecoming and Thanksgiving could lead to more cases

Richardson said the city is at risk of a "one, two punch" with the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, if people aren't cautious about following public health measures when they gather.

She recommends staying at home if you feel ill and if not, celebrating the holiday outdoors. Richardson said people hosting indoor gatherings should ask guests about any symptoms they may have and consider masking.

The city's COVID-19 case activity is at a higher rate, she said, though it is starting to dip again.

From Friday to Monday, there were 62 new COVID-19 cases, according to city data.

Hamilton has 295 active cases and a seven-day average of 36 cases. There are 24 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and nine in the intensive care unit.

There are also 20 active outbreaks and the city has a running total of 414 pandemic deaths.

Among those who can get vaccinated, 77.9 per cent are fully vaccinated and 83.5 per cent have one shot.

People aged 18 to 24 have some of the city's lowest vaccination rates at 69.7 per cent of them being fully vaccinated and 73.1 per cent having a single dose.

Bylaw officers cracking down on house parties

Jason Thorne, director of the city's emergency operations centre, said police took the lead on enforcement Saturday but bylaw is eyeing house parties and has been doing so for the past few weeks.

"That is part of our regular enforcement activities, particularly focused on weekend enforcement right now, where we're proactively going out to these areas where we know there have been student parties or gatherings exceeding [capacity] limits," he said.

"It has resulted in some charges already. I hope we've seen the last of it but we're going to be continuing to go out every weekend and enforce and be issuing charges."