Outbreak at Community Living Hamilton mountain residence, worker tests positive
Employee was in contact with 4 residents
One worker at Community Living Hamilton's Mountain residence has tested positive for the virus, prompting public health to declare an outbreak.
The agency says this is its only confirmed case of COVID-19 at this time, and will work with public health to minimize the effects to others.
The worker is quarantining at home.
Four people who live at the residence were in contact with the employee, Community Living Hamilton (CLH) says. They are being tested, as are the staff who were in contact with them. Results are pending, but its website says that "zero CLH clients" are "suspected" of having COVID-19.
CLH says that it has been categorized as a "casual contact" situation because of precautions they had been taking, meaning low risk to other employees and people living there.
In a letter to community partners, the agency says that as they wait for results, employees will be required to wear "full personal protective equipment, including face mask, gloves, gown and goggles" for their entire shift.
Everyone who lives at the home will be isolated and encouraged to wear a face mask where possible.
CLH says workers will also increase the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting at the site.
A quarantine plan will go into action if anybody tests positive for the virus.
It says they don't anticipate an impact to any other homes because movement of staff between sites has been limited. Staff working at the mountain home won't be allowed to work at any other residences.
They are also working on identifying the people with whom workers and residents home come into contact.
There are four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton. The number of known cases now stands at 873 (864 confirmed, nine probable.)
Of those, 806 people have recovered and 44 people have died.
There are 23 active cases of the virus in the city.
Haldimand-Norfolk
There is one new confirmed positive case of COVID-19 in Haldimand and Norfolk today.
There are now 18 active cases in the counties. A total of 446 lab-confirmed cases have been tallied since the beginning of the pandemic. Of those, 396 have recovered and 32 people have died.
Brant
There are no new cases of the virus in Brant/Brantford.
There have been 136 confirmed cases in the area. Of those, 123 have recovered and four people have died, meaning there are 9 active cases. One of these people is in hospital.
Earlier this week, public health officials said a second employee at the Brantford Lowes tested positive for the virus.
On Monday, health officials were notified that an employee who worked at both the Ferrero plant in Brantford and Adidas Warehouse in Brant also tested positive.
Halton
Two more confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported on Friday in Halton.
There are 41 active cases in the area, which has seen 885 total cases (803 confirmed, 84 probable) since the pandemic began.
Of those, 821 have recovered, while 25 people have died.
In Burlington, 11 people are known to have the virus right now. The city has seen 181 cases, of which 163 have recovered and seven have died.
Niagara
Twenty-four people in Niagara currently have COVID-19.
The region has seen a total of 786 cases, up one from Thursday, including 698 which are resolved. Sixty-four people have died of the virus.
Six Nations
Ohsweken Public Health confirmed a new, positive case of COVID-19 in Six Nations Territory Monday.
The new case brings the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 15. One person has died.