City will reopen most waterfalls in Hamilton next week

In one week, day-trippers will be able to visit most waterfalls in Hamilton again, as they start to reopen after being closed to the public.

Starting July 15, the city will open some, but not all, of its falls. Devil's Punchbowl and Tiffany Falls will be among those opening. Parking lots will also be opened. 

But the popular areas of Tews Falls, Webster Falls and Dundas Peak will remain closed for the time being. 

Hamilton Conservation Authority had first opened the city's conservation areas in mid-May for "passive use," which meant benches, picnic tables and bathrooms stayed closed. Though visiting waterfalls was off the table because of the limited capacity to social distance, some people still continued to do so.

Visitors to the falls will have to maintain a physical distance of two metres between themselves and those outside their social circle.

The city is also encouraging people to still continue health protocols, like washing your hands or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer. 

It cautions that people shouldn't visit the waterfalls if they are sick or showing any signs of being ill. 

Dundurn Castle, the Hamilton Military Museum and the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology are also re-opening as of next Wednesday. They'll offer modified programming from Wednesday to Sunday, and are also open for private bookings. 

The city says there has been a total of 856 known cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton, which is up two from Tuesday. Eight of these are probable. Around 91 per cent of these cases have now been resolved. 

The number of deaths from COVID-19 stands at 44.

Brant

Only one person in Brant/Brantford has COVID-19 and that person is currently not in hospital.

It was announced yesterday that a Lowe's employee had tested positive. The employee was last in the store on June 30.

There have been 124 total COVID-19 cases. Of those, 119 people have recovered and four have died.

Haldimand-Norfolk

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

The total of 444 lab-confirmed cases hasn't changed since Friday. Of those, 32 have died and 381 have recovered.

Halton

There are 51 active cases in the Halton region. The number of confirmed cases has increased by four since Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 866. Of those, 83 are probable and 783 are confirmed. 

The virus has killed 25 people and 790 have recovered. 

In Burlington, nine people are known to have the virus right now, which is up one since Tuesday. The city has seen 176 cases (158 confirmed, 18 probable), of which 160 have recovered and seven have died.

Niagara

In the Niagara region, 26 people are known to have COVID-19. There have been 768 total cases. 

Sixty-one people have died, while 681 have recovered.

A new outbreak has been declared today at Tabor Manor in St. Catharines. The region's other outbreak is at the Garden City Manor, also in St. Catharines.