More than 200 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Hamilton over the weekend
Dan Taekema | CBC News | Posted: December 27, 2020 7:15 PM | Last Updated: December 27, 2020
26 outbreaks are ongoing and 154 people who had the virus have died
More than 200 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Hamilton this weekend.
The city saw 162 cases of the virus on Saturday and 77 more were added to the tally Sunday, according to updated data on its website.
The 239 new cases brings the total number recorded in Hamilton since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,550 (both confirmed and probable).
Of those, 1,226 were reported active on Sunday, while 4,116 were resolved.
Statistics show 154 people who had the virus have died, an increase of seven over the past two days.
The number of infected people who have been hospitalized has also grown by 10, rising to 386 so far.
Hamilton has a weekly rate of 109 new cases per 100,000 population. Nearly four per cent of people swabbed for COVID-19 in the previous seven days had tested positive, based on data up to Dec. 16.
All of the data supplied by public health is as of 3 p.m. the previous day.
There are 26 ongoing outbreaks in the city.
The most recent was declared on Christmas Day at St. Elizabeth Retirement Residence where three residents have tested positive.
The largest ongoing outbreak is at Grace Villa where 222 people have contracted the virus, including 141 residents and 81 staff members. Thirty-two people have died.
St. Joe's to help manage Shalom Village
Another major outbreak is ongoing at Shalom Village Nursing Home.
It was declared on Dec. 9 and has infected 157 people — 87 residents, 67 staff members and three visitors.
Fourteen people who lived there and had the virus have died, according to a media release from the home and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton dated Dec. 24.
St. Joe's has announced it will provide temporary management support for Shalom Village through a voluntary contract aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
"A collaborative effort, utilizing expertise in infection control and patient care, will ensure that we get through this," said Dr. Larry Levin, interim CEO of the home in a media release.
"The health and wellbeing of our residents and staff remains our top priority," he added.
Police employee has COVID-19
Hamilton police say a civilian worker at the Central Station has tested positive for the virus.
The employee was last at work on Dec. 22, according to the service, which says it's working with public health to carry out contact tracing.
Niagara
The Niagara Region has seen 3,533 cases over the course of the pandemic, including 773 that are active Sunday and 2,991 that were resolved.
Twenty-two outbreaks are ongoing.
Ninety-nine people with the virus have died.
Six Nations
Six Nations of the Grand River has moved to the "Red Alert Level" of its COVID-19 pandemic response following rising case numbers and lockdowns in surrounding communities.
That means gatherings are now restricted to only those in the same household and limited to five people indoors and 10 outdoors. Travel outside of Six Nations territory is also discouraged.
"I want to be clear that these measures are ... based on the expectation that members will only leave the territory for essential reasons, and that our neighbours will follow their own lockdown orders and refrain from leaving their houses to travel here," said elected chief Mark Hill in a media release.
"We will be closely monitoring the situation and will not hesitate to introduce tougher measures if that expectation is not met," he added.
Six Nations has recorded 102 cases during the pandemic, including two active cases that were reported as of Dec. 23.
Brant
Brant and Brantford have reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 within the past 24 hours.
There have been 819 confirmed cases in the county so far. Of those, 130 are active Sunday and 684 resolved.
Five people have died and four are currently in hospital.
Halton
The number of COVID-19 cases in Halton rose by 246 on Sunday for a total of 5,550 so far.
Data shows 508 of those cases are active and 4,937 are resolved.
Seventy-two of the new cases were in Burlington which has seen 1,374 cases since the start of the pandemic.
Twenty-four people in the city who had COVID-19 have died, while 105 have died across the region.
Haldimand-Norfolk
Nine more cases were reported in Haldimand and Norfolk on Dec. 26.
The counties have recorded 862 cases throughout the pandemic. Eighty of those cases are active, while 743 are recovered.
Thirty-four deaths are considered COVID-related.