Hamilton has 94 active COVID-19 outbreaks, including at the jail, hospitals and care homes

The COVID-19 outbreak at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre (HWDC) has grown to 55 cases, making it one of the largest of the 94 outbreaks currently active in the city.

Forty-one inmates have tested positive, along with 14 staff members, according to public health statistics shared on Thursday.

Geoff Vanderdeen, president of OPSEU Local 248, which represents correction officers at the Barton Street jail, said the pandemic has been draining for his members.

"I think we're all very concerned," he said of the outbreak.

"We're tired, we're frustrated, we're angry but we just keep on coming to work and doing our job to the best of our ability. That's all we can do."

Outbreaks strain staffing across sectors

A spike in COVID-19 cases across the country driven by the Omicron variant is leading to a wave in outbreaks in all sorts of settings, including behind bars.

Hamilton has seen a resurgence in cases at hospitals, care homes and shelters.

Among the largest outbreaks, ongoing as of Thursday, are 44 cases linked to clinical teaching unit E3 at Juravinski Hospital, 50 at Heritage Green Nursing home and 58 at The Wellington nursing home. There are dozens of others.

The outbreaks are further stretching staff already strained over the course of the pandemic and have pushed officials to share concerns with the public about how they're going to manage.

Hospital administrators held a media conference earlier this week to warn Hamiltonians they were looking at the possibility of using last-resort measures such as allowing COVID-positive staff to work and placing patients in hallways if Omicron overwhelms them.

Shelters have also seen an increase in cases, both among clients and workers.

As temperatures dropped this week, city officials said they could not increase the amount of space available for homeless people to warm up or isolate, as there just wasn't enough staff.

Last week, as the outbreak at the HWDC began, Justin Piché, a criminologist at the University of Ottawa, called for more prisoners to be released to limit risk and exposure.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General said each correctional facility in Ontario has a pandemic plan and is taking steps, including masks, vaccinations and isolating positive inmates, to curb the spread of the virus.

Venderdeen said the HWDC is taking "last resort" measures by using lockdowns to try and stop the virus from spreading.

But, he said, there's frustration from both guards and inmates around the measures that are being taken and how the reasoning behind them is being communicated.

 "People don't know what to expect."