Eight new COVID-19 deaths in Hamilton
Hamilton has eight new COVID-19 deaths and a record-high 53 active outbreaks.
One of the deaths is a person in their 50s.
As of Tuesday, public health’s website showed 240 COVID deaths in Hamilton since the pandemic began.
Of the eight new deaths reported Tuesday, one appears to be from the Meadows long-term-care
home and another appears to stem from an outbreak at Macassa Lodge long-term-care home.
The person in their 50s is just the fifth person younger than 60 to die with COVID in Hamilton. The other deaths included a person in their 60s and six people 80 or older.
Other details about the deaths — including if the people lived in the community or in care homes — remain unknown. Public health no longer provides that information.
Public health’s tally of COVID deaths includes people who died with COVID, not necessarily because of the virus. Tuesday marked the end of a fourday stretch with no newly reported COVID deaths in Hamilton.
Two new outbreaks were reported Tuesday: one at Paracel Laboratories Inc., a company specializing in indoor air quality and environmental testing, with three cases in staff, and the other at Highgate Residence, a retirement home in Ancaster, with one case in a staff member.
Of the city’s 53 outbreaks, more than half are in retirement homes, long-term-care homes and hospitals, six are in workplaces, four are in shelters and two are in daycares.
Meanwhile, public health reported 66 new COVID cases Tuesday, bringing Hamilton’s case total to 8,832. There are 688 active cases and 7,779 are resolved.
A total of 126 people are in hospital with COVID.
Hamilton’s weekly rate of COVID infection dropped slightly, from 97 new cases per 100,000 population Monday to 94 per 100,000 Tuesday. It was 190 on Jan. 5 and 116 when Hamilton went into lockdown Dec. 21.
Nearly half of all 811 confirmed cases reported in the last 10 days were linked to “close contact” meaning public health is able to identify how the person caught the virus. One-quarter were “community spread” meaning public health does not know how the person got sick. Another quarter involves cases connected to outbreaks.
Just one case — or 0.1 per cent of all cases — reported in the last 10 days was connected to travel.