Local hospitals free of COVID patients, for now

There are some patients in recovery, but they are no longer infected

Hamilton’s major hospitals are officially free of COVID-19 patients — at least for now.

As of Tuesday, both St. Joe’s and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) were reporting caring for zero COVID-positive patients.

Over the span of the pandemic, there have been 141 people reported hospitalized in Hamilton with the virus.

Tuesday marked the first time in 112 days that St. Joe’s has not had a patient with COVID-19 since their first case was admitted on March 16.

In a statement, Melissa Farrell, president of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, said hospital staff continue to care for those who have had the virus but are now in recovery.

“While this is a great milestone for our hospital teams, the pandemic is not over,” said Farrell.

“We want to thank our staff, physicians, volunteers and community partners for their continued support and vigilance.”

Dr. Wes Stephen, executive vice-president of clinical operations and chief operating officer for HHS, said Tuesday also marked the first time there have been no COVID-19 patients in their hospital since mid-March.

“We are incredibly grateful to the entire HHS team for coming together to care for patients with COVID-19, and for their continued efforts to serve all of our patients,” he said.

Two new cases

Hamilton public health recorded two new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday for a total of 856 probable and confirmed cases of the virus as of 9 a.m.

Of all cases, 91per cent are now resolved. There have been 44 deaths in the city to date.

In the last 10 days, there have been 26 new cases in Hamilton.

Fifteen of them were the result of close or casual contact with someone who already had the virus and had no travel history.

For seven of the cases, it’s not known how the person caught the virus, meaning it is considered “community spread” by officials. Three others involve travel and just one is under investigation.