There are now 13 institutional or community outbreaks of COVID-19 in Hamilton, Ont.
The latest outbreak, found at a mental health crisis program run by the Good Shepherd within the downtown core, was confirmed over the weekend by Hamilton Public Health.
The city says one staff member at the Barrett Centre for Crisis Support on Emerald Street has tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Four other outbreaks were announced on Friday, one involving an inmate at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre.
The others involve a resident at St. Joseph’s Villa and two units at the Charlton site of St. Joseph’s Healthcare, where there are a total of six staff cases.
In total, there were 396 confirmed and five probable cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton as of Sunday morning.
The number of deaths linked to the coronavirus in the city is steady since Friday at 17, and over half of Hamilton’s cases — 201 — are now resolved.
A handful of city services are also resuming this week in Hamilton on what Mayor Fred Eisenberger describes as a “modified basis.”
Eisenberger says horticultural staff will be back on site at the Gage Park production greenhouse, tending to juvenile plants that will grow in flower islands and gardens throughout the city later this spring and summer.
Grass cutting, litter cleanup and other seasonal maintenance in city parks are also restarting, and about 280 employees are being recalled over the next couple of weeks.
The mayor stresses that employees will work “staggered hours” and meet physical-distancing requirements in keeping with provincial orders and to protect the health and safety of staff and the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eisenberger says preparation of the flower beds is to begin next week, with planting to follow in late May.
He adds that the work being done over the next few weeks by horticultural staff is also necessary to support the Mum Show, scheduled for the fall in Gage Park.
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