Hamilton, Ont., added two more cases of COVID-19 to its overall total of 649 on Tuesday.
The city reported 641 confirmed positive cases and eight probable.
Public health is also reporting two more deaths, an 85-year-old man and 95-year-old woman, both residents from the Rosslyn retirement home.
In mid-May, the east-end facility reported 83 coronavirus cases amid a COVID-19 outbreak compounded by staffing problems, according to the city.
Public health said the shortage in staff was due to 19 workers testing positive at the facility and generally low staffing levels provider organizations tend to keep.
As of Tuesday, the city has six outbreaks at four retirement residences (Aberdeen Gardens, Alexander Place, Desmond & Peggy Little Retirement home, and the Rosslyn), one long-term care home (Macassa Lodge) and the COVID-19 unit at Hamilton General Hospital.
After 15 days, an outbreak at Blackadar Continuing Care Centre was declared over on Tuesday. One staff member and one resident were reported to have had COVID-19 when the outbreak was declared May 10 at the long-term care home.
The city’s emergency operations centre (EOC) director told Global News that the city has received a number of inquiries about booking an appointment for COVID-19 tests since Premier Doug Ford’s announcement on Sunday.
Paul Johnson says the city will need more resources to make more testing available through city health agencies and partners. He also says the ‘how’ has not yet been addressed by the province since Ford’s comment.
“We support that. It’s just going to be a few days to get those nuts and bolts details done for Hamiltonians so that they’re not discouraged when they go somewhere and finding out that it’s not what they expected.”
Currently, the city’s testing centres are only providing tests to those who have had a referral from a doctor, Hamilton public health or Telehealth Ontario.
Hamilton hospitals say, in all, they have 63 COVID-19 patients in care units — 31 at Hamilton Health Sciences and 32 at St. Joseph’s hospitals.
Four hundred-twenty-six of the city’s 649 COVID-19 cases — or 66 per cent — have been resolved.
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Niagara Region reports 1 new COVID-19 case
Niagara public health reported just one new case of COVID-19 on Tuesday. The region has a total of 634, with more than three-quarters of their total cases — 511 — resolved.
There are no new coronavirus deaths in Niagara as of May 26. Forty-eight of the region’s 58 total deaths have been connected to long-term care homes or retirement residences.
The region has eight current outbreaks at four long-term-care homes (Crescent Park Lodge in Fort Erie, Kilean Lodge in Grimsby, Royal Rose Place in Welland, Tufford Nursing Home in St Catharines ), three retirement homes (Albright Centre in Lincoln, West Park Health Centre in St. Catharines, Lundy Manor in Niagara Falls), and at one unit of the Greater Niagara General Hospital.
Haldimand-Norfolk reports 6 new COVID-19 cases
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) reported six new COVID-19 cases as of May 26. The region has 216 total lab-confirmed cases.
The regions reported no new deaths on Tuesday.
HNHU says 93 people have recovered since the pandemic began and 31 have died from COVID-19.
Halton Region reports 4 new COVID-19 cases
Halton Region reported five new cases of novel coronavirus on Tuesday. The region now has 699 total cases with 623 confirmed positive cases and 76 probable ones.
Public health says 531 cases have now been resolved.
The region has 25 deaths tied to COVID-19 with 11 from a confirmed outbreak at an institution.
Halton’s six outbreaks — all at long-term care homes — include Brant Centre, West Oak Village, Wyndham Manor, Bennett Centre, Creek Way Village, and Extendicare Halton Hills.
Seventy-eight of the region’s cases have been connected to residents or patients in an institutional outbreak.
Brant County reports fourth COVID-19 death
Brant County’s health unit (BCHU) reported no new cases of COVID-19 as of May 26.
The region has 108 confirmed cases with four people receiving care in a hospital.
The county has no institutional or community outbreaks and 93 total resolved cases.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
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