Hamilton, Ont., reported four more COVID-19 cases on Tuesday putting the city’s overall number of cases up to 697 since the pandemic began.
Six hundred-ninety of the cases are confirmed while another seven are probable infections.
There were no new reported deaths on June 2. The city has 38 total deaths connected to the novel coronavirus since March.
Public health declared two outbreaks at Alexander Place retirement home and long-term care home Macassa Lodge over on Monday.
The city has three institutional outbreaks at two retirement residences (Aberdeen Gardens, and Desmond & Peggy Little Retirement home), and the COVID-19 unit at Hamilton General Hospital.
Despite an outbreak being declared over at the Rosslyn retirement home on the weekend, the facility still has two outstanding public orders to deal with before initiating its plan to reopen to residents, according to Richardson.
The first of the orders is part of the Health Protection Promotion Act involving infection prevention and control, and the other an inspection of the home’s kitchen — ordered closed by public health after a walk-through uncovered mould and mouse droppings.
“We had told the operator we wanted to inspect the home again prior to them accepting any residents. As of earlier today, the last time I heard from staff, they still had not heard from the operator that they wanted to schedule that inspection,” said Richardson.
The east-end facility reported 86 coronavirus cases amid a COVID-19 outbreak compounded by staffing problems on May 15, according to the city.
The city’s medical officer of health said the operator of The Rosslyn was working with the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) towards a potential reopening.
Hamilton hospitals say, in all, they have 57 COVID-19 patients in care units — Hamilton Health Sciences has 31 while St. Joseph’s hospitals say they have 26.
Five hundred-twenty-nine of the city’s 697 COVID-19 cases — or 76 per cent — have been resolved.
In an update on Tuesday afternoon, the city’s medical officer of health said as encouraging as the lower outbreak numbers have been over the last week, community cases continue to rise at a rate of about 10 to 12 everyday.
“We really do want to see those count numbers continue to come down below ten or below the five sort of range,” said Richardson.
“Ideally, of course, eliminating it would be even better. But for sure, bring it down below the 10 mark.”
Richardson suggested the Ford government’s potential regional reopening plan would likely require cases to be under the ten per day threshold in order to implement a less-gradual opening in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton area (GTHA).
“The cases coming under 10 is just one of the indicators for opening. It is the capacity for us to be able to do that case and contact tracing,” Richardson said.
Niagara Region reports no new COVID-19 cases
After a spike in cases on Monday, Niagara public health reported no new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The region added 23 new cases on Monday after reports of an outbreak Pioneer Flower Farms greenhouse in St. Catharines.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the farm said three employees tested positive for the virus in mid to late-May, which prompted testing of 80 plus workers.
On Sunday night, Pioneer said at least 18 other people were positive or asymptomatic for the virus.
Niagara’s total number of cases remains at 666 with 561 – 84 per cent – now resolved, according to public health.
The region hasn’t had a death for several days and holds at 59, with 48 connected to long-term care homes or retirement residences.
Another outbreak was declared over on Tuesday at West Park Health Centre, a long-term care home in St. Catharines.
Niagara has three current institutional outbreaks at one retirement home (Albright Manor in Lincoln), one long-term-care home (Royal Rose Place in Welland) and at one unit of the Greater Niagara General Hospital.
Haldimand-Norfolk with more than 300 total COVID-19 cases after outbreak on farm
The number of COVID-19 cases in Haldimand-Norfolk continues to rise dramatically due to the outbreak at Scotlynn Group farm in Vittoria, Ont.
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) says 164 people out of about 210 tested are confirmed as positive cases.
Seven people from the farm are in hospital.
The outbreak’s epi-centre is at the residences of “migrant agricultural workers”, according to HNHU.
The region’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 382, a marked increase from the 217 the counties reported on Friday.
HNHU says 136 people have recovered since the pandemic began and 31 have died.
Halton region reports 4 new COVID-19 cases
Halton Region reported four new cases of novel coronavirus on Tuesday. The region now has 723 total cases, 649 confirmed positive cases and 74 probable.
There are no new deaths as of June 2. The region has 25 deaths tied to COVID-19 with 11 from a confirmed outbreak at an institution.
Public health says more than 84 per cent (608) of its cases have now been resolved.
The region is reporting no institutional outbreaks as of June 2. The last three outbreaks — all at long-term care homes — at Bennett centre in Halton Hills, Creek Way Village in Burlington and Extendicare Halton Hills were all declared over on Monday.
Seventy-eight of the region’s cases are connected to residents or patients in an institutional outbreak.
Brant County reports no new COVID-19 cases
Brant County’s health unit (BCHU) says the city of Brantford will be taking in about 120 workers affected by a COVID-19 outbreak at a farm in Vittoria, Ont.
In an update on Tuesday, the regions acting medical officer of health said an isolation, accommodation, transportation and notification plan was underway to bring a number of seasonal migrant workers to hotels in the Brantford area to isolate for 14 days.
“Hotel staff were briefed by HNHU personnel and were given instructions on procedures to avoid contact with these guests and how to safely discard of garbage and linens. All rooms and will be professionally disinfected after guests have left,” Dr. Elizabeth Urbantke said.
Urbantke said some of the workers are already in the city and are either asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic.
HNHU staff is expected to conduct daily wellness checks.
The county reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Tuedsay.
The region has 109 confirmed cases with only one person receiving care in a hospital.
The county has four deaths and 98 total resolved cases.
There are no institutional or community outbreaks as of Monday.
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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