It’s been about half a year since Hamilton saw its first cases of COVID-19, and the city’s medical officer of health says the city’s cases have really “fluctuated” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, public health reported the city hit the 1,000 case mark and Dr. Eilzabeth Richardson says the concern from this point on is whether or not we will see any more spikes during the crisis.
“We live in a world now where we’re going to see these cases and we are going to see the occasional outbreak that occurs,” Richardson told Global News.
“What we don’t want to see is going back up to the kinds of spikes we did back in April and May.”
In mid-May, the city reached its top rate of cases per week with 18 per 100,000. The number was substantially lower during the last week of August, checking in at about 2.9 per 100,000, according to Richardson.
Overall, the city’s medical officer characterizes the city’s path week to week during the pandemic as unsettled.
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“We come down a little bit, and we go back up a little bit,” Richardson said.
On Wednesday, the city reported that 68 per cent (26) of its 38 new cases in the last 10 days came from people under 30.
That trend has public health concerned, since the bulk of the cases — 16 — were people aged between 10 and 19, most of whom will be going back to school in the next two weeks.
Richardson says going forward, prevention measures like wearing face coverings, washing hands, and staying home when sick will be key to keep case numbers low through the fall and winter.
“Ultimately what will happen in the school depends on what’s happening in the rest of the community,’ Richardson said.
“If numbers keep going up in the community, they’ll be going up in the schools.”
Hamilton to delay COVID-19 case counts by 48 hours
Hamilton public health says case counts for a given day will now be delayed by two days (48 hours). In a release on Thursday afternoon, the city cited a transition to the province’s case and contact management (CCM) system as the reason for future delays.
The move was made to streamline workflows, simplify reporting and eliminate duplication of data, according to the release.
The city said data on cases reported to public health on Monday will be released on Wednesday, cases reported Tuesday released on Thursday and so on.
As a result of the changeover, the city did not report cases on Thursday. As of Sept. 3 the city still has 1,003 COVID-19 cases, as reported on Wednesday.
Niagara Region reports no new COVID-19 cases
Niagara public health reported no new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. The region has 940 total cases as of Sept. 3.
The region has 11 active cases and one outbreak at the Garrison Place Retirement home in Fort Erie, declared Aug 27.
Sixty-four people with COVID-19 have died in Niagara since the pandemic began.
Haldimand-Norfolk reports one new COVID-19 case
The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) reported one new case of COVID-19 on Thursday. The region has a total of 481 lab-confirmed, positive cases.
Officials say 426 of those patients have since recovered.
The region has 32 COVID-19-connected deaths, with 27 among residents at Anson Place Care Centre, a nursing home in Hagersville.
Brant County reports one new COVID-19 cases
Brant County’s health unit reported one new COVID-19 case on Thursday.
The region has 164 confirmed cases as of Sep 3.
Since the pandemic began, five deaths have been connected to the new coronavirus.
There are no current outbreaks in the region and the county has five active COVID-19 cases.
Halton Region reports two new COVID-19 cases
On Wednesday, Halton public health reported two new COVID-19 cases with one in Burlington and the other in Oakville.
As of Sept. 3, the region has 27 active cases and a total of 984 cases since the pandemic began.
The region still has 25 deaths tied to COVID-19 as of Wednesday.
There is one institutional outbreak at the Northridge long-term care home in Oakville.
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