A week after Ontario changed screening guidelines for children, the medical lead for Hamilton’s COVID-19 assessment centres says there’s been about a 15 per cent drop in volume at the city’s testing sites.
Dr. Tammy Packer said centres were “under pressure” testing more than 1,000 people per day a week ago — with many of those being school kids.
However, with the province’s changes advising children with just one COVID-19 symptom to stay home for at least 24 hours has provided relief for Hamilton’s testing facilities.
“We’ve specifically seen a large drop in the number of children between zero and nine years of age who are seeking testing,” Packer said.
“That all fits well with the new recommendations. So people are appreciating information being provided.”
Packer says there’s also some limited success one day into the province’s change to appointment only bookings, eliminating walk-in tests.
“The perspective of the front-line staff working at the assessment centres, is they feel the environment is much less chaotic, although they continue to see significant volumes of folks looking for care,” said Packer
Hamilton’s online bookings were actually converted two weeks ago allowing individuals to book an appointment no sooner than four days in advance which Packer said put the city’s facilities slightly ahead of the curve prior to the province’s order.
“We had built into our daily allotment of appointments about six percent for walk-ins,” said Packer, “That we gradually scaled-down, so we were sort of halfway down this road before the province imposed the no walk-ins policy.”
So far, Hamilton’s assessment centres have seen 86,201 visits with 85,426 COVID-19 tests being completed at the facilities. About 21,000 COVID-19 tests have been completed at other facilities in the region.
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Hamilton reports 16 new COVID-19 cases
Hamilton public health reported 16 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, pushing the city’s total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began to 1,244.
Officials say 43 per cent (47) of the city’s 109 new coronavirus cases in the last 10 days have been among people under the age of 30.
Hamilton has 129 active cases as of Oct. 7.
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There are two current outbreaks in the city — one at fitness studio SPINCO, which now has seven total cases among six patrons and one staff member, while Rygiel Supports for Community Living has just one case involving a staff member.
An outbreak at St. Peter’s Residence at Chedoke was declared over on Tuesday night.
Halton Region reports 32 new COVID-19 cases
Public Health Halton reported 32 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with Burlington and Oakville reporting 14 cases each.
The region has had 1,422 cases since the pandemic began. Public health says there are 163 active cases as of Oct. 7. Burlington has 42 active cases and a total of 321 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
The region has six outbreaks at three long-term care homes (Billings Court Manor, Creek Way Village, and Cama Woodlands in Burlington) and two retirement homes (Village of Tansley Woods in Burlington, Amica Bronte Harbour and Chartwell Waterford in Oakville).
The agency says 57.6 per cent (102) of its 177 cases in the last 10 days were among residents under the age of 39.
Niagara Region reports 9 new COVID-19 cases
Niagara public health reported nine new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday bringing the regions total number of cases to 1,156 since the pandemic began.
There are currently 146 active cases as of Oct. 7.
The region has five outbreaks connected to the coronavirus which includes four retirement homes (Pioneer Elder Care in St. Catharines, Shalom Gardens in Grimsby, The Meadows of Dorchester and Lundy Manor in Niagara Falls) and one nursing home (Millennium Trail Manor in Niagara Falls).
Since the pandemic began, 41.4 per cent (476) of the region’s 1,147 cases have occurred in people under the age of 39.
Haldimand-Norfolk reports one new COVID-19 case
The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) reported one new COVID-19 case on Wednesday. The region has an overall total of 495 lab-confirmed positive cases.
Officials say there are five active cases as of Oct. 7.
Public health says 33.1 per cent (164) of all cases in the region involve people between the ages of 20 and 39.
The HNHU says there is one current outbreak at Delrose Retirement Residence tied to a resident who tested positive for COVID-19.
Brant County reports no new COVID-19 cases
Brant County’s health unit reported no new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. The region has a total of 198 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
There are six active cases as of Oct. 7.
Public health says 36.87 per cent (73) of all cases in the county involve people between the ages of 20 and 39.
The region has no institutional outbreaks.
An outbreak at Charlotte Villa retirement home in Brantford was declared over on Monday night.
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