Coronavirus: Hamilton reports 23 new COVID-19 cases, outbreak at SPINCO over

One of Hamilton’s largest coronavirus outbreaks was declared over by public health on Monday.

The outbreak at downtown gym SPINCO started on Oct. 5 and through contact tracing quickly spread to over 20 people by the end of the first week.

Over a three-week period, the outlet recorded 85 cases involving 52 members, two staff, and 31 secondary cases connected with people who had contact with someone who went to the gym.

Hamilton’s medical officer of health characterized the outbreak as “unfortunate” since a public review determined the outlet had been operating at 50 per cent capacity in keeping with provincial guidelines amid the pandemic which included customer screening, sanitation, and a two-metre radius around each bike.

“When we talked to them about what they were doing beforehand, they had removed 50 per cent of the bikes so that people were further apart, they had made sure they were laundering towels. They had done all sorts of things to try and reduce the potential for spread,” Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said a week into the outbreak.

The event prompted conversations between the province and several public health divisions on possible restrictions and guidelines to curb the spread of the virus in workout settings.

“I can tell you that this is something that is being monitored constantly by the health measures table, by the health command table, and within’ the ministry as well,” health minister Christine Elliot said during a briefing at Queen s Park on Oct. 15.

Hamilton reported just seven new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

The city has now reported 1,705 total cases since the pandemic began and 48 virus related deaths. There are 141 active cases with four people requiring hospitalization.

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Public health is now dealing with nine active outbreaks involving 31 people as of Tuesday at:

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• five long-term care homes (Dundurn Place Care Centre, Macassa Lodge, Parkview Nursing Centre, Wentworth Lodge, Chartwell Willowgrove)
• two retirement homes (Cardinal residences, Amica Dundas)
• one sports team (Hamilton-based basketball club)
• one church (Restoration Full Gospel Church)

Forty-three per cent (87) of the city’s 202 new coronavirus cases in the last 10 days have been among people under the age of 30.

Halton Region reports 23 new COVID-19 cases, 2 more deaths

Public Health Halton reported 23 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The region has had 2,055 cases since the pandemic began.

Halton now has 33 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic began, after two more deaths were reported on Tuesday — one connected to the outbreak at the Village of Tansley Woods retirement home and the other was from Chartwell Waterford.

Halton has six outbreaks involving 93 people at four long-term care homes (Village of Tansley Woods LTC in Burlington as well as Post Inn Village, Wyndham Manor and Chartwell Waterford in Oakville) and two retirement homes (Village of Tansley Woods and Amica Georgetown).

Tansley Woods now has five deaths related to an outbreak involving 32 resident cases, seven staff members and three cases under investigation that have not yet been connected with residents or staff in the home.

Chartwell Waterford has 29 cases tied to 22 residents, three staff members and four others connected to the home. The facility has two deaths connected to the outbreak which began on Oct. 13.

The outbreak at Amica in Georgetown involves 16 people with 12 residents with the virus and four others who have a connection to the home.

The region has 227 active cases as of Oct. 27 with Oakville accounting for 103 and Burlington accounting for 69 cases.

Public Health Halton says 41.6 per cent (114) of its 274 cases in the last 10 days were among residents under the age of 39. Burlington accounts for 95 of the total new cases in the last 10 days with 36.8 per cent under the age of 39.

Niagara Region reports seven new COVID-19 cases

Niagara public health reported seven new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.

There are currently 102 active cases as of Oct. 27 and the region’s total number of cases is 1,358 since the pandemic began.

Niagara has 68 virus-related deaths since March.

There are four outbreaks connected with the coronavirus at one retirement home (The Meadows of Dorchester in Niagara Falls) and three nursing homes (Millennium Trail Manor in Niagara Falls, Rapelje Lodge in Welland, and Gilmore Lodge in Fort Erie).

An outbreak at Pioneer Elder Care in St. Catharines was declared over on Monday.

Since the pandemic was declared, 44 per cent (598) of the region’s 1,358 cases have occurred in people under the age of 39.

Haldimand-Norfolk reports five new COVID-19 cases

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) reported five new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The region has 531 lab-confirmed positive cases since the pandemic began.

Officials say there are 30 active cases as of Oct. 27.

Public health says 34.4 per cent (183) of all cases in the region involve people between the ages of 20 and 39.

The region has no current outbreaks.

Haldimand-Norfolk has 32 COVID-19-connected deaths with 27 tied to residents at Anson Place Care Centre, a nursing home in Hagersville.

Brant County reports six new COVID-19 cases, new outbreak

Brant County’s health unit reported six new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The region has a total of 242 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.

There are 24 active cases as of Oct. 27 and two people receiving hospital care.

The region has two institutional outbreaks at one retirement home (Riverview Terrace in Brantford) involving a single staff member and an outbreak at Hardy Terrace long-term care home in Brantford involving one staff member.

The outbreak at Penmarvian Retirement in Paris, declared on Friday, turned out to be a false positive case. As a result, that outbreak is now over.

Public health says 36.78 per cent (89) of all cases in the county involve people between the ages of 20 and 39.

The region has five deaths tied to COVID-19 infections.