Number of COVID-19 deaths at Ancaster long-term care home jumps to 12

Three more residents of an Ancaster long-term care home have died as a result of COVID-19.

The latest fatalities involve two women in their early 80s and one woman in her mid-90s, all residents of Chartwell Willowgrove.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths at the facility on Old Mohawk Road is now 12.

The total number of cases involved in an outbreak at Chartwell Willowgrove is 67, including 41 residents and 26 staff members.

The total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in Hamilton since the start of the pandemic has increased to 70.

The city’s medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, acknowledges that “we do have some bad scenarios, where we do have larger outbreaks in a couple of our facilities, and that’s certainly not what we want to see at all.”

She adds that long-term lessons are being learned for long-term care outbreaks, including the physical layout of some facilities and how it makes “infection control very difficult.”

There are 25 more cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton on Tuesday, according to Hamilton Public Health, and the number of active cases has dropped to 336.

Other widespread outbreaks involve 38 residents and staff members at St. Joseph’s Villa, 35 residents and staff members at Hamilton Continuing Care and 29 residents and staff members at Baywoods Place.

Richardson, asked about the potential for Hamilton going into lockdown mode during her latest appearance on CHML’s Bill Kelly Show, said, “I sure hope not,” noting that it’s not good for the community or businesses.

On the other hand, she stresses we can’t have the virus “running rampant” in Hamilton.