The CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) says his hospitals now have 15 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units as of Tuesday and that could mean another postponement of elective surgeries and procedures within the city’s health-care system should case numbers continue to rise.
Rob MacIsaac says the rising numbers are creating a “difficult balancing act” which is at present still manageable.
“I think it’s really in the community’s hands at this point in terms of their own individual actions to prevent the spread of the virus, to help us to avoid that situation,” MacIsaac said.
The CEO says the pandemic has “shone a light” on what he calls “inadequacies that were preexisting” in our health-care system and that finding good front-line workers is an ongoing challenge.
“There’s certain health-care specialties that are in extremely short supply today,” said MacIsaac. “You know, even losing a few people would be very challenging.”
Hamilton Public Health reported 26 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and three more deaths for the second day, with two connected to institutional outbreaks.
The city says two of the deaths were women: one in her late 90s passed away on Sunday and another in her early 70s died on Monday.
A man in his early 90s also died on Monday, in The Village at Wentworth Heights.
Hamilton has had 81 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began.
Public health is reporting another outbreak at Rainbow Cleaning in a plaza on the Mountain. The city has 17 active outbreaks involving 273 people as of Nov. 24 at:
- Eight long-term care homes — Alexander Place, Baywoods Place, Chartwell Willowgrove, Hamilton Continuing Care, Idlewyld Manor, St. Joseph’s Villa (two locations) and St. Peter’s Residence at Chedoke
- Five retirement homes — Aberdeen Gardens, Amica Dundas, Cardinal, First Place Hamilton, and The Village at Wentworth Heights
- Two workplaces — Advanced Motor Solutions, Rainbow Cleaning (635 Greenhill Ave.)
There are outbreaks at two other institutions including, Hamilton Police Services – Records Department, and St. Joseph’s Healthcare – CTU Charlton.
The outbreak at Chartwell Willowgrove involves 79 total cases, including 48 residents, 27 staff members and four others connected to the home.
Baywoods Place, Hamilton Continuing Care, and the north tower of St. Joseph’s Villa have reported more than 30 cases each since their outbreaks began.
An outbreak at the Good Shepherd Women’s Services, which started on Nov. 11, was declared over on Monday.
Health officials say there have been 388 positive coronavirus cases in Hamilton in the last 10 days.
Hamilton is in the “red-control” level of the province’s new COVID-19 response framework as of Monday.
Halton Region reports 28 new COVID-19 cases
Halton Region reported 28 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The region has 570 active cases as of Nov. 24, with Oakville accounting for 187 and Burlington accounting for 125 cases.
Halton has 24 outbreaks, which include 187 people at seven long-term care homes (Allendale in Milton, Burloak and Creek Way Village in Burlington, Chartwell Waterford, Post Inn Village, West Oak Village and Wyndham Manor in Oakville), two retirement homes (Amica Georgetown and the Williamsburg in Burlington), and two hospitals (Georgetown hospital complex transitional care and an acute medicine unit of Joeseph Brant Hospital in Burlington).
The outbreak at Wyndham Manor involves 69 people including 49 residents and 15 staff cases, while Chartwell Waterford has had 47 positive tests in residents and 11 staff cases in their outbreak.
Halton has 3,333 total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
Halton Region is in the “red-control” level of the province’s new COVID-19 response framework as of Monday.
Niagara Region reports 24 new COVID-19 cases
Niagara public health reported 24 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. There are 215 active cases as of Nov 24.
The region has 17 active outbreaks connected with the coronavirus in the community.
Seven are institutional outbreaks at two retirement homes (The Meadows of Dorchester in Niagara Falls, and Garden City Manor in St. Catharines) and five long-term care homes (Millennium Trail Manor and Bella Senior Care Residence in Niagara Falls, Gilmore Lodge in Fort Erie, Extendicare in St. Catharines and Rapelje Lodge in Welland).
Niagara Health says the outbreak at Millennium Trail Manor in Niagara Falls involves 32 positive cases among 16 residents and 16 staff members. Three resident deaths have been connected with the outbreak, which began on Sept. 29.
Overall, Niagara has had 2,021 total positive cases and 81 virus-related deaths.
Niagara Region is in the “orange-restrict” level of the province’s new COVID-19 response framework as of Tuesday.
Haldimand-Norfolk reports two new COVID-19 cases, new outbreak at LTC
The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) reported two new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The region has had 627 lab-confirmed positive cases since the pandemic began.
The region now has two institutional outbreaks at a pair of long-term care homes.
The latest outbreak is at Dover Cliffs LTC in Port Dover with a staff member testing positive for the coronavirus. No residents have tested positive.
The outbreak at Grandview Lodge long-term care home in Dunnville involves eight people, with four staff and four residents testing positive for the virus
There are 36 active cases as of Nov. 24.
Both counties have had 32 combined COVID-19-connected deaths since the pandemic began.
Haldimand-Norfolk is in the “yellow-protect” level of the province’s new COVID-19 response framework as of Tuesday.
Brant County reports 8 new COVID-19 cases
Brant County’s health unit reported eight new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The region has 456 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
There are 69 active cases as of Nov. 24 with two people receiving hospital care.
Brant County has three institutional outbreaks involving 28 cases at one retirement home (Brucefield Manor in Mount Pleasant), one LTC (Brierwood Gardens in Brantford) and Community Living Brant in Brantford.
The outbreak at Brucefield Manor involves 25 people, with five staff members and 20 residents testing positive for COVID-19.
The region has had five deaths tied to COVID-19.
Brant County is in the “orange-restrict” level of the province’s new COVID-19 response framework as of Monday.