COVID-19 outbreak at Hamilton’s Arbour Creek LTCH grows to 15 cases

Hamilton public health says a COVID-19 outbreak at an east-end long-term care home (LTCH), declared on the weekend, has grown to 15 cases.

The surge at the Arbour Creek Care Home on King Street East near Nash Road South now involves 15 total cases including 11 residents and four staffers at the 128-bed facility.

All cases were from the same area of the home, the Hawthorne Unit.

Despite Ontario moving into Step 3 of the COVID-19 reopening plan on Friday, which lifted limits for visitors at long-term care homes (LTCH), execs at Arbour Creek say the facility is now closed to general visitors until the outbreak is declared over.

Only essential caregivers are allowed in as of the weekend.

“All residents have received a PCR test, and staff are also being tested,” executive director Paula White told Global News in an e-mail.

“The home is currently closed to general visitors, and essential caregivers are welcome while following proper infection prevention and control (IPAC) measures.”

The home’s vaccination rate for residents was estimated at about 94 per cent as of Monday, according to White.

About 69 per cent of staff, including 57 per cent of caregivers, had been fully vaccinated prior to the outbreak.

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Over 95 per cent of residents, 96 per cent of caregivers and 77 per cent of staff at Arbour Creek have had at least one dose of a vaccine.

Hamilton has four ongoing outbreaks as of Monday at two LTCHs, a supermarket and a Canadian Pacific Railway facility.

The other surge involving an LTCH is at St. Joseph’s Village now affecting 12 people in total — five residents, six off-site workers and a visitor. There have been no deaths in the outbreak that began July 9.

As of late last week, the home said its current COVID-19 vaccination rate for residents was 93 per cent, while 72 per cent of staff have had at least one shot.

Execs believe exposure came from outside the Villa community and likely from an on-site hair salon.

The outbreak at The Village of Tansley Woods LTCH also added more cases on the weekend – now at 28 among 19 residents, two staff members and seven other people.

There have been four deaths in that outbreak, which began on June 28.

A clinic was set up with public health at the home last week to expand vaccinations in residents and staff.

Prior to the clinic, the Burlington home said 96 per cent of residents were fully vaccinated, while 86 per cent of staffers had at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose but only 52 per cent were fully vaccinated prior to the arrival of the clinic.

Hamilton reported 13 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, with active cases still under a hundred for the seventh day in a row.

Of the 93 reported active cases, about 66 per cent involve people under the age of 50.

About 45 per cent of the cases are tied to people under 30 and just under 24 per cent of active cases involve people under 20.

The city’s test positivity rate is at 2.1 per cent compared to Ontario’s test positivity rate which was 1.0 per cent as of July 18.

Local hospitals have a combined 19 COVID-19 patients as of Monday.

There are 10 at St. Joseph’s with nine in intensive care (ICU) while Hamilton Health Sciences has nine cases with just one person in an ICU.

As of Sunday, public health is reporting close to 687,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the city overall.

Over 76 per cent of the city’s adult population (over 18) have received at least one shot of a vaccine while 60 percent have had two shots.

Around 64 per cent of people under 30 in the city have had at least one shot of a vaccine while close to 41 per cent have had a second dose.

Just under 63 per cent of youth 12-plus have had at least one shot, according to public health data.

As of 8 p.m. on Sunday, more than 18.2 million total COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Ontario.

There are more than 7.8 million people fully immunized with two doses in the province which is 63 per cent of the adult (18+) population. First dose adult coverage stands at 80 per cent.