COVID-19: Outbreak declared at Hamilton long-term care home hit hard during first wave

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Published October 19, 2020 at 8:55 pm

One of Hamilton’s long-term care facilities that were among the hardest hit during the first wave of COVID-19 has had another outbreak declared.

On Monday (Oct. 19), Hamilton’s Public Health Services (PHS) declared an outbreak at the Cardinal Retirement Residence in the city’s downtown after one staff member tested positive for the virus.

The Cardinal was one of Hamilton’s first declared outbreaks back in April. Dozens of residents and staff were confirmed to have contracted the virus and seven residents eventually died as a result.

Cardinal is among 11 active outbreaks in the community at the moment.

During the City of Hamilton’s virtual media update on Monday, the city’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, said while the number of cases is still going up, the daily average number of new cases has gone down.

She said that since Friday, when the average number of cases per day was at 28, it’s since gone down to 18 after a weekend where the number of new cases was low.

Earlier Monday, Hamilton’s Board of Health heard from Richardson and PHS epidemiologusts who provided an update on the ongoing outbreak at SpinCo.

During the meeting, Richardson said that they were in the process of formalizing further recommendations for gyms and fitness studios that would require masks being worn while working out, at least three-metres physical distancing, hand washing and a reminder to make sure HVAC systems are operating at optimal efficiency.

As of Monday, there have been 1,525 cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton, an increase of 19 cases in 24 hours.

The number of resolved cases is up to 1,321, representing approximately 87 per cent of overall cases.

Hamilton’s COVID-19 death toll is 47.

Meanwhile, Ontario reported 704 new cases of COVID-19 and four new deaths due to the virus on Monday.

The largest daily gains came in the four hot spots, with 244 cases in Toronto, 168 in Peel Region, 103 in York Region and 51 in Ottawa.

Monday’s figures bring the total number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario to 65,075, with 3,050 deaths, and 55,978 cases resolved.

— with a file and photo from The Canadian Press

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