Hamilton records another COVID-19-related death
Published April 9, 2020 at 8:26 pm
There has been another death in Hamilton associated with COVID-19, the City of Hamilton is reporting Thursday (April 9) afternoon.
There has been another death in Hamilton associated with COVID-19, the City of Hamilton is reporting Thursday (April 9) afternoon.
The latest death is an 88-year-old woman who contracted the virus due to community spread and who had underlying health issues, said Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s Medical Officer of Health at Thursday’s virtual media update.
She passed away Wednesday in hospital after a brief stay in the ICU, Dr. Richardson said.
There are currently 206 confirmed cases (eight more from Wednesday) of the virus in Hamilton, 90 of which (11 more since Wednesday) have been resolved.
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There are 19 people hospitalized with the virus in Hamilton.
At this point, the City’s website shows, there have been 53 cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton that indicate that there is spread in the community, in addition to other travel-related cases.
Overall, since the first case in Hamilton, 26 per cent of confirmed COVID-19 cases were identified as community-acquired.
In the last 10 days, 19 per cent of confirmed local COVID-19 cases were community-acquired, 57 per cent are close or casual contact with a case and no travel history, two per cent have direct travel history and 21 per cent are pending investigation.
There are four institutional outbreaks throughout the city. Three at long-term care facilities and the fourth was an outbreak that was declared among the staff of St. Joseph’s Special Care Nursery.
Dr. Richardson said in the case of St. Joe’s, all points of contact, including staff and patients, related to the outbreak have tested negative for the virus.
Paul Johnson, the director of Hamilton’s Emergency Operations Centre, reiterated ahead of the long weekend that Hamilton parks are open but everything in them is closed.
“Don’t sit at picnic tables and have a picnic,” he said, adding that residents are not permitted to use baseball diamonds, soccer pitches or playgrounds.
“Parks are open to walk, cycle, or role through,” he said.
Johnson also said this weekend will see a lot of activity at the FirstOntario Centre as the City and their partners set up the emergency shelter where men who access the city’s shelter system can find a bed.
The intention of the emergency shelter is to take the pressure off other city shelters and to facilitate physical distancing among Hamilton’s homeless population.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger also reminded residents of the importance of maintaining physical distancing recommendations this holiday weekend, citing the Federal Government’s speculative modelling that offered a glimpse of what Canada is facing.
The numbers suggest that Canada could see between 11,000 to 22,000 deaths related to the virus.
Eisenberger called the model ‘sobering’ and reminded Hamiltonians that “this is no time to let up.”
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