‘We’re not out of the woods,” Hamilton mayor says of pandemic
Published May 11, 2020 at 8:40 pm
The City of Hamilton is currently reporting that there are 494 cases of COVID-19 in the community as of Monday (May 11) but that number comes with a caveat as a number of false positives have been
The City of Hamilton is currently reporting that there are 494 cases of COVID-19 in the community as of Monday (May 11) but that number comes with a caveat as a number of false positives have been identified.
Hamilton’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said that the Public Health Ontario Lab confirmed late last Friday that 10 staff cases at Macassa Lodge were all definitely negative.
Dr. Richardson also told reporters at Monday’s virtual media update that there were seven other cases in Hamilton that were being investigated as possible false positives.
“We are going through the process of confirming,” she said, cautioning that the process can be ‘laborious.’
The problem, Richardson explained, can pop up when you’re testing a number of asymptomatic people, as per the mass testing protocols public health currently has in place.
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There has also been one more death related to the virus in Hamilton, bringing the city’s death toll to 24.
An 82-year-old man who was resident of Cardinal Nursing Home is the latest victim of the virus. He passed away on Saturday (May 9), Hamilton Public Health Services confirmed Monday.
There are currently 14 confirmed cases associated with outbreaks at long-term care or congregate care facilities, of which there are eight currently dealing with active outbreaks.
Several of these outbreaks were declared over the weekend, and are a result of public health’s mass testing at long-term care and congregate care facilities across Hamilton.
Dr. Richardson said that testing of residents is 96 per cent completed and testing of staff is at 89 per cent.
There are currently 19 people being treated in Hamilton hospitals for COVID-19.
The number of resolved cases in Hamilton has climbed to 350, or approximately 71 per cent of the city’s cases.
Understandably, at top of mind for everyone is when life will get back to ‘normal,’ following a weekend where garden centres were allowed to reopen and several trails across the city opened to the public again. On Monday, retail locations were also allowed to offer curbside pickup.
The director of Hamilton’s Emergency Operations Centre, Paul Johnson, cautioned that it will be a very gradual process.
“We have a team looking into the reopening strategy on a daily basis,” he said. It’s a plan, however, “that will be executed over weeks and months. Not in a matter of days.”
Richardson said that it will be left up to the province to determine when people will be allowed to intermingle, but expects restrictions on the size of gatherings and physical distancing measures will be in place for some time.
“We’re going to have to be patient a little longer,” she said.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger echoed those sentiments, saying: “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
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