3 residents at Ancaster nursing home have died, bringing Hamilton's COVID-19 death toll to 51

Three people living at an Ancaster nursing home have died amid a COVID-19 outbreak that has infected dozens.

Fifty-one people in Hamilton who had the virus have died (accounting for 2.6 per cent of cases), according to statistics on the city's website Thursday.

The three most recent victims were all living at Chartwell Willowgrove Long Term Care Residence, according to public health.

They include a woman who was more than 100 years old, a man in his mid-80s and a man in his late 70s.

"Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the family and loved ones of these individuals," said Chartwell spokesperson Janine Reed in an email statement. "We know this is also difficult news for our staff and community of family members." 

The Ancaster nursing home is the site of the largest ongoing outbreak in the city.

It began on Oct. 22 and public health says it has infected 46 people, including 26 residents and 20 staff members.

Durlov said public health has been working with the home, Hamilton LHIN, the Ministry of Long Term Care and area hospitals to manage the outbreak.

The city has evacuated care homes, such as the Rosslyn Retirement Residence, during large-scale outbreaks, but Durlov said Willowgrove has been supplied with more staff as part of Chartwell's own contingency plan, and support from the LHIN and from local congregate settings.

"These measures are being taken before the option of evacuation arises," she said.

Public health is also working with Chartwell to review its infection prevention and control measures. However, Dulov said public health hasn't found any issues so far.

Reed confirmed Willowgrove currently has enough staff and that Chartwell is working with agencies to make sure they can meet their staffing needs going forward.

"We have in place heightened infection control protocols, screening, monitoring and safety procedures including PPE to reduce as much as possible further risk of transmission," she added.

Data delay led to record high

Hamilton has seen 1,972 cases since the pandemic began.

Of those, 236 were active Thursday and 1,683 resolved.

Hamilton Health Sciences was caring for six COVID-19 patients Thursday afternoon, while St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton had no patients with the virus as of Wednesday.

The 36 new cases reported in Hamilton Thursday follow the highest-ever number recorded for a single day — 65 — on Wednesday.

However, public health says some of those cases should have been included in Tuesday case count, which was just two.

The data on the city's website, updated daily, is based on the number of cases reported to staff as of 3 p.m. the day before.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, the Hamilton's medical officer of health, told city council's general issues committee on Wednesday that staff had encountered "a bit of a challenge" with the data in the past few days.

Durlov said the city's case data is reviewed for quality assurance before it's included in the daily case count.

In order for that to happen, the numbers must be submitted by a certain time, she explained.

"There was a delay in this process on Tuesday which resulted in some cases not meeting the daily cut off for inclusion in the report. Therefore, some of the cases being counted yesterday should have been included in Tuesday's count," she wrote in an email to CBC.

"We are always striving to provide the most up-to-date and best data to the residents on our website."

Brant

Health officials in Brant County have declared an outbreak at Rejuvenate Cosmetic Clinic in Brantford after two people that did not have an identifiable source of transmission outside of the spa tested positive for COVID-19.

The Brant County Health Unit (BCHU) says the people were at the clinic between Oct. 29 and Nov. 2 "during the period where they could have passed the illness on to others."

However, officials say no customers have tested positive as of Thursday.

"BCHU will be conducting an investigation into the infection prevention and control practices at this business," states a media release, adding the unit has found the clinic kept accurate and up-to-date logs of customers.

The business will be voluntarily closing while the cases continue to self-isolate and close contacts are identified, according to the health unit.

Brant County has reported 308 confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the pandemic.

Of those, 237 are resolved and 66 are active.

Four new cases were recorded Thursday.

Five people with the virus have died. Four remained in hospital.

Six Nations

An update from Six Nations of the Grand River shows seven active cases as of 6 p.m. Wednesday.

There have been 93 cases on Six Nations territory since the pandemic began, including 87 that are resolved.

One person has died.

Halton

Statistics for Halton Region Thursday showed a total of 2,411 cases, including 329 that were active and 2,046 that were resolved.

It's an increase of 40 cases compared to the day before.

Eight of those cases were in Burlington, where fifteen people have died.

Niagara

Niagara has tallied 1,555 cases of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.

Data on the Region's website shows 1,279 of those cases are resolved and 202 are active.

Seventy-four people have died and 18 outbreaks were ongoing as of Thursday.

Haldimand Norfolk

Haldimand and Norfolk have seen 557 positive cases of the virus since the pandemic began.

On Thursday 26 of those cases were active, while 494 were resolved.

Thirty-two deaths in the counties are considered COVID-related.