COVID-19 cases rise to 112 at Grace Villa, now Hamilton's largest outbreak

Grace Villa Long Term Care Home is grappling with a growing outbreak that has now infected 112 people with COVID-19, says data from the City of Hamilton. 

It's become the site of the largest outbreak that Hamilton has seen over the course of the pandemic. There have been 77 residents infected with the virus, as well as 35 staff. 

Ten people from the home have died, according to public health.

A Nov. 28 order from health officials required Grace Villa to allow staff from Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) into the building to investigate and respond to the outbreak.

The home was also ordered to follow the direction of HHS and immediately set up effective infection prevention and control measures.

In giving its reasons for the order, public health states it received documentation of an active COVID-19 outbreak with "continued transmission" and that the home "has demonstrated practices that are not in keeping with best practices relating to Infection Prevention and Control."

CBC News is seeking comment from representatives of Grace Villa.

One more staff at Idlewyld Manor long-term care home has also tested positive in its outbreak, bringing the total number to 21 people infected. 

It's almost been four weeks since the provincial government announced that Hamilton was moving to the red zone in its colour-coded framework, which outlines restrictions for businesses. 

"In those four weeks, our numbers have not decreased and our situation has not improved," said Paul Johnson, the director of Hamilton's emergency operations centre, in the general issues committee on Wednesday. 

In about every major metric, he said, Hamilton is not only performing poorer as a community, but sometimes "dramatically so."

There are 628 people with the virus in Hamilton as of Wednesday. There are 77 new cases of COVID-19 as compared to Tuesday. 

The total number of cases seen throughout the pandemic is 3,824, of which 3,067 have been resolved. 

There have been 102 people who have died. 

Johnson said that Friday will show whether the province decides to keep Hamilton in the red zone or whether the city will move to another category. 

Johnson also noted in the meeting that the city is also falling behind on its contact tracing. 

Data from public health shows that as of last Friday, 58 per cent of new cases were reached within one day of their reported date. Richardson said they are waiting for additional staff that the province is funding to help get this number up. 

Haldimand-Norfolk

There have been 697 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Haldimand and Norfolk, including 38 that are active and 622 that are recovered.

Thirty-two deaths are related to COVID-19.

The counties say there have been 55 new cases announced in the past 14 days. 

Niagara

The region has recorded 2,370 cases over the course of the pandemic, which is 20 more than on Tuesday. 

Of those, 230 are active and 2,053 are resolved.

There are 87 people in Niagara who had COVID-19 and died. 

There are 15 outbreaks ongoing.

Brant

There have been 10 new cases reported in Brant and Brantford over the past 24 hours.

The area has reported 571 confirmed cases and five deaths throughout the pandemic.

Forty-nine cases were active on Wednesday, while 517 were resolved.

Five people with the virus are in hospital.

An outbreak at St. John's College was declared on Tuesday, and two students have the virus. 

An outbreak was also declared on Tuesday for the Walmart at 300 King George Road in Brantford. Two staff have tested positive for the virus. 

The staff were at the store between the periods of Nov. 17 and 19 and Nov. 28 and 30. 

In a release, the Brantford County Health Unit said the staff did not have "clear, identifiable transmission sources" outside of the store. The workers have been told to self-isolate for 10 days, it said. 

The unit said there were "no public facing personal protective equipment breaches associated with these cases," and added that customers would be low-risk for acquiring the virus. 

Anyone who went to this Walmart between Nov. 17 and 19 and Nov. 28 and 30, who is concerned about a possible exposure, can contact the Brant Community Healthcare System to arrange an assessment and testing.

Halton

The number of total COVID-19 cases in Halton since the start of the pandemic rose by 62 on Wednesday to 4,253.

Statistics on the region's website show 427 of those are active, while 3,751 are resolved.

Twenty-four of the new cases are in Burlington, which has 146 active cases.

Seventy-five people in Halton have died after being infected with the virus. 

Burloak Long Term Care Home has declared an outbreak of its first floor on Tuesday, with one staff testing positive. 

Billings Court Manor also has an outbreak as of Tuesday, but public health has not disclosed the number of people affected. 

Six Nations

There are no active cases of COVID-19 in Six Nations of the Grand River, as of Tuesday. The First Nation has seen 98 total cases of the virus. There has been one death.