COVID-19 in Hamilton school, Fortinos and at Fearmans Pork, as Spinco outbreak hits 74

The city is reporting 14 new cases of COVID-19, some of which have affected a local school and a Fortinos grocery store, but that's about half the number of new cases reported on Thursday.

In Burlington, there's an outbreak at Fearmans Pork Inc., a slaughterhouse where there have been frequent protests by animal rights activists including one where an activist was killed.

Meanwhile the number of cases at Hamilton spin studio Spinco continues to grow, now up to 74, two more than Thursday.

Hamilton public health says there have been cases from the spin studio related to other businesses  — but would not name which ones, citing "privacy concerns."

"As a health unit, we carefully consider the information we provide on our website and in briefings and reports, in order to strike an appropriate balance between individual privacy and providing enough information so the public can take action to protect themselves," said spokesperson Jacqueline Durlov. 

The office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario said public health should release "as much information as is necessary to protect public health, without identifying individuals."

"During a public health emergency like the one we are currently experiencing, the need for openness, transparency, and accountability has never been more important. People need to understand where the COVID-19 hot spots are in their communities, and why, so they can protect themselves and their families, and assess the public health response," reads the email.

Durlov said "We agree with the response you received from the privacy commissioner... We believe that balance has been struck with the information we have provided and we will not be disclosing any specific links."

Of the 74 confirmed cases linked to Spinco, 48 are primary cases (46 patrons, two staff members) and 26 are secondary "household spread" cases, such as friends, family or other contacts. At least five of the 74 infected people live outside of Hamilton.

This comes as Radius Restaurant has reported an outbreak in three staff members.

Hamilton is also dealing with five other outbreaks.

Hospitals surpass capacity for acute care

Overall, the city has 182 active COVID-19 cases. Since the start of the pandemic, the virus has infected 1,480 people. Forty-seven have died and 1,249 have recovered.

Six people are in hospital for the virus. Hamilton Health Sciences is caring for four of them, but is reporting 101 per cent capacity in its acute care. Those numbers are beginning to resemble overcrowding seen in January. 

Spokesperson Patrice Cloutier said the number of patients in emergency departments is rising.

"We're also ramping up to catch up on previously deferred surgical care ... the number of alternate living care (ALC) patients has also driven our occupancy up," he wrote in an email.

"We continue to work with the community, partner agencies and with our own people to get occupancy down and maintain the 10 per cent surge capacity as directed by the province to be able to respond to the second wave of the pandemic."

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton said in an email its current occupancy as of 4 p.m. Friday is 98 per cent, based on all acute beds at the Charlton and West 5th sites.

The city's two hospital networks recently said they would transform the former Crowne Plaza Hotel into a "satellite health facility" to treat some patients "in the event of a surge in COVID-19 cases."

Fortinos worker tests positive

Loblaws says a staff member at Fortinos on Main Street West has tested positive for COVID-19.

The company posted online about the case on Friday.

The worker at the store in the Ainslie Wood area was last in the building on Oct. 8.

"In all of our stores, we encourage our colleagues and employees to wear masks, particularly where physical distancing is not always possible," reads the Loblaws website.

Hamilton school sees new COVID-19 case

A staff member at Queen Victoria Elementary School tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

Hamilton's public school board said they were last in the building on Oct. 8.

"As a precautionary measure, the students and staff associated with this case will self-isolate pending further direction from public health," read an online notice from the school on Forest Avenue in Corktown.

"Children impacted from the before-and-after-school program have also been notified and any close contacts will receive a call from public health."

McMaster winter sport season cancelled

McMaster University's winter sport season is cancelled after Ontario University Athletics cancelled all sport programming and championships through March 31, 2021.

"While this announcement was not entirely unexpected, it is incredibly disappointing news for our students, staff and community of supporters," Shawn Burt, director of Athletics & Recreation, said in a release from the school.

COVID outbreak at Burlington's Fearmans Pork Inc.

Burlington is reporting an outbreak at a local slaughterhouse.

There are 11 people infected with COVID-19 at Fearmans Pork Inc. in two areas of the building.

Six of them work in the sales office.

"The infection likely started after one of these employees was exposed during a community sporting event. All other employees in the office area were asked to take a COVID-19 test and were negative for the virus," said Sofina Foods spokesperson Daniele Dufour.

"We conducted two deep disinfections of the area over the long weekend. All impacted employees are isolating at home and following directions from the health authority. This incident had been classified as an outbreak by the health authority."

The other five infected employees work in the non-edible area of the plant.

"These cases are contained to one team," Dufour said.

The plant is still open.

Burlington Oldtimers Hockey suspend season

Burlington Oldtimers Hockey has suspended its season as local COVID-19 cases climb.

"As a result of this, we too have experienced a number of positive tests over the last couple of days with some of our members. These positive tests have affected other members and has the potential of continuing to spread," read a release.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we have therefore decided to suspend the season at this time. We did not make this decision lightly and did so with the interest of all of our members health and safety in mind. The board of directors will be meeting to discuss this decision further and provide you with details regarding refunds etc., so we ask for your patience in the meantime."

Halton and Burlington cases

Halton has 214 active cases of COVID-19 and a total of 1,742. The virus has killed 30 people.

In Burlington, 83 people have COVID-19 right now for a total of 469 people, 11 of whom have died.

Brant County and Brantford

Brant County has 10 active cases and a total of 210 infections since the beginning of the pandemic. Five people have died and no one with the virus is in hospital.

Of the 210 total cases, 164 have come from the city of Brantford.

Haldimand-Norfolk

There are eight people in Haldimand and Norfolk counties with COVID-19. There have been 501 infected people in total. The virus has killed 32 people. 456 people have recovered.

Niagara

In the Niagara region, 75 people have COVID-19. Overall, the virus has infected 1,239 people.

Almost 1,100 people have recovered, but 67 have died.