City battling 'troubling' nursing home outbreaks that have infected dozens

Hamilton is continuing to grapple with "troubling" outbreaks in nursing homes that have infected dozens of people, as the city reports two more care home residents with COVID-19 have died.

Seventy-two people in Hamilton who had the virus have died during the pandemic.

The most recent deaths were a man in his mid-70s at Hamilton Continuing Care who died Monday and a woman in her late-80s who lived at Chartwell Willowgrove and died Tuesday.

Seventeen outbreaks in the city are ongoing, including four at long-term care homes where more than 30 people have been infected.

Paul Johnson, director of Hamilton's emergency operations centre, described said some of the outbreaks as "very troubling" during a general issues committee Wednesday.

"We do have a couple of ongoing outbreaks in long-term care that don't seem to be slowing down and that's a worry," he said.

Hamilton Continuing Care has 36 cases, Baywoods Place Long Term Care Home has 30, and the north tower of St. Joseph's Villa has 38.

The largest active outbreak is at Willowgrove, where sixty-seven people (41 residents, 24 staff members and two visitors) have been infected.

Thirteen people living at the home who tested positive have died, according to Chartwell spokesperson Sharon Ranalli.

"Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the family and loved ones of these individuals," she wrote in an email.

Eight residents and five staff members still had the virus Wednesday, she said.

Ranalli attributed the severity of the outbreak to "the nature of the virus, the growing rate of community spread and the tools currently available to manage the spread of this highly contagious disease in a congregate setting with a frail population."

She said rapid testing must be supplied to the long-term care industry, something provincial officials have signaled they plan to do.

Willowgrove is working with public health, the LHIN and an infection prevention and control team from St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton as well as following "heightened" safety protocols and additional measures including monitoring residents for symptoms twice a day and increased cleaning, according to Ranalli.

"We know that this is an exceptionally difficult time and the deep concern this creates for our residents, their family members, our staff and the entire community," she wrote.

39 new cases Wednesday

Hamilton has seen 2,503 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 39 over the day before. Of those, 343 were active and 2,083 were resolved.

The statistics are based on data provided to public health the previous afternoon.

They show 191 people with the virus have been hospitalized so far. St. Joe's was caring for two people with the virus Wednesday, while Hamilton Health Sciences had 11.

Two outbreaks, at La Garderie Le Petit Navire Daycare and Alexander Place, were declared over on Tuesday.

Niagara

Niagara has tallied 1,884 cases since the pandemic began, including 186 that were active and 1,617 that were resolved Wednesday.

Eighty-one people have died. Fourteen outbreaks are ongoing in the region.

Halton

The number of cases in Halton increased by 35 Wednesday, for a total of 3,092 (560 active, 2,485 resolved).

Fourteen of those cases were in Burlington, where 96 people have the virus and 655 have recovered.

Forty-seven people in the region have died.

Six Nations

There were two active cases of COVID-19 on Six Nations of the Grand River territory as of Monday.

Ninety-five people there have been infected and 93 have recovered. One person with the virus has died.

Brant

Brantford and the rest of Brant saw two new cases in the past 24 hours for a total of 52 active cases Wednesday.

The county has recorded 396 confirmed cases so far, 339 of which are resolved. Five people have died.

Haldimand-Norfolk

Public health statistics show 39 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Haldimand-Norfolk in the past two weeks.

The counties have confirmed 601 cases, including 36 active and 528 resolved.

Thirty-two deaths are considered COVID-related.