COVID-19: Hamilton LTC outbreak declared over as city reports 26 new cases
Published August 10, 2021 at 6:59 pm
An outbreak of COVID-19 at a long-term care home in east Hamilton has been declared over after three weeks and 20 confirmed cases.
According to data posted to the City of Hamilton website on Tuesday (Aug. 10), the outbreak at Arbor Creek Long Term Care Centre, declared on July 16 , saw 14 staff members and six residents test positive for the virus.
No deaths were reported as a result of the outbreak, which was deemed over as of Monday. There are currently seven active outbreaks in the community.
The news comes as Hamilton reports 26 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and no new deaths associated with the virus.
There are 187 active cases in the city at the moment, up from 179 the day previous.
The seven-day average for new cases is up to 25 after dipping to 16 last week, but Hamilton’s reproductive number remains below 1 at .97, suggesting that the virus’s spread is coming under control.
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This number indicates the average number of secondary infections generated by an individual infected with COVID-19. A number above one indicates that the virus continues to spread in the community, while a number below one indicates that the spread has been brought under control.
Meanwhile, Ontario is reporting 321 new COVID-19 cases and two new deaths, as the government urges people to focus less on daily case counts and more on hospitalizations and ICU admissions.
The Health Ministry has rearranged its daily reporting website and added new metrics, comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated cases and hospital admissions.
Roughly 80 per cent of the cases are in unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people.
The chief medical officer of health writes in a Toronto Star op-ed Tuesday that growing case counts won’t have the same meaning now as during previous waves, due to high rates of vaccinations.
Dr. Kieran Moore says that the breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people tend to be milder.
The new framing of COVID-19 data comes as Ontario records more than 300 cases for the fifth day in a row, following nearly six weeks of fewer than 300 – and sometimes fewer than 200 – new daily cases.
More than 81 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received at least one dose and nearly 72 per cent are fully vaccinated.
In Hamilton, 748,710 vaccine doses had been administered with 78 per cent of adults 18 years of age and older having received one dose and 69.4 per cent having been fully vaccinated.
— with a file and photo from The Canadian Press
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