As the city moves closer to entering the ‘red-control’ level of the province’s COVID-19 response framework on Tuesday, city administrators have revealed the return of some city services that will allow in-person visits once again.
City Hall says a number of services will soon be available for in-person by-appointment-only visits as early as Wednesday including planning & economic development, the business centre service counter, municipal service centres, provincial offences administration office, animal services and licensing counters.
Select Hamilton museums are also expected to open by appointment in early March, as well as the Gage Park tropical greenhouse.
Some indoor arenas will also be accessible for ice rentals on Feb. 22 with additional arenas becoming available on Mar. 1, depending on demand.
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Indoor pools will begin a phased reopening approach in early March, gym programming in mid-March for groups of 10 or less, and seniors services for small group reservations in mid-March.
The city will restrict recreation programs to just residents of the city and Hamilton-based organizations or sports clubs.
Hamilton reports 105 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths
Hamilton saw significantly more new COVID-19 cases day over day reporting 105 new cases on Saturday up 78 from Friday.
There were three new deaths and two new outbreaks: at a shelter in Central Hamilton and a workplace on the Mountain.
Public health revealed information about two of the three deaths involving a pair of people over 80 at health care facilities.
One of the deceased was a patient at the Juravinski Hospital in unit E2, the other a person from the 5th floor of the satellite health facility downtown. Both agencies are in outbreaks with the Juravinski unit accounting for three deaths from 43 coronavirus cases and the satellite unit two deaths from 16 cases.
A new outbreak at the Good Sheppard shelter in the cathedral boys school involves just a single case with a resident, while the new outbreak at the Domino’s Pizza location on Upper James near Rymal Road affects three staff members.
Outbreaks at the Alexander Place long-term care home (LTCH), Highgate residence in Ancaster and the 6th floor of the satellite health facility were declared over on Friday.
The surge at the unit of the health facility encompassed 42 COVID-19 cases and four deaths. The outbreak at Alexander Place saw five people die among 11 cases.
The city now has 18 outbreaks involving 250 total cases and 25 deaths. Twenty-four of those are connected to seniors’ homes.
Hamilton’s active cases were up 32 cases day over day to 347 on Saturday. The weekly rate of new cases is now at 49 per 100,000 population, an increase of six since Friday.
1:24 Trudeau confirms Pfizer vaccine delivery schedule, reiterates promise of COVID-19 vaccines for all Canadians ‘who want one’ by September
Hamilton has had 9,766 total COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
The city has administered 21,857 COVID-19 vaccine doses, 15,411 at the HHS fixed clinic and close to 6,446 through the mobile clinic.
About 14,000 doses have been given to health-care workers, with about 5,000 tied to a staffer at an LTCH or retirement home. Just over 4,400 shots have been given to residents in homes and almost 900 to essential caregivers.
Halton Region reports 36 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths
Halton region reported 36 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday and three more deaths for the second day in a row.
All three were the first recorded deaths from the outbreak at the Amica Georgetown retirement home which now has 69 cases involving 52 residents, three staff, 14 other people connected to the home.
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The region has 30 open outbreaks in the community with 11 tied to an LTCH or retirement home.
There were no new institutional outbreaks announced nor any declared over on Saturday.
Halton’s active cases went down for the third straight day in a row from 309 on Friday to 288 on Saturday.
There were no new outbreaks were declared at health-care facilities on Saturday. An outbreak at the Oakwood Park Lodge in Niagara Falls was declared over on Thursday according to Niagara Heatlh. The surge lasted 61 days at the LTCH and accounted for 34 deaths and close to 250 cases.
Niagara has 39 total outbreaks made up of surges at 19 health-related facilities, which includes seven in St. Catharines and three in Niagara Falls.
Public health administered just 18 COVID-19 vaccines on Friday. Close to 7,700 doses have been given out in the region as of Feb. 13.
Niagara will be placed in the ‘grey-lockdown zone,’ level of the province’s COVID-19 response framework on Tuesday.
Haldimand-Norfolk reports 1 new COVID-19 case, active cases drop for 7th day
The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit reported just one new COVID-19 case on Saturday.
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The region has had 1,380 total coronavirus cases and 39 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began.
The region’s active cases dropped for the seventh day in a row from 39 to 27 as of Feb. 13.
Public health has now reported the outbreak at the Edgewater Gardens LTCH in Dunnville is over. The home had three positive COVID-19 cases among staff during the surge.
The HNHU is dealing now with three institutional outbreaks involving 10 total coronavirus cases among 9 staff and just a single case among residents.
The outbreaks are at Delhi long-term care home, Haldimand War Memorial Hospital in Dunnville, the nursing home in Norfolk General, and Norview Lodge.
The region will move to the ‘orange-restrict’ level of the province’s COVID-19 response framework on Tuesday.
Brant County reports four new COVID-19 cases, over 1,000 vaccinated
The Brant County Health Unit reported four new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.
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The region’s active cases dropped slightly for the sixth day in a row from 14 cases on Friday to 13 on Feb. 13.
Public health is managing three outbreaks in the community at the John Noble LTCH, the Stedman Community Hospice in Brantford and one construction site involving six workers.
Public health says more than 3,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the region with over 1,000 people having completed their vaccinations as of Feb. 13.
The county has had 1,388 coronavirus cases and 12 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began last March.
The region will move to the ‘orange-restrict’ level of the province’s COVID-19 response framework on Tuesday.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
