Hamilton enters the red zone on Monday, for at least 28 days

In a surprise move, the province announced Friday that Hamilton will move up two steps in color-coded COVID restrictions levels on Monday.

At a Queen’s Park press conference, Health Minister Christine Elliott said the city of Hamilton is among the regions that will be moved from the “yellow, protected” to the “red, control” stage, effective first Monday. .

In the red zone, residents are encouraged to stay at home, go out for essentials only, to attend school, work or medical appointments, or to exercise. People are asked to work from home if possible.

Red is only one step away from total block.

“We are staring at the barrel of another block,” premier Doug Ford warned during the press conference. “We cannot become complacent. We have to fight and keep fighting. Please don’t lose hope. “

The province is also lowering the thresholds for all color-coded phases, which means it will be easier for the province to move regions to more restrictive areas. This comes in the wake of a malicious report from the Toronto Star that the province did not heed the advice of its public health agency during the implementation of the new color-coded framework.

Hamilton will remain in the red zone for at least 28 days.

During a media update last Friday, Hamilton’s medical health officer, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, reiterated that people should stay home as much as possible.

“If we don’t get control of this, we’ll go into a block,” he said.

In the red zone, indoor dining is still allowed in restaurants, but the maximum number of customers allowed inside is 10. The last call for alcohol is 9pm and establishments must close by 10pm. only four people seated together. Dancing and singing is prohibited. The patios will remain open and take-out will remain a dining option.

Asked how residents should reconcile the province’s message to stay home with the fact that restaurants and bars will stay open, Richardson said people have to make choices for themselves.

Gyms can remain open but with strict rules. A maximum of 10 people are allowed in an area with exercise equipment or weights. Only 10 people can attend an indoor fitness class, 25 if it is outside. Gym-goers can only stay inside for up to 90 minutes.

All sports and recreational programs in facilities such as arenas are limited to 10 people per room indoors and 25 outdoors. Sports teams may only come together for training purposes, not to play games or scrums.

More information on how the restrictions affect Hamilton will be posted on the city’s website over the weekend.

Ford warned at the press conference that even stricter restrictions could come soon. He asked Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, to “carefully” examine the restrictions as they currently exist under the color-coding framework, which has been in place for just a week.

New thresholds

Prior to Friday, the threshold for entering the red zone was a weekly infection rate of 100 cases per 100,000 population and a laboratory test positive rate of 10%. On Friday it was lowered to 40 cases per 100,000 population and a 2.5% positivity threshold. The thresholds for the green, yellow and orange phases were also adjusted.

In Hamilton, the weekly infection rate is 52 and the positive percentage is 3.0.

Hamilton joins four other regions in the red zone: Halton, Toronto, Peel and York.

Active cases and outbreaks of COVID

Hamilton surpassed 400 active COVID-19 cases for the first time on Friday. There are also two new outbreaks in the city; one in a flooring shop and one in an insurance company.

There is also a new death. A woman in the late 1980s living in Chartwell Willowgrove long-term care home in Ancaster died Wednesday, the eighth resident to die in that outbreak. His disappearance is Hamilton’s 60th death from COVID.

Outbreaks in older people’s homes continue to grow. There are 11 active outbreaks in elderly homes, including the one in Chartwell Willowgrove in which eight residents have died and 38 residents and 24 employees are ill. Other growing epidemics include Baywoods Place long-term care home in downtown Hamilton, where 15 residents and 12 employees are ill; St. Joseph’s Villa Long-Term Care Home, North Tower, in Dundas, where 22 residents and 13 employees are ill; and the Hamilton Continuing Care long-term care home in downtown Hamilton, where 15 residents and 12 employees are ill.

New outbreaks include Jonathon’s Perron floor coverings, near where Red Hill and Linc meet. Two employees are sick.

Another outbreak is at Meridian Credit Union, which is located at 259 Hamilton Regional Rd. In Stoney Creek, where three employees are ill.

There are 46 new cases, 402 active cases and 2,341 total cases, with 80% of these, or 1,877, considered resolved. Since March, 185 people have been hospitalized, 8% of all cases, including 19 on Friday.

The Hamilton Reproduction Rate – the rate at which a sick person infects others – is 1.23.