LATEST: Hamilton reports 2 new COVID-19 cases, retirement home has licence revoked

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Published June 16, 2020 at 6:47 pm

The City of Hamilton is reporting as of Tuesday (June 16) that there are 771 cases of COVID-19 in the community — 764 confirmed and seven probable.

The City of Hamilton is reporting as of Tuesday (June 16) that there are 771 cases of COVID-19 in the community — 764 confirmed and seven probable.

This is up by two cases from the last reporting on Monday, when the city was reporting no new cases from the day before.

The city’s death toll remains at 42. Of those deaths, 14 are associated with an outbreak of the virus at an East End long-term care home.

The outbreak at The Rosslyn Retirement Home, a privately owned residence near Gage Park, forced the evacuation of the facility in May and the hospitalization of dozens of residents and sickened the staff.

On Tuesday, The Hamilton Spectator reported that the provincial agency that governs long-term care settings in Ontario, the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA), revoked The Rosslyn’s operating licence.

Also on Tuesday, Hamilton MPP and provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath called on Hamilton Police to launch a criminal investigation into the facility.

Horwath noted that The Rosslyn has a ‘long history’ ‘horrendous incidents,’ in the letter addressed to police chief Eric Girt.

Since early last week, there have been no active outbreaks reported at long-term care or congregate care facilities in Hamilton.

The number of resolved COVID-19 cases in Hamilton continues to rise, with 632 having now been resolved, accounting for approximately 82 per cent of the city’s overall cases.

This means there are less than 140 active cases of COVID-19 in the community at the moment.

There are 31 people currently being treated for the virus at Hamilton hospitals.

Meanwhile, Ontario reported 184 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and 11 more deaths.

Roughly two-thirds of the new cases come from Toronto, Peel Region and Windsor-Essex — the only three areas that won’t be in Stage 2 of the province’s reopening plan as of Friday.

Tuesday’s new cases brought the province to a total of 32,554, an increase of 0.6 per cent over the previous day.

The total includes 2,538 deaths and 27,431 resolved cases — 218 more than the previous day, continuing a trend of resolved cases growing more quickly than active ones.

The numbers of people in hospital and in intensive care with COVID-19 both dropped, though the number of people on ventilators rose slightly.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is now recommending that hospitals start allowing family and caregiver visits in acute care settings.

— with a file and photo from The Canadian Press

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