COVID-19 Update: Updates from the City of Hamilton - Jun. 26, 2021

HAMILTON, ON – Earlier today, Deputy Mayor and Ward 6 Councillor Tom Jackson, joined Dr. Ninh Tran, Associate Medical Officer of Health, and the City’s Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) Director, Paul Johnson to update media and the community on the City’s response to COVID-19.

As of 9 am this morning, there are a total of 823 cases, an increase of 4 positive cases from yesterday (814 confirmed positive cases, 9 probable cases), and 44 deaths from COVID-19 in Hamilton.  We are also reporting that of the 823 cases, 730, or 89% are resolved. More details about cases are available on the City’s website including demographics, risk factors, exposure, etc.

"HAMILTON REOPENS" - New for June 26

Garage Sales
The City is strongly discouraging the public from organizing or attending garage sales and yard sales at this time. Garage sales and yard sales will not be allowed on City property including sidewalks, parking lots and vacant lands. This includes the annual Beach Strip Garage Sale on July 11 and 12. In accordance with the current provincial orders, the public is not permitted to gather in groups of more than 10 at this time.

Keeping a two-metre (six-foot) physical distance from others is difficult at garage sales, and often cash transactions are required. As well, the number of people who stop at the sale can grow unexpectedly. It is also not possible to know the health or travel history of people coming to the garage sale. Further, COVID-19 can survive on different surfaces for varying lengths of time. This means if someone touches or picks up items at a sale, they could be exposing themselves to illness.

The City will be proactively inspecting the Beach Strip area beginning Friday July 10 to Sunday July 12 and will take the necessary enforcement actions for by-law violations. Signage will also be going up in the area and staff will be going door-to-door in early July to ensure beach residents are aware of this cancellation.

Child Care Update
There are 233 licensed child care sites and just over 14,400 child care spaces in the City of Hamilton. There are 130 programs that normally operate full year, and had planned to operate this summer. Sixty-four (49%) of those programs are open or have a plan in place to open in July. At this time, the other 66 have not indicated their plans. Twenty-nine of these are small school age programs that operate in schools. Looking at the programs that would normally be operating in the summer:

• 11 programs are currently in a position to open (they planned on opening this week and have completed the Public Health inspection)
• 15 are planning to open next week
• 38 are planning to open in July/August (one is in August so far)

This means that 49% of programs are opening or have a plan in place that they are working on.

Field Permits
As a reminder, the City will begin to update all field permit requests with the goal of permits allowing for groups to begin training on July 3, 2020. For sports teams in the community that are looking to restart training, the number of people on the field at any one time will continue to be limited. This includes:

• Two groups of 10 (two clearly separate groups) on the larger fields
• One group of 10 on the smaller fields

As a reminder, under the current provincial orders as part of the province's Stage 2 of its reopening plan, outdoor team sports may resume for training purposes only, with no scrimmages or games. Games will resume once the province provides approval to do so. Field permits will be issued for practices/training during daylight hours at this time there will be no permits that include lights.

Public Health Services’ Surveillance Reporting moving to Monday to Friday
Effective this week, Public Health Services’ Surveillance team will be providing COVID-19 updates on the website for “Status of Cases in Hamilton” on a Monday to Friday operational schedule. The website will be updated Fridays effective 9 am and the next update will occur on Monday mornings effective 9 am. 

Public Health Services Canada Day Closures
On July 1, the drive-through COVID-19 Testing Centre at Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena will be closed. Residents are encouraged to book an appointment time for testing by calling their family doctor or Hamilton Public Health Services at 905-974-9848.

HAMILTON REOPENS – Reminders

Attractions and Heritage Institutions
The City of Hamilton will begin reopening some attractions and heritage institutions on Wednesday, July 15. This includes Dundurn Castle and Kitchen Garden, Hamilton Military Museum and the Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology. Modified services and programming will be available, and visitors and staff will be required to follow all Public Health advice including physical distancing. All other museums will remain closed until further notice. For more information, visit www.hamilton.ca/attractions/hamilton-civic-museums.

Rec at Home “Take Home Kits”
After closing all municipal recreation facilities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Hamilton, the City launched a creative virtual program called Rec at Home to encourage residents to stay active and engaged from home.

Beginning the week of July 6, the City will start distributing “take home kits” in the community. Staff will distribute the kits in select parks for seven weeks, except for the week of August 3 for the Civic holiday. The kits will include games and activities that children can take and do at home. There will also be related content, including videos on the website prior to the launch each week. Visit www.hamilton.ca/recathome.

Transit Reminders
With the increased capacity, and as HSR prepares to return to fare collection and front door loading July 1, customers are required to wear a non-medical mask while using public transit. This can help protect others in spaces where physical distancing can be hard to maintain.

The customer service ticket counter at the Hamilton GO Centre at 36 Hunter Street East ONLY is now open and will resume normal business hours of 8:30 am to 4:30 pm in order for customers to renew monthly passes, purchase and reload PRESTO cards, purchase tickets and taxi scrips and for accessible transportation application pick up and drop off. The customer service desk at 2200 Upper James, and all other City of Hamilton facilities remain closed.

The customer service ticket counter at the Hamilton GO Centre at 36 Hunter Street East ONLY will be open on Saturday, June 27 from 9 am to 2 pm to assist customers.

NOTE: Special Seniors Hour from 9 am to 10 am every day, including this Saturday, where seniors get front of line priority.

The HSR is providing credits only for fares purchased for April through June 2020.

For more information, visit www.hamilton.ca/hsr.

“Everyone is of course looking forward to getting out and enjoying our community as we implement Phase 2 of our reopening plan. At the same time, we need to stay the course on all of the Public Health measures we’ve put in place. Let’s all continue to do our part to limit the spread of the virus and keep our community safe.” - Mayor Fred Eisenberger

Additional Resources

• hamilton.ca/coronavirus
• hamilton.ca/reopens
• covid-19.ontario.ca
• Public Health Services’ COVID-19 Hotline: 905-974-9848 or [email protected]