I'm covering #HamOnt general issues committee. Danny Cerino is a delegation. He says there is no COVID-19 pandemic, & it's a government myth to control our lives. "I'm just here to let you know that you don't control me or anyone from that matter"

https://pub-hamilton.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=4e452e02-78aa-4037-be50-0fd446188fc8&Agenda=Merged&lang=English

Cerino says he will never wear a mask, & "remember who you work for."

Ferguson says council looks to medical experts for advice. Cerino, whose shirt says "Freedom," says there are medical experts on both sides

Clark says the city is following provincial direction. Cerino should appear before a provincial committee. Cerino says he's working on that

Now we're on to a verbal COVID-19 update

The 2026 Commonwealth Games bid committee was supposed to present today but withdrew. The mayor joined the bid committee last night to meet with the premier & advocate for a 2026 games. I'm not aware of any council mandate for that

There are 121 active cases of COVID-19 in Hamilton right now. 1,228 cases overall. 47 people have died. The medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, says we have about 11 new cases/day. The highest we've ever had was an average of 11.6, so we're at the peak again

The latest death was a 60-year-old man living in the community.

Clark asked Richardson about rumours he's heard that masks can be detrimental. Richardson says that can be referring to N95 or N99 masks that are tight fitting & can need to be fitted. The masks public is wearing (cloth or medical) are perfectly safe & fine

Wilson shows some emotional while asking a similar question. It's hard to listen to arguments that the pandemic isn't real when people are missing life milestones & unable to see & care for loved ones who aren't well, she says

Wilson brings up an anti-mask protest that happened at McMaster, around students. She asks Paul Johnson what the city does when it hears of events like that. Johnson says the city reaches out to organizers & tries to deter it, which usually doesn't go well. They also alert police

Wilson puts anyone thinking of organizing an anti-mask rally on notice: if she hears about another demonstration like that, she's letting the police know

Cerino said earlier that 50% of COVID-19 test results are wrong. Ferguson asks Richardson: Is that true?

Richardson: No. The false positivity rate is nowhere near that.

Richardson says inaccurate test results are rare

Collins says usage at his neighbourhood food bank in the east end has doubled, yet the facility had to close temporarily because a lot of the volunteers are seniors. What resources are available to local food banks in regards to service delivery & PPE?

P. Johnson says the city has been supporting food programs via public health measures, & distributing some additional money it's gotten through provincial/federal help. He's hoping the city gets more so it can continue to help

The court lifted the injunction on encampments yesterday after the city reached an agreement with @HAMSMArTeam, @keepingsix, etc. Johnson says the city has already begun working with people in encampments to determine their needs

The city will start with areas where encampments are now prohibited, such as Whitehern.

Farr thanks Johnson & the "growing number of staff who have been working to address the issue," since long before the injunction

Collins voted against the settlement. He says it allows about 25% of people to continue to reside in parks. That's an issue that needs to be raised.

He also says the encampment issue was artificially created by activists, not organic, which is "a disservice to the community"

People are starting to gloss over the fact that activists provided tents & created this. He wants some explicit wording in a media release that it sounds like will be forthcoming today.

Johnson says Collins is right & he'll work with city communications on that

Nann asks Johnson if people living in tents is new. Johnson says no. He started work with that population in 1993 & it's always been there. Right now, it's just more visible

Nann asks how homelessness has been exasperated by COVID-19

I've been trying to get answers about this. So far, I've only been able to find anecdotal info, no actual numbers that show an increase.

Richardson says she'll bring that info to a future board of health mtg

I feel like I should have a pinned tweet some day explaining who Paul Johnson is.

1. He's the head of the city's emergency operations centre coordinating pandemic response.
2. He's the general manager of healthy & safe communities.

He also used to head up the city's LRT office

He also used to work for Wesley Urban Ministries, & in his spare time is apparently a sports referee.

He is not to be confused with @CouncillorB (Brenda Johnson), hence why I tag her most times when I reference her