Hamilton has reported its first new coronavirus death since the end of July. It’s the 46th person to die from COVID-19 in the city.

Public health says Hamilton added another 19 cases to the city’s total. Few are in hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences says they have 5 or less and St Joe’s says they only have one.

The city says demand for testing has spiked, visits to testing centres have doubled in the last few weeks.

As a result, the city is asking people to book a testing appointment over the phone, adding walk-ins will not be guaranteed a test. An online booking process will open up later this week.

The city says growing demand means it could take seven days to get results.