Cases of COVID-19 continue to climb in Northumberland County with another workplace outbreak declared on Tuesday.
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit declared the outbreak on Tuesday morning but is not identifying the workplace, nor the number of COVID-19 cases at the workplace.
Read more: COVID-19: Negative results after rapid testing at Cameco fuel manufacturing site in Port Hope, Ont.
“The health unit will not be providing any additional information or confirmation about the location of workplace outbreaks,” stated Dr. Lynn Noseworthy, the health unit’s medical officer of health.
“As health information custodians, we are required under law to protect personal health information. We want to be as transparent as possible and we know our local community has great interest in where cases are occurring in our community.
“If there was a workplace outbreak and there was a risk to the public, and we were not able to determine all the close contacts, we would notify the public.”
Today’s Northumberland reports the workplace is the Tim Hortons in the community of Colborne. The business is scheduled to remain closed until Dec. 13.
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Tuesday’s case update reported eight new cases in Northumberland County. There have been 15 new cases reported since Friday, Nov. 27.
Last Friday, the health unit declared an outbreak at Cameco Fuel Manufacturing in Port Hope after a third employee tested positive.
“This was done in consultation with the workplace and an understanding that the facility was also issuing a public statement,” said Noseworthy.
Another outbreak was declared Saturday at the Canadian Centre for Addictions in Port Hope after an employee tested positive.
“With any confirmed case or outbreak, the health unit works closely with those involved to identify all high-risk contacts,” stated Noseworthy. “Those people are contacted directly by the health unit for a discussion on next steps. There are a number of factors in identifying a high risk contact, including whether a person was exposed to the positive case during the infectious period and for a time period long enough for exposure, and whether a mask was used by both parties during the exposure period.
“With the number of cases in our communities continuing to increase, the health unit urges everyone to follow the public health recommendations to stay home if ill, wear a mask, practise physical distancing by remaining six feet apart from others, wash hands thoroughly and frequently with soap and water, and refraining from non-essential travel, especially to high risk areas.”
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On Tuesday, the health unit also reported one new case in the City of Kawartha Lakes — the 200th for the municipality since the pandemic was declared in March.
As of Tuesday, the health unit reports 321 coronavirus cases overall which includes 94 in Northumberland County and 27 in Haliburton County. There are currently 34 active cases (26 in Northumberland County, seven in the City of Kawartha Lakes and one in Haliburton County).
The health unit has reported 33 deaths related to COVID-19: Thirty-two in the City of Kawartha Lakes (28 associated with an outbreak at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon in the spring) and one in Northumberland County in September.
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