KFL&A Public Health is reporting the largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases locally, with 24 new cases in the region.
These new cases, along with 5 recoveries, brings the region’s total active cases to to 94.
Of those active cases, 618 high-risk contacts are being monitored by public health.
On Friday, despite seeing 84 cases in the region over the last seven days, Dr. Kieran Moore, medical officer of health for the region, said KFL&A will remain in the province’s yellow zone, but probably not for long.
“Our rate of infection clearly indicates that we’re in the orange zone,” he said.
Moore noted that the province looks at local data usually on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to decide whether or not to change the region’s colour zone.
“Our numbers just started to really accelerate on Wednesday, Thursday and (Friday),”Moore said. He believes that by next Tuesday, when the province re-evaluates colour codes for each region, KFL&A will move to orange.
In the meantime, Moore says cases are likely to continue to grow locally, which might prompt the local health unit to implement added safety measures through public health orders.
“Given that we have over 600 people in isolation and a percentage of them will turn positive, given that they were high risk contacts, our numbers will stay high,” he said.
Several cases are linked to outbreaks in the region — 16 cases are linked to the outbreak at Third Day Worship Centre, while 25 cases are linked to Queen’s University students, some of whom participated in parties off-campus in early December.
There are also 37 cases linked to an outbreak at Gananoque Chevrolet. Nineteen people affected by this outbreak live in the KFL&A region, with the remaining residing in the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark catchment area.
Two students at Kingston Collegiate & Vocational Institute tested positive for COVID-19 Friday. The school board said an outbreak has not been called at the school because transmission wasn’t in a school setting. The school remains open and both students are isolating at home.