Nine new cases of COVID-19 but no new variant cases were reported in the Peterborough area on Wednesday, according to the region’s health unit.
As of roughly 4:20 p.m., Peterborough Public Health‘s COVID Tracker site listed 55 active cases in its jurisdiction, down from 56 reported on Tuesday. The health unit serves Peterborough and the municipalities of Peterborough County along with Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation.
There are still 126 presumed variant of concern cases, unchanged from Tuesday — at least 59 of the cases stem from the ongoing outbreak at the Severn Court Student Residence in the city’s west end which claimed its first victim — a male student in his 30s — the health unit reported Tuesday. There were five active cases at the residence on Tuesday.
Eight student cases of COVID-19 at Trent University’s Champlain College are also linked to Severn Court’s outbreak, the health unit has reported.
A presumed variant is defined as having tested positive for a mutation, but it requires further genomic sequencing to determine its specific strain, the health unit notes. Testing at the Public Health Ontario labs generally takes seven to 14 days. Once a strain is identified, it is then placed on the tracker’s “confirmed” case list.
On Wednesday, Fleming College reported no cases related to its Sutherland Campus in the city, down from seven a week ago. The college resumed most in-person classes on Monday after being cancelled for two weeks starting March 1 due to the Severn Court outbreak.
Trent University reported two active student cases on Wednesday — a student living on residence and one off campus — one more case since Tuesday. Last week the case total peaked at nine, although the university notes not all of the cases are connected to the Champlain College outbreak.
The other active outbreak for the health unit is at the Brock Mission men’s shelter where one client has tested positive. One case at a congregate living facility is deemed an outbreak, the health unit notes.
- St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough: four cases, up from two initially reported March 10 by the Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland Catholic District School Board; school remains open.
- St. John Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough: one case reported on March 10.