KFL&A Public Health is reporting a significant hike in COVID-19 cases Wednesday, with 15 new cases and 53 active.
The region has not seen this many active cases since early January.
The health unit is also reporting three more variant cases, jumping up to 21 in total, 15 of which have been identified in the last week.
So far, we know some of these variant cases are associated with an outbreak at Watts Hall, a student residence on Queen’s University campus.
The health unit’s dashboard notes that only eight cases are linked to the residence outbreak, but previously, Dr. Kieran Moore, medical officer of health for the region, said the health unit believes the outbreak in residence spread to people off-campus, and eventually got into the local public and Catholic school system.
The health unit also said they are tracking two clusters of COVID-19 on and off campus at Queen’s, one that is not related to the variants of concern.
When asked for the total numbers of cases linked to Queen’s University, Jenn Fagan, communications officer for KFL&A Public Health said:
“Many cases are still under investigation. When we have more information about the cases and their connections, Dr. Moore will provide an Ask the MOH video about the outbreak,” Fagan said, referring to Moore’s YouTube updates often posted to social media.
As of Tuesday, Queen’s University said there are 28 cases linked to the school. The school’s tracker has yet to be updated Wednesday.
The university did announce that it will be closing Athletic and Recreation Centre as of Thursday.
“The ARC will continue to provide virtual fitness programs and on on-demand workouts given the importance of physical health and well-being. Other services such as the university’s bookable Library study spaces currently remain open under existing restrictions,” the school said in a statement Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, the health unit extended a local public health order that limits gatherings anywhere in the city of Kingston to five people, and puts restrictions on establishments that serve alcohol. See more information about the public health order here.
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