Peterborough Public Health reported three new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and additional presumed variant of concern cases.
The health unit reports 52 active cases, down from 54 reported on Friday. However, the number of presumed variant of concern cases continues to climb, now at 185, up from 179 reported on Friday. A previous case was also removed and added to the presumed VOC list.
The first confirmed variant of concern was reported on Feb. 23. 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.
Of the health unit’s 855 cases, 793 are now declared resolved (15 more since Friday) — approximately 92 per cent.
The health unit is also offering an email notification signup for people to know when they are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Get weekly health news
“With a rapidly changing vaccine distribution plan and other Ontario regions opening up eligibility for different groups at different times, it can be confusing to know when it’s your turn to book an appointment,” said Brittany Cadence, communications manager.
“By simply providing us with your email address, we hope to provide peace of mind to residents by leaving it with us to contact them directly once the groups they’ve selected become eligible to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment.”
To sign up, visit the following link: www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/notifyme
Cadence emphasized that this is simply a notification system and that no personal health information is collected so there is no privacy impact. All email addresses gathered through the form will be stored securely until use and then deleted after the final notification is issued once Phase 3 vaccinations begin.
The health unit plans to start to open appointments for residents born in 1951 (age 70) or earlier starting next mid-week, once more of the area’s older residents have been immunized.
The health unit’s COVID tracker was unavailable on Monday for server upgrades, mean testing numbers, close contacts, outbreak listings and other data were unavailable.
As of Sunday, there were three active outbreaks in Peterborough: Gzowski College student residence at Trent University, Brock Mission Men’s Shelter and Empress Gardens Retirement Residence.
Comments