Peterborough Public Health reported an additional 20 new cases of COVID-19 in its jurisdiction on Tuesday afternoon.
According the health unit’s COVID tracker at 4:17 p.m., there are now 120 active cases of COVID-19, up from 103 reported on Monday. The health unit serves Peterborough, Peterborough County, Hiawatha First Nation and Curve Lake First Nation.
The health unit also reported that of its 1,029 cumulative cases, 310 are variant of concern cases, up from 307 reported on Monday. The first confirmed variant of concern was reported on Feb. 23.
Of the health unit’s total cases since the pandemic was declared, 897 are now declared resolved (up from 895 on Monday) — approximately 87 per cent.
Prior to Tuesday’s update, the health unit had reported 135 new cases so far this month. The monthly record is 225 record last month.
Active outbreaks in the health unit’s jurisdiction include:
- Congregate living facility in Peterborough: Declared Sunday, no case details provided.
- Workplace outbreak: Declared Friday in Peterborough County. No case specifics provided.
- Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School: Declared April 4 — three cases as of Monday morning, according to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. Unchanged. Two student cohorts have been impacted, one assessed as high-risk and will quarantine until April 14.
- Champlain College Annex at Trent University: Declared April 3 with three cases.
- Empress Gardens Retirement Residence: Declared March 22 after one employee tested positive. Two residents have died in hospital due to COVID-19 complications, the latest on Thursday morning — the health unit’s 12th death. Of the eight COVID-19 cases, one is now active as of Monday, the home reported.
- Two workplace outbreaks: Declared March 31, locations not identified by the health unit. Ontario’s COVID outbreak database lists one case under congregate care and another under education.
Since the pandemic was declared, the health unit has dealt with 220 COVID-19 cases associated with 36 outbreaks.
Other COVID-19 data for Tuesday:
- Other school cases: One case each at Kenner Collegiate, Holy Cross Secondary and St. Catherine Catholic Elementary, both in Peterborough and at North Shore Public School in Keene.
- Close contacts: 440, up from 373 on Monday.
- 34 local cases have required hospitalized care since the pandemic was declared — up two since Monday; five required the intensive care unit.
- Fleming College: Reports one case related to its Sutherland Campus in the city. The college says the individual was last on campus on April 6 and the case is deemed “low-risk.”
- Trent University: Reports at 4:30 p.m. one active case in student residence — down from six on Friday student residence. The university states “not all active cases may be related to the current outbreak at Champlain College Annex.”
- Peterborough Regional Health Centre: Reports 19 COVID-19 inpatients — up from 14 on Monday. There have been 40 patient transfers from other areas — up more since Monday’s update.
- Death toll: 12 since the pandemic was declared, two linked to outbreak at Empress Gardens Retirement Residence; one to the Severn Court Student Residence outbreak in Peterborough; three associated with a November 2020 outbreak at Fairhaven long-term care in Peterborough.
- More than 48,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 as of Tuesday’s update.
Vaccine Supply
During a media briefing on Tuesday, medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra said 22.1 per cent of residents in the health unit’s jurisdiction have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, she noted the majority of them (estimated around 9,000) are employees at long-term care, health care or retirement homes.
“While 22.1 per cent can be seen as an impressive number, it does mask some concerning trends about Peterborough’s real need for vaccine and the lack of a sufficient supply,” she said.
She echoed last week’s announcement that the vaccine supply for April was nearly depleted and they can’t keep up with the demand. She had a “conservative” estimate of 47,200 people age 60 and older that are in the city and county that need urgent vaccination.
Salvaterra said when bookings for those age 60 and over opened last week, about 32 per cent of the 22,000 residents between the ages of 60 and 69 had already been immunized.
“Even with that head-start, Peterborough has only enough vaccine at the moment to provide close to 11,000 appointments from now to the end of April. That falls short of the number needed to immunize everyone 60 years and over — by about 12,000 doses.”
She urged residents to seek a vaccine at one of four pharmacies in Peterborough currently offering the AstraZeneca vaccine or travel to clinics within the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s jurisdiction. She stressed that if travelling, only visit the clinic and return home.
Comments