COVID-19: 10 new cases for Peterborough over weekend; cases reported at schools in city, Keene

Peterborough Public Health reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend while new cases were reported at three public schools in the city.

In its update issued around 11:08 a.m. Monday, the regional health unit — which serves Peterborough, Peterborough County, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation — issued the following data (no case updates were provided on the weekend):

• New cases (since Friday, Sept. 10): 10
• Active cases: 46 — up from 45 reported on Friday.
• Variant of concern cases: 993 — an additional 17 cases since Friday (976). The health unit confirmed its first Delta variant case on June 19 and its first confirmed variant case on Feb. 23.
• Total confirmed cases: 1,755 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
• Resolved cases: 1,686 — an additional nine cases since Friday. Resolved cases make up approximately 96 per cent of all cases.
• Deaths: 23 — a death was reported on Friday, Sept. 10, the first one since June 29. The health unit reports a woman in her 40s died.
• Close contacts: 600 — up from 582 reported on Friday. There were 423 reported on Thursday and 179 reported on Wednesday. A close contact is a person who is known to have had close contact with someone who was infected with COVID-19. People who are close contacts have to self-isolate for 14 days from the last time they had contact with a person infected with COVID-19.
• Peterborough Regional Health Centre: Reports one COVID-19 inpatient on Friday. There have been at least 76 patient transfers from other areas.

On Saturday morning, officials at the newly opened Kaawaate East City Public School and at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School, both in Peterborough, and North Shore Public School in Keene confirmed single cases of COVID-19 at their schools.

Kaawaate principal Marguerite Materson sent an email to update parents and guardians but did not state if the case was a student or a staff member, citing privacy legislation.

“What we can share is that the individual is isolating at home, and that PPH (Peterborough Public Health) has investigated and has determined that no students or staff members are deemed high-risk contacts related to this case,” she stated.

TASS principal Melanie Foulkes in a similar email to parents and guardians also did not disclose details on the case and echoed the same message.

“They will remain at home until the Peterborough Public Health advises they may return to school,” she stated. “We are working closely with Peterborough Public Health to identify anyone at the school who may have been exposed to the individual while they were infectious.”

No details were provided on the case at North Shore Public School.

All three schools remain open, according to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.

They are the first new cases since the new school year began at most facilities in the region on Tuesday, Sept. 7.

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington District School Board has not reported any cases at its schools.

Other data on Monday:

• Testing: More than 58,550 people have been tested for COVID-19 — an additional 250 since Friday.
• Outbreaks: None active. The health unit has dealt with 312 COVID-19 cases associated with 52 outbreaks since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
• Hospitalizations: 88 cases have required hospitalized care — an additional case since Friday. The 88 cases make up approximately five per cent of all cases — 18 of the cases required the intensive care unit. ICU admissions make up one per cent of the cases.
• Trent University: Case tracker currently unavailable.
• Fleming College: Reports no cases related to its campuses.
• COVID-19 exposure: 75.8 per cent of all cases in the health unit’s jurisdiction are from contact with another existing COVID-19 case, 19.9 per cent are connected with community spread, 3.8 per cent related to travel and 0.5 per cent have yet to be determined

On Wednesday, Sept. 8, the health unit released its weekly vaccination rate data which can be found in this Global News story.

This month, the health unit is hosting a number of walk-in vaccination clinics in Peterborough County for anyone age 12 and older, offering first and second doses. Clinics this week include:

• Tuesday, Sept. 14: Citi Centre, 245 Charlotte St. from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 15: Buckhorn Community Centre, 1782 Lakehurst Rd., Buckhorn from 9 a.m. to 3. p.m.
• Thursday, Sept. 16: Citi Centre, 245 Charlotte St. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Lakefield College School (chapel), 4391 County Rd. 29, Lakefield from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. LCS students asked to book through the LCS wellbeing centre.

All testing and medical assessments for COVID-19 in Peterborough are now consolidated at Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s assessment centre at 1 Hospital Dr. Appointments must be booked online by visiting this website.

A number of Peterborough and area pharmacies offer vaccinations to eligible recipients. Appointments are required and can be made by calling the respective pharmacies or visiting the Ontario government’s website.