COVID-19: 7 new cases for Peterborough area; food premises reminded to collect patron info

Peterborough Public Health reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday as active cases declined for the second day in a row.

In its update issued around 4:14 p.m., the regional health unit — which serves Peterborough, Peterborough County, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation — issued the following data:

• New cases (since Wednesday): 7
• Active cases: 40 — down from 42 reported on Wednesday and 54 reported on Tuesday.
• Variant of concern cases:  1,015 — an additional eight cases since Wednesday (1,007). The health unit confirmed its first Delta variant case on June 19 and its first confirmed variant case on Feb. 23.
• Total confirmed cases: 1,775 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.

• Resolved cases: 1,712 — an additional nine cases since Wednesday (1,703). Resolved cases make up approximately 96.4 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: 295 — down from 315 reported on Wednesday. There were 516 reported on Tuesday and 600 reported on Monday. 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: Reported one COVID-19 inpatient on Thursday. There have been at least 76 patient transfers from other areas.

The health unit on Thursday issued a reminder to all food premises (indoor and outdoors) that collection of patron information is mandatory under provincial requirements. The health unit says two recent large exposures occurred at two food premises — the health unit last week issued a warning about potential exposure at the Canoe and Paddle restaurant in Lakefield.

“As a result of recent large-scale exposures and insufficient patron contact records, Peterborough Public Health continues to follow a significant number of people who have been deemed high-risk contacts of a person with COVID-19,” the health unit stated.

Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, medical officer of health, says case management and contact tracing are “essential” components to responding to the pandemic and prevention further transmission.

“These Instructions, which ask operators to use the template that we have created for the collection of patron information, will help to ensure that sufficient and thorough details of exposure are provided to our office, which will allow for efficient and timely follow-up when large-scale exposures occur,” she said.

“And I want to remind everyone choosing to dine out that you must provide accurate contact information to the operator. It won’t work if the data is wrong.”

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The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board reports the following cases at its schools within the health unit’s jurisdiction (all schools remain open):

• Kaawaate East City Public School in Peterborough: 1 case
• Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School Peterborough: 1 case
• North Shore Public School in Keene: 2 cases — up from one reported on Wednesday

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington District School Board has not reported any cases at schools within Peterborough Public Health’s jurisdiction.

Trent University and Fleming College have not reported any cases at their campuses in Peterborough.

Other health unit data released on Thursday:

• Testing: More than 58,950 people have been tested for COVID-19 — an additional 150 since Wednesday.
• 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. 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.
• COVID-19 exposure: 75.9 per cent of all cases (1,348) in the health unit’s jurisdiction are from contact with another existing COVID-19 case, 19.9 per cent (353 cases) are connected with community spread, 3.9 per cent (69 per cent) related to travel and 0.5 per cent (3 cases) have yet to be determined.

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The health unit released its weekly immunization rate data on Wednesday which can be found in this Global News Peterborough article.

This month, the health unit is hosting a number of walk-in vaccination clinics for anyone age 12 and older, offering first and second doses.

Clinics this week include:

• Friday, Sept. 17: Healthy Planet Arena,  911 Monaghan Rd. in Peterborough from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Next week:

• Sept. 22: Cavan Monaghan Community Centre, 986 County Rd. 10, in Millbrook from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Sept. 23: Havelock Community Centre, 39 George St. E., in Havelock from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

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.