COVID-19: Outbreak declared at Lakefield elementary school; Peterborough active cases at 32

Peterborough Public Health reported four news cases of COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon including the second outbreak at an area school this week.

From its COVID tracker update issued around 4:45 p.m., the regional health unit reported 32 active cases, up from 31 reported over the previous two days.

Other data from the health unit — which serves Peterborough, Peterborough County, Hiawatha First Nation and Curve Lake First Nation — on Thursday:

• Total confirmed cases: 1,851 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
• Variant of concern cases: 1,080 — an additional four cases since Wednesday (1,076). The health unit confirmed its first Delta variant case on June 19 and its first variant case on Feb. 23.
• Resolved cases: 1,796— an additional three cases since Wednesday (1,793). Resolved cases make up approximately 97 per cent of all cases.
• Close contacts: 266 — up from 252 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.

• Deaths: 23 — the latest death was reported on Sept. 10, the first since June 29.
• Peterborough Regional Health Centre: Reported no COVID-19 inpatients as of Thursday. Since the pandemic’s beginnings there have been at least 76 patient transfers from other areas.
• Hospitalizations: 88 cases have required hospitalized care since the pandemic began, making 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.
• Outbreaks: Three active: St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Lakefield (declared late Wednesday evening with three cases,); Havelock-Belmont Public School in Havelock (declared Oct. 3.  As of Thursday 10 cases) and a Peterborough County workplace (declared Oct. 1, no case details provided). The health unit has dealt with 324 cases associated with 55 outbreaks since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
• COVID-19 exposure: 75.7 per cent of all cases (1,401) in the health unit’s jurisdiction are from contact with another existing case; 20.1 per cent (372 cases) are connected with community spread; 3.7 per cent (69 cases) are related to travel and 0.5 per cent (9 cases) have yet to be determined.
• Testing: More than 61,100 people have been tested for COVID-19 — an additional 100 since Wednesday’s update.

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board reports six cases within the health unit’s jurisdiction while declaring an outbreak at one school:

• St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Lakefield: Three cases — one more since Wednesday. An outbreak was declared Thursday. The kindergarten to Grade 8 school remains open.
• Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough: One case  — unchanged since Sept. 27. The school remains open.
• St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Norwood: Two cases — unchanged since Wednesday. The school remains open.

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, as of 11:40 a.m. Thursday, reports 12 active cases among its schools (the school board does not state if cases involve students or staff):

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• Havelock-Belmont Public School in Havelock: 10 cases — unchanged since Wednesday morning. An outbreak was declared over the weekend. On Tuesday, officials ordered the junior kindergarten to Grade 6 school closed until at least Oct. 15.
• Kenner Collegiate Vocational Institute in Peterborough: One case, unchanged since Monday. The school remains open.
• Adam Scott Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Peterborough: One case, unchanged since Monday. The school remains open.

Trent University reports one active case at its Durham campus on Thursday — one less than Wednesday. There are no active cases at the Peterborough campus. The university also reports 91 per cent of students and 96 per cent of employees are fully vaccinated. Another five per cent of students and one per cent of staff are partially vaccinated.

Fleming College has not reported any cases at its Peterborough campus.

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

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

Clinics on Friday include:

• Healthy Planet Arena, 911 Monaghan Rd. in Peterborough — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School, 405 Douro 4th Line in Douro — 4:30 p.m. to 7 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.

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.