COVID-19: Peterborough area reports 52 active cases, 5 outbreaks, 551 close contacts

Peterborough Public Health reported five new cases of  COVID-19 in its jurisdiction on Thursday afternoon.

The health unit’s COVID tracker update, issued at 4:18 p.m., shows 52 active cases of COVID-19, up from 48 reported on Wednesday in the health unit’s jurisdiction of Peterborough, Peterborough County, Hiawatha First Nation and Curve Lake First Nation.

The health unit reports the following five active outbreaks on Thursday:

• St. Catherine Elementary School in Peterborough: Declared Wednesday, Dec. 8, there are seven active cases, according to the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board as of 6:45 p.m. Wednesday evening — four more cases since its Wednesday morning update.
• Millbrook/South Cavan Public School in Millbrook: Declared late Dec. 6, there are still five active cases associated with the outbreak, according to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board as of Thursday morning.
• Student Transportation of Canada bus route 627 in Peterborough: Declared Dec. 2, case details not provided.
• Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough: Declared Dec. 3, there are still two active cases, according to the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board as of Wednesday evening.
• Rhema Christian School in Peterborough: Declared Nov. 27, case details have not been provided.

The health unit has had 364 cases associated with 64 outbreaks since the pandemic was declared — unchanged since Wednesday.

Other data from the regional health unit on Thursday:

• Deaths: 25 since the pandemic was declared — the latest death was a woman in her 90s, which was reported Dec. 3.
• Cumulative confirmed cases: 2,081 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
• Variant of concern cases: 1,211  — five more since Wednesday’s update. The health unit has not reported any Omicron variant cases. The first variant casein the region was reported Feb. 23; the first confirmed Delta variant case was reported on June 19.
• Resolved cases: 2,004  — one more case since Wednesday. Resolved cases make up approximately 96.5 per cent of all cases.
• Close contacts: 551 — up from 486 reported on Wednesday. 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.
• Hospitalizations: 98 cases have required hospitalization since the pandemic began — unchanged since Tuesday. Peterborough Regional Health Centre late Monday reported three active COVID-19 admissions (most recent data when article was published). The hospitalized cases make up approximately 4.7 per cent of all cases; 21 of the cases required the intensive care unit — unchanged since Nov. 23. ICU admissions make up 1.1 per cent of all the health unit’s cases since the pandemic’s beginning.
• COVID-19 exposure: 74.5 per cent of all cases (1,550) in the health unit’s jurisdiction are from contact with another existing case, 20.6 per cent (428 cases) are connected with community spread, 3.8 per cent (79 cases) are related to travel and 1.2 per cent (24 cases) have their source yet to be determined.
• Testing: More than 66,150 people have been tested for COVID-19 — an additional 50 since Wednesday’s update. Approximately one in three residents has been tested for COVID-19.
• Enforcement: Since Oct. 1, these charges have been laid against a total of four businesses under the Reopening Ontario Act, including the orders issued Dec. 1 to close PB’s Peterburgers restaurant on George Street North and that the premises be off access.

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board as of 6:25 p.m. Wednesday (most recent data when article was published) reported 13 active cases at schools within the health unit’s jurisdiction (school board does not indicate if cases involve students or staff. All schools remain open):

• 7 cases: St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School (+4 since Wednesday morning) in Peterborough, outbreak declared on Wednesday.
• 2 cases: Holy Cross Secondary (outbreak declared Dec. 3, case total unchanged) in Peterborough and at St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Norwood (unchanged).
• 1 case: St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough and in Lakefield (both unchanged).

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board as of 11:44 a.m. Thursday reported 14 active cases among its schools within the health unit’s jurisdiction. All schools with cases remain open (school board does not indicate if cases involve students or staff):

• 5 cases: Millbrook/South Cavan Public School in Millbrook (unchanged since Wednesday, outbreak declared Dec. 6).
• 4 cases: Westmount Public School (unchanged) in Peterborough.
• 1 case: Prince of Wales Public School (new Thursday), R.F. Downey Public School (-1), Adam Scott Intermediate (-1), Queen Elizabeth Public School (unchanged) and Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School (unchanged), all in Peterborough.

Trent University reported two active case at its Peterborough campus as of 3 p.m. Thursday — one new case since Wednesday — and none at its Durham campus. The case was first reported Dec. 3. The university reports that 96 per cent of students and 97 per cent of employees are fully vaccinated and zero per cent of students and zero per cent of staff are partially vaccinated.

Fleming College has not reported any cases at its Peterborough campus. The college will resume in-person classes and services in January 2022.

1:54 Pfizer says 3rd vaccine dose raises protection against Omicron variant

• Pfizer says 3rd vaccine dose raises protection against Omicron variant
• No more positive COVID-19 cases for Peterborough Petes hockey operations
• Growing calls for better support to address the pandemic’s toll on mental health
• COVID-19: Essential, vaccinated workers forced to quarantine amid new travel rules
• COVID-19: Omicron cases continue to be reported across Canada

Previous Video

Next Video

The health unit releases its weekly vaccination rate data on Wednesdays. The latest data can be found in this Global News Peterborough article.

Education session

Medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott is offering a free education session on the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, streaming live Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on the health unit’s YouTube channel. Piggott will be joined by Dr. Henry Ukpeh, a local pediatrician.

Walk-in and school clinics

The health unit will host a number of vaccination clinics for children at several Peterborough County schools. All clinics will be held outside of school hours. Clinics include:

• Friday, Dec. 10: Apsley Public School from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 17: St. Martin Catholic Elementary School in Ennismore from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• Monday, Dec. 20: Millbrook/South Cavan Public School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 29: Lakefield District Public School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Bookings for children ages five to 11 to receive a COVID-19 vaccine are available as well as third-dose/booster vaccinations. All appointments have to be booked on Ontario’s online portal or by calling the provincial vaccine booking call centre at 1-833-943-3900.

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.

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.

COVI