COVID-19: Peterborough active cases hold at 52; outbreak lifted at Rhema Christian School

Peterborough Public Health reported four new cases of COVID-19 in its jurisdiction on Friday afternoon, and declared one outbreak over.

The health unit’s COVID tracker update, issued at 4:15 p.m., shows 52 active cases of COVID-19, unchanged from Thursday.

The health unit serves Peterborough, Peterborough County, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation.

The health unit reports the following four active outbreaks on Friday:

• St. Catherine Elementary School in Peterborough: Declared Wednesday, Dec. 8, there are six active cases (down one since Thursday), according to the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board as of 1:45 p.m. Friday.
• Millbrook/South Cavan Public School in Millbrook: Declared late Dec. 6, there are seven active cases associated (up two since Thursday), according to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board as of Friday 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 1:45 p.m. Friday

The outbreak declared Nov. 27 at Rhema Christian School in Peterborough was declared over late Thursday. Case details were not released.

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

Other data from the regional health unit on Friday:

• Deaths: 25 since the pandemic was declared — the latest death was a woman in her 90s, which was reported Dec. 3.
• Cumulative confirmed cases: 2,085 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
• Variant of concern cases: 1,219  — eight more cases since Thursday’s update. The health unit has not reported any Omicron variant cases. The first variant case in the region was reported Feb. 23; the first confirmed Delta variant case was reported on June 19.
• Resolved cases: 2,008 — four more cases since Thursday. Resolved cases make up approximately 96.5 per cent of all cases.
• Close contacts: 473 — down from 551 reported on Thursday and 486 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 Thursday reported four 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: 74.6 per cent of all cases (1,555) in the health unit’s jurisdiction are from contact with another existing case, 20.6 per cent (429 cases) are connected with community spread, 3.8 per cent (79 cases) are related to travel and 1.2 per cent (22 cases) have their source yet to be determined.
• Testing: More than 66,200 people have been tested for COVID-19 — an additional 50 since Thursday’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.

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The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board as of 1:45 p.m. Friday reported nine 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):

• 6 cases: St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School (-1 ) in Peterborough, an outbreak was declared on Wednesday.
• 2 cases: Holy Cross Catholic Secondary (outbreak declared Dec. 3, case total unchanged) in Peterborough
• 1 case: St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Norwood (-1).

Single cases have been reported resolved at both St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough and in Lakefield.

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board as of 11:14 a.m. Friday reported 16 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):

• 7 cases: Millbrook/South Cavan Public School in Millbrook (+2; outbreak declared Dec. 6).
• 4 cases: Westmount Public School (unchanged) in Peterborough.
• 1 case: Prince of Wales Public School, R.F. Downey Public School, Adam Scott Intermediate, Queen Elizabeth Public School and Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School all in Peterborough (all case totals unchanged since Thursday).

Trent University reported two active cases at its Peterborough campus as of 4:25 p.m. Friday — unchanged — and none at its Durham campus. 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.

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

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.