COVID-19: Peterborough area reports 59 active cases, 79.3% vaccination rate

Peterborough Public Health reported 13 new cases of COVID-19 in its jurisdiction on Wednesday as active cases continue to climb.

The health unit’s COVID tracker update, issued around 4:33 p.m., shows 59 active cases of COVID-19, up from 49 reported on Tuesday for the health unit’s jurisdiction of Peterborough, Peterborough County, Hiawatha First Nation and Curve Lake First Nation.

The health unit releases its weekly vaccination rate data on Wednesdays. This week’s data compared to Dec. 8:

All eligible residents (ages 5 and up):

• First dose: 83.7 per cent (up from 82.8 per cent)
• First and second dose: 79.3 per cent (up from 79.1 per cent)
• Third dose: 11.3 per cent (up from 6.9 per cent)

Youth (ages 5-11):

• First dose: 29.5 per cent (up from 19.5 per cent)

Youth (ages 12-17):

• First dose: 80.9 per cent (up from 80.7 per cent)
• First and second dose: 77.2 per cent  (up from 76.8 per cent)
• Third dose: 0.2 per cent (unchanged)

Adults (ages 18 and up):

• First dose: 88.2 per cent (up from 88.1 per cent)
• First and second dose: 85.9 per cent  (up from 85.7 per cent)
• Third dose: 13 per cent (up from 7.9 per cent)

Older adults (ages 70 and up): 

• First dose: 100 per cent (unchanged)
• First and second dose: 100 per cent (unchanged)
• Third dose: 36.8 per cent (up from 23.3 per cent)

Other vaccination data:

• 253,768 doses of vaccine have been administered locally — an additional 8,047 doses since the Dec. 8 update.
• 118,441 residents have received a first dose (+1,185 since Dec. 8)
• 112,323 residents have received their second dose (+280 since Dec. 8).
• 15,981 residents have received their third dose (+6,209 since Dec. 8).

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. 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.

The health unit reports the following three active outbreaks on Wednesday:

• St. Catherine Elementary School in Peterborough: Declared Wednesday, Dec. 8, there are five active cases (down one since Tuesday), according to the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board as of Wednesday afternoon.
• Millbrook/South Cavan Public School in Millbrook: Declared late Dec. 6, there are six active cases (down one since Tuesday), according to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board as of Wednesday morning.
• Student Transportation of Canada bus route 627 in Peterborough: Declared Dec. 2, case details have not been provided.

The health unit has had 367 cases associated with 64 outbreaks since the pandemic was declared.

Other data:

• Cumulative confirmed cases: 2,118 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
• Variant of concern cases: 1,266 — five more cases since Tuesday’s update. The health unit reported two Omicron variant cases Tuesday. The first variant case in the region was reported Feb. 23; the first confirmed Delta variant case was reported on June 19.
• Resolved cases: 2,032 — three more cases since Tuesday. Resolved cases make up approximately 96 per cent of all cases.
• Close contacts: 289 — up from 238 reported Tuesday. 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 Dec. 7. Peterborough Regional Health Centre late Monday reported two active COVID-19 admissions. 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: 74.7 per cent of all cases (1,583) in the health unit’s jurisdiction are from contact with another existing case, 20.4 per cent (434 cases) are connected with community spread, 3.7 per cent (79 cases) are related to travel and 1.1 per cent (23 cases) have their source yet to be determined.
• Testing: More than 66,750 people have been tested for COVID-19 — an additional 50 since Tuesday’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.

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board as of 10:40 a.m. Wednesday 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):

• 6 cases: Millbrook/South Cavan Public School in Millbrook (-1); outbreak declared Dec. 6.
• 2 cases: North Shore Public School in Keene (unchanged);  Prince of Wales Public School (unchanged) and Queen Mary Public School (unchanged), all in Peterborough
• 1 case: Lakefield District Public School (new case), Kenner Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Peterborough (new case) Westmount Public School (-1) and Peterborough Alternative Continuing Education (unchanged)

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board as of 2:55 p.m. Wednesday reported seven 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):

• 5 cases: St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School (-1 since Monday) in Peterborough; an outbreak was declared on Dec. 8.
• 1 case: St. Peter Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough and St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Norwood (both unchanged)

Trent University reported three active case at its Peterborough campus as of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday — two new cases since Tuesday — 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.