COVID-19: HKPR reports 14 new cases, closes Castleton school; lifts outbreaks at schools, daycare

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit reported 14 new cases of COVID-19, closed one school due to a case and declared three outbreaks over, according to data released on Thursday afternoon.

There were 10 new cases in the City of Kawartha Lakes, three in Northumberland County and one in Haliburton County.

The number of active cases is at 69 as of 1:50 p.m. Thursday, up from 59 reported on Wednesday. Among the 69 active cases, 44 are in the Kawarthas (eight more since Wednesday), 22 in Northumberland (one more) and three in Haliburton County (one more).

Late Wednesday afternoon the health unit reported an initial screening of a Northumberland County resident who has COVID-19 has shown the person has the markers “consistent with the Omicron variant.”

Although Omicron has not yet been confirmed in this individual, medical officer of health Dr. Natalie Bocking says this screening means it is “highly likely” that this is an Omicron variant infection — making it the first for the health unit.

On Thursday, the health unit reported outbreaks were declared over at Parkview Public School in Lindsay (declared on Dec. 9), J. Douglas Hodgson Elementary School in Haliburton (declared Dec. 4) and at the My Toy Spot child care/daycare in Lindsay (declared Dec. 1 with at least two cases. The facility was voluntarily closed).

There are still three active outbreaks for the health unit:

• St. Dominic Catholic Elementary School in Lindsay. Declared Wednesday with four cases that are still four active cases as of Thursday afternoon. The school remains open.
• Lindsay minor hockey double-B team: Declared late Dec. 11, the health unit tells Global News there are nine cases involving players, parents and team staff.
• Leslie Frost Public School in Lindsay: Declared late Dec. 11, there are now 10 students cases, according to the Trillium Lakelands District School Board as of Thursday afternoon — five more since Wednesday. Five classrooms are now closed — two more since Wednesday. The school remains open

Since the pandemic was declared, the health unit has dealt with 83 outbreaks: 30 at long-term care and/or retirement homes, 13 at workplaces, 13 at community settings, 13 at schools, 11 at congregate settings, two at a hospital and one at a child-care facility.

Late Wednesday, the health unit — in consultation with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board — decided to close Northumberland Hills Public School in Castleton following a positive case result (the school board does not identify if the case is a student or staff member). In a letter to parents and guardians, principal Stephen Koshurba said the closure was out of an “abundance of caution.”

“Evolving considerations related to the new COVID-19 variant of concern have prompted a more conservative approach for contact management,” said Koshurba. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board has made the decision, in consultation with HKPRDHU, to close the school to in-person learning effective immediately.”

All kindergarten to Grade 8 students will transition to virtual learning for the rest of the week. Classroom teachers will contact families with further directions.

Other cases for the school board as of 10:40 a.m. Thursday:

• One case: Port Hope High School and Camborne Public School in Cobourg, both unchanged since Wednesday. Schools remain open

The Trillium Lakelands District School Board reported as of 2 p.m. Thursday reported 10 active students cases:

• Leslie Frost Public School in Lindsay (five new cases since Wednesday, five classrooms closed but school remains open; outbreak declared Dec. 11)

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington District School Board as of 1:30 p.m. Thursday reported seven active cases (school board does not identify if cases involve students or staff):

• Four cases: St. Dominic Catholic Elementary School in Lindsay (unchanged since Wednesday when the outbreak was declared; school remains open).
• One case: St. John Paul II Catholic Elementary School and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School, both in Lindsay, and St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School in Port Hope. All unchanged since Wednesday. All schools remain open.

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Other data from the health unit on Thursday:

• Resolved cases: 2,571 — seven more since Wednesday’s update. The resolved cases make up approximately 95.1 per cent of the 2,703 cumulative confirmed cases since the pandemic’s beginning.
• High-risk contacts: 127 — down from 130 on Wednesday. The health unit notes eight of the high-risk contacts are missing residence identification, but are included in the overall data.
• Hospitalized cases to date: 102 — unchanged since Wednesday. As of 2 p.m. Wednesday there are three hospitalized cases with one in an intensive care unit. Since the pandemic began, there have been 56 hospitalized cases in the City of Kawartha Lakes, 42 in Northumberland County and four in Haliburton County.
• Deaths: 76 since the pandemic was declared. The latest virus-related death was reported on June 29 in the City of Kawartha Lakes. There have been 58 deaths among people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the Kawarthas, 17 in Northumberland County and one in Haliburton County.
• Vaccination: The latest vaccination rate data from the health unit can be found in this Global News Peterborough article. The health unit’s vaccination clinics will also include appointments for children ages five to 11. Appointments can be made via the provincial booking system.