COVID-19: HKPR reports 71 active cases, 2 ICU admissions, 3 outbreaks

For the second day in a row, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit reported 14 new cases of COVID-19 in its jurisdiction Friday as active cases continue to climb.

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

The number of active cases is at 71 as of 1 p.m. Friday, up from 69 reported on Thursday. Among the 71 active cases, 45 are in the Kawarthas (one more since Thursday), 20 in Northumberland (down by two) and six in Haliburton County (three 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.”

There are still three active outbreaks for the health unit as of Friday afternoon:

• St. Dominic Catholic Elementary School in Lindsay. Declared Wednesday with four cases that are still four active cases as of Friday 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 10 students cases and five classrooms closed, according to the Trillium Lakelands District School Board as of Friday afternoon — unchanged since Thursday. 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.

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board reports two active cases as of 11:35 a.m. Friday within the health unit’s jurisdiction:

• One case: Northumberland Hills Public School in Castleton – school closed; Port Hope High School (unchanged).

A case at Camborne Public School in Cobourg was reported resolved.

The Trillium Lakelands District School Board reported as of 1 p.m. Friday reported 10 active students cases:

• 10 cases: Leslie Frost Public School in Lindsay (unchanged) with five classrooms closed. School remains open; outbreak declared Dec. 11.

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington District School Board as of 1:30 p.m. Friday reported six 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. Both unchanged since Thursday. Both schools remain open.

A case at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School in Port Hope was reported resolved Friday.

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Other data from the health unit on Friday:

• Resolved cases: 2,582 — 11 more since Thursday’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: 134 — up from 127 on Thursday. The health unit notes 10 of the high-risk contacts are missing residence identification, but are included in the overall data.
• Hospitalized cases to date: 103 — one new case since Thursday. As of 1:20 p.m. Friday there are four hospitalized cases with two in an intensive care unit (one new ICU admission since Thursday). Since the pandemic began, there have been 57 hospitalized cases in the City of Kawartha Lakes (one more), 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. Beginning Monday, all adults ages 18 and up can book an appointment for a booster. Appointments can be made via the provincial booking system. There are mass immunization clinics over the next few weeks scheduled at the Cobourg Community Centre, Cobourg Collegiate Institute, Lindsay Exhibition and I.E. Weldon Secondary School in Lindsay.