COVID-19: 40 new cases for Peterborough; pop-up testing clinic at St. Peter Catholic Secondary

Peterborough Public Health reported a single-day record of 40 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as active cases continue to surge in the region.

The health unit’s COVID tracker at 4 p.m. reported 156 active cases in its jurisdiction — up from 128 reported on Monday. The surge in cases beginning on the weekend — which saw what was then a new record 33 cases on Saturday — prompted the health unit to issue an advisory to residents to take caution over the holidays. The health unit serves Peterborough, Peterborough County, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation.

Around the same time a month ago, on Nov. 22 (Nov. 21 fell on a Sunday, when updates aren’t issued), the health unit reported 30 active cases.

There have been at least four confirmed cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, with concerns about potential exposure at the American Eagle store at Lansdowne Place mall as reported on Dec. 16.

There have also been four deaths this month due to COVID-19, the most recent — the 28th death since the pandemic was declared — was reported Monday. On Tuesday, the health unit said the 28th death was a man in his 40s who had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. The 27th death reported on Dec. 14 was also a man in his 40s but he was unvaccinated.

The health unit reports no active outbreaks on Tuesday. There have been 367 cases associated with 64 outbreaks since the pandemic was declared — 24 cases in the past 30 days.

Pop-up testing clinic

A new pop-up testing clinic will be held at St. Peter Catholic Secondary School at 730 Medical Dr., in Peterborough, running Wednesday to Friday of this week. Appointments are available only through this link: https://bit.ly/3spXWWM.

The hospital says testing services continue to be offered through its COVID-19 Assessment Centre, however, demand is extremely high. More information about booking a test through the COVID-19 Assessment Centre can be found on the health unit’s website: https://www.prhc.on.ca/about-us/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/getting-tested-for-covid19/

Other data on Tuesday:

• Cumulative confirmed cases: 2,260 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
• Variant of concern cases: 1,314  — 12 more cases since Monday’s update. There are four Omicron variant cases, the first two reported on Dec. 14. The first variant case in the region was reported Feb. 23; the first confirmed Delta variant case was reported on June 19.
• Resolved cases: 2,076 — eight more cases since Monday. Resolved cases make up approximately 91.8 per cent of all cases.
• Close contacts: The health unit is pausing reporting of close contacts since its reporting system currently “underestimates the true number of close contacts being followed by both the health unit and Public Health Ontario (PHO).” On Monday the health unit reported 220 close contacts. 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: 99 cases have required hospitalization since the pandemic began — unchanged since Monday. Peterborough Regional Health Centre on Tuesday reported five active COVID-19 admissions. The hospitalized cases make up approximately 4.4 per cent of all cases; 22 of the cases required the intensive care unit — unchanged since Monday. ICU admissions make up one per cent of all the health unit’s cases since the pandemic’s beginning.
• COVID-19 exposure: 71.3 per cent of all cases (1,611) in the health unit’s jurisdiction are from contact with another existing case, 20.3 per cent (458 cases) are connected with community spread, 3.5 per cent (79 cases) are related to travel and five per cent (112 cases) have their source yet to be determined.
• Testing: More than 67,500 people have been tested for COVID-19 — an additional 350 since Monday’s update. Approximately one in three residents have been tested for COVID-19.
• Enforcement: Since Oct. 1, charges have been laid against a total of four businesses under the Reopening Ontario Act.

The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board as of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday reported 20 active cases among its schools within the health unit’s jurisdiction. The school board does not indicate if cases involve students or staff:

• Three cases: Kenner Collegiate and Vocational Institute (unchanged) and Warsaw Public School in Warsaw (two new cases since Monday).
• Two cases: Crestwood Secondary School (+1 since Monday), and all unchanged at Westmount Public School both in Peterborough, North Shore Public School in Keene and Lakefield District Public School in Lakefield.
• One case: All unchanged at Peterborough’s Crestwood Intermediate School, Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School, James Strath Public School, Prince of Wales Public School and Peterborough Alternative Continuing Education and at Millbrook/South Cavan Public School in Millbrook.

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board as of 5:15 p.m. Monday reported 11 active cases at its schools within the health unit’s jurisdiction (school board does not indicate if cases involve students or staff. All schools remain open):

• Three cases: St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Lakefield (all new cases)
• One case: Peterborough’s Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School (new case), St. Paul Catholic Elementary School (new case), and
• unchanged cases at Monsignor O’Donoghue Catholic Elementary School, St. Alphonsus Catholic Elementary School, St. Anne Catholic Elementary School, St. Teresa Catholic Elementary School and  St. Peter Catholic Secondary School and St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Norwood.

Trent University reported three active cases at its Peterborough campus as of 5 p.m. Tuesday — one new case since Monday — and none at its Durham campus. On Monday, the university shifted all in-person exams to online at both its campuses.

Fleming College has not reported any cases at its Peterborough campus. In-person classes were set to resume in early January, however, plans are now on delay. Winter semester classes will now begin on Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, with the weeks of Jan. 17 and Jan. 24 to be delivered fully online. The college aims to return to in-person learning on Jan. 31 for hands-on and specialized courses with some continuation of online delivery where appropriate.

The college says new residence students will be permitted to move into residence beginning Jan. 6 and Jan. 7 and students currently living in residence can return on Jan. 9.

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The health unit releases its weekly COVID-19 vaccination rates on Wednesday. The latest data can be found in this Global News Peterborough article.

Third-dose/booster vaccinations are now available for residents age 18 and up and first vaccine bookings are available for children ages five to 11. 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.

The health unit updates its list of clinics on its website.

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:

• Wednesday, Dec. 29: Lakefield District Public School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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.

Rapid antigen tests

Rapid antigen tests from the province will be available for distribution at the following locations:

• Lansdowne Place Mall (656 Lansdowne St. W.), at 7 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
• Peterborough Memorial Centre (151 Lansdowne St. W.) from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 27.
• Peterborough Farmers’ Market, Morrow Building (151 Lansdowne St. W.) from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan 8.
• Peterborough Public Library (345 Aylmer St. N.) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 5 and Thursday, Jan. 6.