COVID-19: Active cases jump to 208 in Peterborough; 24% of adults have booster shot

Active cases of COVID-19 surged again in the Peterborough area on Wednesday as Peterborough Public Health reported a new single day record of 60 new cases, surpassing Tuesday’s record of 40.

The health unit’s COVID tracker at 4:57 p.m. reported 208 active cases in its jurisdiction — up from 156 reported on Tuesday and 128 on Monday in the health unit’s jurisdiction of Peterborough, Peterborough County, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation.

A month ago, on Nov. 22, 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.

The health unit releases its weekly vaccination rate data on Wednesdays. This week’s data compared to Dec. 15:

All eligible residents (ages 5 and up):

• First dose: 84.5 per cent (up from 83.7 per cent)
• First and second dose: 79.6 per cent (up from 79.3 per cent)
• Third dose: 20.8 per cent (up from 11.3 per cent)

Youth (ages 5-11):

• First dose: 40.0 per cent (up from 29.5 per cent)
• Second dose: 0.3 per cent (first time data)

Youth (ages 12-17):

• First dose: 81.2 per cent (up from 80.9 per cent)
• First and second dose: 77.6 per cent  (up from 77.2 per cent)
• Third dose: 0.3 per cent (up from 0.2 per cent)

Adults (ages 18 and up):

• First dose: 88.4 per cent (up from 88.2 per cent)
• First and second dose: 86.2 per cent  (up from 85.9 per cent)
• Third dose: 23.9 per cent (up from 13 per cent)

Older adults (ages 70 and up): 

• First dose: 100 per cent (unchanged)
• First and second dose: 100 per cent (unchanged)
• Third dose: 55.3 per cent (up from 36.8 per cent)

Other vaccination data:

• 270,718 doses of vaccine have been administered locally — an additional 16,950 doses since the Dec. 15 update.
• 119,702 residents have received a first dose (+1,261 since Dec. 15)
• 112,659 323 residents have received their second dose (+336 since Dec. 15).
• 29,473 residents have received their third dose (+13,492 since Dec. 15).

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.

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/

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. 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.

On Wednesday, the health unit reported two new outbreaks:

• Crestwood Secondary School and at Extendicare Lakefield. Details were not immediately available.

There have been 369 cases associated with 66 outbreaks since the pandemic was declared — 24 cases in the past 30 days.

Other data on Wednesday:

• Deaths: 28 since the pandemic was declared with four reported this month, the most recent on Monday.
• Cumulative confirmed cases: 2,320 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020
• Variant of concern cases: 1,348 — 34 more cases since Tuesday’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: 2,084 — eight more cases since Tuesday. Resolved cases make up approximately 91.8 per cent of all cases.

• Hospitalizations: 100 cases have required hospitalization since the pandemic began — one new case since Tuesday. Peterborough Regional Health Centre on Tuesday reported five active COVID-19 admissions. The hospitalized cases make up approximately 4.3 per cent of all cases; 22 of the cases required the intensive care unit — unchanged since Monday. ICU admissions make up 0.9 per cent of all the health unit’s cases since the pandemic’s beginning.
• COVID-19 exposure: 70 per cent of all cases (1,625) in the health unit’s jurisdiction are from contact with another existing case, 19.8 per cent (459 cases) are connected with community spread, 3.4 per cent (79 cases) are related to travel and 6.8 per cent (157 cases) have their source yet to be determined.
• Testing: More than 67,750 people have been tested for COVID-19 — an additional 250 since Tuesday’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.
• School cases: See this Global News Peterborough article for the latest on school cases within the health unit’s jurisdiction.