COVID-19: 40 new cases for Peterborough; pop-up testing clinic at St. Peter Secondary – Peterborough | The Canadian News

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

The health unit COVID tracker at 4 pm it reported 156 active cases in its jurisdiction, up from 128 reported on Monday. The surge in cases that began over the weekend, which recorded what was then a new record of 33 cases on Saturday, prompted the health unit to issue a warning to residents to take precautions during 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 November 22 (November 21 fell on a Sunday, when no updates were issued), the health unit reported 17 active cases.

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

There have also been four deaths this month due to COVID-19, the most recent, the 28th death since the pandemic was declared, it 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 December 14 was also that of a man in his 40s, but he was not vaccinated.

The health unit reports that there are 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 High School at 730 Medical Dr., Peterborough, Wednesday through Friday this week. Appointments are available only through this link: https://bit.ly/3spXWWM.

The hospital says that testing services continue to be offered through its COVID-19 Assessment Center, yet the demand is extremely high. More information on how to book a test can be found through the COVID-19 Assessment Center on the health unit 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.
• Variants of cases of concern: 1314 – 12 more cases since Monday’s update. There are four variant cases of Omicron, the first two reported on December 14. The first variant case in the region was reported on February 23; the first confirmed case of the Delta variant was reported on June 19.
• Resolved cases: 2,076: eight more cases since Monday. Resolved cases represent approximately 91.8% of all cases.
• Close contacts: The health unit is pausing close contact reporting as its reporting system currently “underestimates the actual number of close contacts that are 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 must 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 from Monday. Peterborough Regional Health Center on Tuesday reported five active COVID-19 admissions. Hospitalized cases represent approximately 4.4% of all cases; 22 of the cases required the intensive care unit, unchanged from Monday. ICU admissions constitute one percent of all health unit cases since the start of the pandemic.
• Exposure to COVID-19: 71.3% of all cases (1,611) in the jurisdiction of the health unit are due to contact with another existing case, 20.3% (458 cases) are related to community spread, 3.5% ( 79 cases) are travel-related and 5% (112 cases) have their source yet to be determined.
• Evidence: More than 67,500 people have been tested for COVID-19, an additional 350 since Monday’s update. About one in three residents has been tested for COVID-19.
• Application: From October 1, charges have been filed against a total of four businesses under the Ontario Reopening Act.

Trend stories

• 

  Quebec breaks record for highest daily provincial count of COVID-19 cases in Canada

• 

  Ontario Reports 3,453 New COVID Cases While Test Positivity Reaches Nearly 10%

Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board at 11:30 am Tuesday reported 20 active cases between their schools within the jurisdiction of the health unit. The school board does not indicate whether the cases involve students or staff:

• Three cases: Kenner Collegiate and Vocational Institute (no change) and Warsaw Public School in Warsaw (two new cases since Monday).
• Two cases: Crestwood Secondary School (+1 as of Monday), and all unchanged at Westmount Public School in Peterborough, North Shore Public School in Keene, and Lakefield District Public School in Lakefield.
• One Case: All Unchanged at Peterborough Crestwood High School, Thomas A. Stewart High School, James Strath Public School, Prince of Wales Public School and Peterborough Alternative Continuing Education and Millbrook / South Cavan Public School at Millbrook.

Peterborough Catholic District Victoria Northumberland Clarington School Board at 5:15 pm Monday reported 11 active cases in their schools Within the jurisdiction of the health unit (the school board does not indicate whether the cases involve students or staff. All schools remain open):

• Three cases: St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Lakefield (all new cases)
• One case: Peterborough Holy Cross Catholic High 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 High School and St. Paul at Norwood.

Trent University reported three active cases at his Peterborough campus at 5pm on Tuesday (one new case since Monday) and none at his Durham campus. On Monday, the university switched all face-to-face exams to online exams on both campuses.

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

The university says that new resident students will be allowed to move into the residence starting January 6 and 7 and students currently living in the residence can return on January 9.

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 vaccines are now available to residents 18 years of age and older, and first stockpiles of vaccines are available to children ages 5 to 11. All appointments must be booked on Ontario Online Portal or by calling the provincial vaccine reservation call center at 1-833-943-3900.

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

School and walk-in clinics

The health unit will host a series of vaccination clinics for children at various Peterborough County schools. All clinics will be held outside of school hours. Clinics include:

• Wednesday, December 29: Lakefield District Public School from 9 am to 3 pm

All medical tests and evaluations for COVID-19 in Peterborough are now consolidated in the Peterborough Regional Health Center assessment center at 1 Dr.

Various Peterborough and area pharmacies offer vaccinations to eligible recipients. An appointment is required and can be done by calling the respective pharmacies or visiting the Ontario government website.

Rapid antigen tests

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

• Lansdowne Place Mall (656 Lansdowne St. W.), at 7 am on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
• Peterborough Memorial Center (151 Lansdowne St. W.) from 5 pm to 9 pm on Monday, December 27.
• Peterborough Farmers’ Market, Morrow Building (151 Lansdowne St. W.) from 7 am to 1 pm on Saturday, January 8.
• Peterborough Public Library (345 Aylmer St. N.) from 10 am to 3 pm on Wednesday, January 5 and Thursday, January 6.

See link »