COVID-19: Peterborough Public Health reports 17 new cases, variant cases at 252

Peterborough Public Health reported 17 new cases of COVID-19 and an additional 12 variant cases on Wednesday.

The COVID tracker for the health unit at 4:12 p.m. reported 89 active cases of COVID-19, up from 79 reported on Tuesday.

The health unit also reported that of its 949 cumulative cases (four cases were added to previous days), 252 are variant of concern cases, up from 240 reported about 24 hours earlier. The first confirmed variant of concern was reported on Feb. 23. The health unit has ceased reporting cases as “presumed” variants.

Of the health unit’s 949 cases, 849 are now declared resolved (an additional seven since Tuesday) — approximately 89.5 per cent.

Case data for April 7, 2021.

Peterborough Public Health

Active outbreaks in the health unit’s jurisdiction — Peterborough, Peterborough County, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation — include:

Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School: Declared Sunday — three cases as of Wednesday morning, according to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board
Champlain College Annex at Trent University: Declared April 3 with three cases.
Empress Gardens Retirement Residence: Declared March 22 after one employee tested positive. A resident — a woman in her 80s — died in hospital due to COVID-19 complications. 4 cases reported on Monday.
Two workplace outbreaks: Declared March 31, locations not identified by the health unit. Ontario’s COVID outbreak database lists one case under congregate care and another under education.

Since the pandemic was declared, the health unit has dealt with 211 COVID-19 cases associated with 34 outbreaks — 208 cases were reported Tuesday.

Other COVID-19 data for Wednesday:

Close contacts: 246, up from 235 on Tuesday.
31 local cases have required hospitalized care since the pandemic was declared; five required the intensive care unit — unchanged since Monday.
Fleming College: Reports no cases related to its Sutherland Campus in the city.
Trent University: Reports at 4:30 p.m. seven active cases — unchanged from Tuesday. All seven cases are in student residence. The university states “not all active cases may be related to the current outbreak at Champlain College Annex.”
Peterborough Regional Health Centre: Reports 12 COVID-19 inpatients — one more since Tuesday. There have been 27 patient transfers from other areas — unchanged since Tuesday.
Death toll: 11 since the pandemic was declared, one linked to outbreak at Empress Gardens Retirement Residence; one to the Severn Court Student Residence outbreak; three associated with a November 2020 outbreak at Fairhaven long-term care in Peterborough.
More than 47,350 people have been tested for COVID-19 as of Wednesday’s update.

Vaccination clinics/COVID-19 testing

To book an appointment online, visit www.ontario.ca/bookvaccine, or call 249-494-5631 Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. As of Wednesday, provincial eligibility for the vaccine includes adults who are born in 1961 or before (60 years or older).

To get tested for COVID-19, book an online appointment. Testing for those without symptoms or with mild symptoms is held at the Northcrest Arena in Peterborough.