DRYDEN, Ont. - The number of COVID-19 cases in the Northwestern Health Unit catchment area is on the rise and one more person has passed away.
The NWHU is reporting 12 new cases on Friday and one additional death, bringing the total death toll in the region to seven since the start of the pandemic.
Of the new cases reported on Friday, one is in the Rainy River area, two in Kenora, and nine in Sioux Lookout.
There are now 50 active cases of COVID-19 in the NWHU catchment area, including three in Dryden, one in Fort Frances, one in Rainy River, 15 in Kenora, and 30 in Sioux Lookout. One person is currently in hospital.
According to Dr. Kit Young Hoon, medical officer of health with the NWHU, there are no new reports of variant cases at this time.
“It does take a while to get the results back on the screening tests for variants,” she said. “There has been some documented spread in the Dryden area and we are waiting for more information from the Kenora area to see if there has been spread from those cases.”
Young Hoon added that the majority of new cases in the region are the result of household contacts. In terms of the recent jump in cases in Sioux Lookout, she said public health officials are conducting contact tracing.
“At this point it’s a bit too early to say what is going on but we are monitoring the situation closely,” she said.
“The stay-at-home order can have some effectiveness in our area. Even though our numbers are relatively low, we are seeing increases in some of our communities. Generally our spread has been from household spread. Stay-at-home orders help limit the spread between households.”
The NWHU is also moving forward with its vaccination clinics and Young Hoon said appointments are filling up quickly after eligibility was lowered to those aged 60 and over and more clinics will be added.
“At this point, we are spreading out the vaccine across the entire catchment area broadly, so anyone meeting the eligibility requirement can make an appointment,” she said. “We have on occasion done targeted vaccination of specific groups based on what is going on in the community.”
To date, the NWHU has administered more than 14,000 doses of the vaccine and it receives approximately 3,000 doses per week.
Young Hoon added that there have been some instances of people in the region travelling from one community to another to receive a vaccine.
“We ask that residents refrain from booking in other communities and wait for spots in their home community when available,” she said. “There is a stay-at-home order and our recommendation is to avoid travel for non-essential reasons. We are recommending people stay on their home community.”
Young Hoon also addressed rumours facing other health units regarding vaccine wastage. She said the health unit and partners have plans in place to ensure every dose of the vaccine is used and none have been wasted.
