All 5 new COVID-19 cases in the HKPR district health unit region today (Dec 18), are in Northumberland County.
Meanwhile, Ontario is reporting 22-hundred-and-90 new cases today, and 40 new deaths.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are 691 new cases in Toronto and 361 in Peel Region.
York Region saw 296 new infections, 207 in Windsor-Essex, and 126 in Hamilton.
In total, 877 people are in the province’s hospitals due to COVID-19, including 261 in intensive care.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says there will now be new restrictions for the COVID-19 hotspots of Toronto and neighbouring Peel Region as of Monday (Dec 21) (see below for full release).
The government will decide on the measures during an emergency meeting over the weekend.
And on Wednesday (Dec 16), the Ministry of Education asked all school boards to be prepared for the possibility of Winter Break.
It is important to note that NO DECISION has been made on this matter as yet but should the winter break be extended for students in response to increases in COVID-19 cases, schools would provide learning for students to complete at home on these days and will inform parents of any possible change in the status of their schools through their website, direct email and text, news outlets and social media.
The summary of COVID-19 cases in schools can be tracked here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-cases-schools-and-child-care-centres.
Northumberland also has 45 unresolved cases, compared to 7 for the Kawartha’s and 0 for the Haliburton Region.
High risk contacts now sits at 163 in Northumberland, 24 in Kawartha Lakes and 5 in the Haliburton Region. High risk contacts refers to individuals who are known to have been in contact with a Confirmed or Probable case.
According to the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit that brings the total number of confirmed cases in our health unit region to 429 since the start of the pandemic.
To find out more on local cases, check out https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiOTJkYWRmODgtYzg5Ni00MmMyLWIzODgtNDU4ODYxZTVlNzc3IiwidCI6IjdkYzFmZjlkLTA1ZjEtNGNhNi1iYWZlLTIyNmZmNWYxNmJkYSJ9.
And last weekend (Dec 12/13), new cases among students were reported at Merwin Greer Public School in Cobourg and Northumberland Hills Public School in Castleton, according to the Kawartha Pine Ridge (KPR) District School Board.
There are also cases at other schools, which include:
>Brighton Public School: 1 student case, reported December 11th
>Spring Valley Public School, Brighton: 1 staff case, reported December 9th
>East Northumberland Secondary School, Brighton: 1 student case, 1 staff case, with outbreak declared December 2nd
All schools do remain open. Letters have been sent out by the schools’ principals, stating that the positive cases will remain at home until the health unit advises they may return to school and that the health unit will identify any possible close contacts.
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News Release Ontario Taking Further Action to Limit Spread of COVID-19December 18, 2020 Peel and Toronto Regions to Remain in Grey-LockdownTORONTO — As the province engages with public health experts and frontline partners on what additional measures may be necessary to break trends in increased cases and hospitalizations, the Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and local medical officers of health, is moving six public health regions to new levels per the Keeping Ontario Safe and Open Framework. After assessing trends in key public health indicators, Peel Public Health and Toronto Public Health will remain in the Grey-Lockdown level to be re-assessed on January 4, 2021. In addition, five public health regions will be moved to levels with stronger public health measures, including moving the City of Hamilton Public Health Services to Grey-Lockdown. One public health region will be moving to a lower level. “With public health indicators continuing to worsen in Toronto and Peel, we are making the difficult but necessary decision to extend public health measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, protect our hospital capacity and safeguard the key services we rely on,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “With the first vaccines administered to our frontline health care workers this week, the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter every day. However now more than ever we are urging everyone to continue following public health measures and advice, especially over the holiday season.” In the nearly four weeks since Peel Public Health and Toronto Public Health were moved into Grey-Lockdown, there has been a continued and concerning increase in the public health indicators in both regions. Peel saw the case rate increase by 8.6 per cent to 199.1 cases per 100,000 people while Toronto saw an increase from 37.5 per cent to 127.5 cases per 100,000 people. Hospitalizations have risen by 54 per cent in Peel and by 40.9 per cent in Toronto, resulting in delays for surgeries and other procedures at several hospitals. Positivity rates also remain well above the 2.5 per cent high-alert threshold, at 8.5 per cent in Peel and 5.8 per cent in Toronto. The government and the Chief Medical Officer of Health are actively consulting with local medical officers of health and local communities in these regions to determine what additional measures are required. In addition, earlier today Premier Doug Ford and Minister Elliott convened an emergency meeting with Dr. Williams and Ontario’s hospital leaders to discuss next steps to address the concerning trends in cases and hospital capacity in our province. In Hamilton, the number of cases and hospitalizations are trending upwards and further action is required to help stop the spread of the virus. The case rate increased by 25.8 per cent, to 103.3 cases per 100,000 people and the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the region have more than doubled in the last two weeks. In addition, the positivity rate is well above the high alert threshold and is at 4.2 per cent. Based on the latest data, the following public health regions will move from their current level in the framework to the following levels effective Monday, December 21, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. with Peel Public Health and Toronto Public Health remaining in lockdown until at least January 4, 2021:
All other public health regions will remain at their current level. Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications. |
