Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Monday, April 5, 2021:
- Public Health Ontario did not update statistics due to Easter Sunday. At last check on Saturday, there had been 358,558 confirmed cases across Ontario, 327,940 recoveries and 7,428 deaths. The number of Ontario people tested is just over 12.7 million.
- A Saturday night update posted sometime overnight, well after its reported 7 p.m. update, shows Canada’s coronavirus case total is 1,000,545. The country has 23,050 deaths from the virus – one in the Yukon, four in Nunavut, 1,463 in British Columbia, 1,994 in Alberta, 436 in Saskatchewan, 938 in Manitoba, 7,428 in Ontario, 10,684 in Quebec, 30 in New Brunswick, six in Newfoundland & Labrador and 66 in Nova Scotia.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit area stands at a regional total of 3,425 confirmed cases, of which 355 are active and 2,988 resolved. There are 82 deaths to date. Thirty-two people are in hospital and eight in the ICU. There are 14 active institutional outbreaks. Testing is at 123,526. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 1,394 cases (136 active), SD&G 832 cases (111 active), Cornwall 926 cases (98 active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 273 cases (10 active). (The health unit doesn’t update statistics on statutory holidays and weekends. The health unit will make an exception and will post statistics this afternoon (April 5))
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit stands at 1,274 confirmed cases, of which 78 are active and 1,142 are recovered. There are 54 deaths to date. Three person are in hospital, two in ICU with one on a ventilator. There are two active institutional outbreaks (Kemptville District Hospital and Rideau Ferry Country Home). The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 254 cases (13 active), Lanark County West 343 cases (15 active), Leeds-Grenville Central 118 cases (six active), Leeds-Grenville East 195 cases (23 active) and Leeds-Grenville West 146 cases (nine active). (The health unit doesn’t update statistics on weekends and statutory holidays)
- Vaccines: Ontario 2,424,063 (+59,567, last update April 3); EOHU 25,665 (last update April 1, +1,213 from previous update March 31); LGL 18,368 individuals with at least 1 shot (last update March 29, +4,371 from previous update March 22).
- The Upper Canada District School Board says it received word that at least one person at the Brockville board office, Bridgewood Public School in Cornwall and Tagwi Secondary School in Avonmore have tested positive for COVID-19. The board says the office and Tagwi cases did not have any exposures at the office or school. The health unit is doing contact tracing for potential high-risk contacts at Bridgewood. The schools are operating normally.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit says it will be working with agencies to start vaccinating home bound clients starting this week. It will also be rolling out first doses to people who booked appointments who are 70 years old and older. The health unit was conducting clinic over the weekend.
- The EOHU is expecting 40,000 doses of vaccine between this past Thursday (April 1) and May 10. That doesn’t include a shipment of AstraZeneca from the U.S. which will go to doctor’s offices.
- With the health unit now taking people 70 years old and older for vaccines, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis says they have added eight clinics per week for the upcoming four weeks (April 9 through May 7). There have been 37 clinics since March 17 to April 9. The health unit even added four clinics – expanded two locations (Hawkesbury and Rockland, April 7-8, by adding people to give vaccines, moving the average from 300-400 to 1,000 per day) and added two extra clinics (Rockland and Cornwall) – to meet demand heading up to Friday (April 9).
- Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, is urging people to be extra careful because contagious variants of concern could be anywhere.
- Quebec has added more areas to its lockdown (five municipalities in the Chaudiere-Appalaches region, south of Quebec City) as it deals with the third wave driven by variants. The province recorded another 1,154 cases on Sunday and nine more deaths.
- Across the border in St. Lawrence County (which includes Massena, Canton and Potsdam), had 29 new cases on Friday (April 2) to bring the total to 6,678 confirmed cases to date with 148 active. There are a half dozen people hospitalized and 6,436 people have recovered. There have been 94 deaths to date. The most active case areas are Potsdam (40), Massena (21) and Ogdensburg (26). As for vaccines, close to 38 per cent of the 108,000 people who live in the county have received their first shot.
- As of Thursday, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe had two new active cases bringing the total active case count to nine. Ten people are in quarantine. No one is in hospital. There have been 283 total positive cases to date in the territory. Three people have died.
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