Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Thursday, May 13, 2021:
- There have been 499,412 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 2,320 cases from the previous day. There have been 461,076 people recovered from the virus while 8,374 have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 14,603,406 of which 28,174 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case total is 1,305,770. The country has 24,766 deaths from the virus – two in the Yukon, four in Nunavut, 1,625 in British Columbia, 2,123 in Alberta, 508 in Saskatchewan, 1,000 in Manitoba, 8,374 in Ontario, 11,012 in Quebec, 41 in New Brunswick, six in Newfoundland & Labrador and 71 in Nova Scotia.
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit area added 22 cases Wednesday – 15 in Prescott-Russell and seven in SD&G – to bring the regional total to 4,603 confirmed cases. Of all cases, 187 are active (15 more than Tuesday) and 4,313 are resolved (six more than Tuesday). There was one more death Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths is 103. There are 14 people in hospital (one more than Tuesday) with four in the ICU (one fewer than Tuesday). There are three active institutional outbreaks (one fewer than Tuesday). Testing is up 227 to 137,018. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 1,945 cases (97 active), SD&G 1,079 cases (42 active), Cornwall 1,236 cases (38 active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 343 cases (10 active).
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit area added two cases Wednesday to bring the regional total to 1,689 confirmed cases, of which 40 are active (no change) and 1,589 are recovered (two more than Tuesday). There are 60 deaths to date. No one is in hospital. There are no active institutional outbreaks. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 372 cases (nine active), Lanark County West 387 cases (six active), Leeds-Grenville Central 189 cases (seven active), Leeds-Grenville East 328 cases (six active) and Leeds-Grenville West 192 cases (12 active).
- Vaccines: Ontario 6,491,666 (+140,785, last update May 12); EOHU 77,849 (last update May 12, +1,842 from previous update May 11); LGL 51,935 individuals with at least 1 shot (last update May 10, +6,194 from previous update May 3).
- The Ontario government hit a vaccine milestone Wednesday. More than half the adult population now has their first dose. Booking a vaccine for those 40 years old and older opens this morning (Thursday) at 8 a.m.
- A day after saying it’s pausing the use of AstraZeneca for first doses, the Ontario government will receive just over 250,000 doses next week. They will be used for second shots for people who already received AstraZeneca. Ontario stopped using the drug, as did Alberta, due to the increased instances of a blood clot side effect.
- The provincial government is working on a plan to vaccinate 12 to 17-year-old children starting next month. The Ford government believes that 65 per cent of the Ontario population will have their first dose before the end of this month.
- Instructions will be coming soon for people who booked their first dose through the Eastern Ontario Health Unit before April 28 – prior to the provincial booking system coming online. Right now, the Ontario website won’t allow second-only dose appointments. The EOHU says it had to turn people away at local clinics who booked an appointment, trying to get their second dose inside the 16 week interval window right now. The EOHU is planning second-only dose clinics and those people “will not be missed or forgotten.”
- Nova Scotia is pausing use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a first dose. It joins a number of other provinces including Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
- Preliminary findings from a U.K. study are showing promising results for mixing and matching vaccines between first and second doses. The study has found those with alternating doses were more likely to have mild to moderate symptoms from the shot, but they were short-lived and no other safety concerns were found.
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