Newswatch COVID-19 Digest: Saturday July 3, 2021

Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Saturday, July 3, 2021:

• There have been 545,381 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 200 cases from the previous day (284 cases on Canada Day). There have been 534,010 people recovered from the virus while 9,196 have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 16,001,372 of which 5,464 have pending results.

• Canada’s coronavirus case total is 1,416,317. The country has 26,338 deaths from the virus – five in the Yukon, four in Nunavut, 1,756 in British Columbia, 2,301 in Alberta, 568 in Saskatchewan, 1,147 in Manitoba, 9,196 in Ontario, 11,217 in Quebec, 45 in New Brunswick, seven in Newfoundland & Labrador and 92 in Nova Scotia.

• The Eastern Ontario Health Unit area added one case Friday to bring the regional total to 4,729 confirmed cases, of which two are active (no change from Wednesday) and 4,617 are resolved (one more since Wednesday). The number of deaths to date is 110. There is no one in hospital. There are no active institutional outbreaks. Testing increased by 84 to 143,912. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 1,979 cases (two active), SD&G 1,123 cases (zero active), Cornwall 1,268 cases (zero active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 359 cases (zero active).

• The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit area added one case Friday to bring the regional total to 1,765 confirmed cases, of which six are active (one more than Wednesday) and 1,699 are recovered (no change). There are 60 deaths to date. There is no one in hospital. There are no active institutional outbreaks. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 386 cases (three active), Lanark County West 400 cases (two active), Leeds-Grenville Central 208 cases (zero active), Leeds-Grenville East 348 cases (zero active) and Leeds-Grenville West 201 cases (one active).

• Vaccines: Ontario 15,154,499 (+145,674, last update July 2); EOHU 192,317 (last update July 2, +3,639 from previous update June 30); LGL 128,644 individuals living in LGL with first doses, 43,717 with second doses (last update June 29, +3,050 first doses, +15,422 second doses since previous update June 22).

• The Eastern Ontario Health Unit will have its first pop-up clinic at the Benson Center in Cornwall on Monday (July 5) at 10 a.m. People lining up at the Second Street West entrance will be given wrist bands starting at 7:30 a.m. and then told to come back at an appointed time.

• Prime Minster Justin Trudeau received his second dose of vaccine. The PM got Moderna this time at an Ottawa drug store. His first shot was AstraZeneca. Trudeau’s wife, Sophie, also got her second shot on Canada Day – also Moderna.

• All young people ages 12 to 17 in Ontario will be able to book an accelerated second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, starting Monday morning (July 5) at 8 a.m.

• Youth in Leeds-Grenville and Lanark County who went to a community clinic in June will automatically be booked into a second dose clinic at the same location the last two weeks of July. The health unit says those people will be notified by phone or email once the clinic dates are set. The original first dose clinics happened in Lanark Village (June 11), Gananoque (June 14), Elgin (June 15), Athens (June 17), Perth (June 23), Prescott (June 24) and Carleton Place (June 26).

• Via Rail will start running two trains (trains 62 and 65) daily on the Toronto to Montreal route, starting July 12 as part of its service resumption plan. The company also started increasing seating capacity on its trains last month but still has safety measures in place.

• A select group of fully vaccinated travellers coming into Canada won’t have to quarantine or do a test eight days after arrival, starting Monday (July 5). They will also not have to stay at a government-approved hotel. The only people coming into Canada right now are citizens, permanent residents, eligible foreign nationals and those registered under the Indian Act.

• A couple of studies now show the risk of your dog or cat catching COVID-19 from you is greater than previously thought. Dutch researchers found that one in five pets they tested caught the disease from their owners but, in most cases, the symptoms are mild. Cats are more at risk than dogs. A Canadian study of just over 100 pets in households where someone tested positive found that 70 per cent of the cats and 40 per cent of the dogs tested positive for antibodies.

Have a story or news release related to COVID-19? Send it along for possible inclusion in a future digest on Cornwall Newswatch. Email editor@cornwallnewswatch.com. Please put “COVID-19 Digest” in the subject line.