One year after the first case of COVID-19 in Canada was detected, Fairhaven Long-Term Care residents are receiving their first dose of the Moderna vaccine — with 106-year-old resident Elizabeth Campbell the very first person in the Peterborough area to receive the vaccine.
During a Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Tuesday (January 26), medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra said residents of four Peterborough region long-term care homes are being vaccinated this week, while residents of the remaining four local homes will be vaccinated next week.
The deadline to have 1,102 local long-term home residents vaccinated has been adjusted to February 5 from the original deadline of February 15.
“It gives me and my staff great hope that we are now able to protect our most vulnerable residents,” said Dr. Salvaterra, noting the first 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine were received Monday with the remainder expected early next week.
“Once the supply of vaccine has been restored, we will turn our focus to other high-risk populations that have been identified as part of phase one — the staff and essential caregivers of long-term care homes, other seniors in congregate living settings such as retirement homes, high-priority health care workers, indigenous adults, and adults with chronic conditions receiving home care.”
Phase two of the Peterborough vaccination rollout plan, added Dr. Salvaterra, “is expected to begin in early spring” with older adults, other essential workers, and other at-risk populations vaccinated.
Weekly updates of the number of local vaccination doses administered will soon be added to the COVID-related information already highlighted on Peterborough Public Health’s website.
Meanwhile, Dr. Salvaterra provided more “encouraging” news, noting a marked decline in the number of new local cases. The numbers tell the story. During the week of December 28th, 71 new local cases were reported — the highest week of reported new cases since the pandemic began.
That has steadily dropped to 48 cases during the week of January 4th, 42 cases during the week of January 11th, and 37 cases last week. So far this week, as Tuesday, there are three new cases confirmed.
“We are starting to see the impact of staying at home and the elimination of socialization, which was a major risk for us,” said Dr. Salvaterra.
That said, despite the weekly drops in new cases, January is already the worst month locally for new cases with the 168 cases confirmed this month far surpassing December’s 137 new cases.
Overall local COVID-19 numbers show that, as of Tuesday morning, there were 42 active COVID-19 cases in Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake and Hiawatha region with 72 close contacts of positive cases being monitored. To date, seven local people have died of COVID-related causes.
Since the pandemic’s outbreak, Peterborough Public Health has reported a total of 515 cases of which 466 have been resolved. To date, 41,150 residents — an increase of 350 since January 22nd — have been tested, for a 27.8 per cent testing rate.
On the outbreak front, the most recent one — declared Thursday (January 21) at Peterborough Regional Health Centre in units A2 and B2 designated for stroke rehabilitation and affecting 12 people — is ongoing but stable.
Two other outbreaks are also yet to be resolved: one at Regency Retirement in Lakefield where two resident cases were detected, and the other at Centennial Place Long-Term Care in Millbrook involving one resident case as well as a staff case.
Speaking to enforcement of the stay-at-home order and Ontario’s declared state of emergency, Peterborough Public Health’s manager of environmental health Julie Ingram says her team conducted 16 inspections last week at businesses and various facilities, adding 41 complaints or enquiries were received. As a result, four formal warnings were issued.
“We did not proceed with charges … if there’s no history of violations we provide a formal warning,” explained Ingram, noting a planned compliance blitz of grocery and big-box stores is still to come soon.
Also present and commenting during Tuesday’s briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, Hiawatha First Nations Chief Laurie Carr, and Peterborough Board of Health chair and Selwyn Mayor Andy Mitchell.
