Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.

Ontario is reporting a record increase of 4,736 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 205 to a new record high of 4,208. For the first time since the pandemic began, 11 public health units are reporting at least triple-digit increases.

There are now 27,278 cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant in Ontario, an increase of 2,811 from yesterday, with 11 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and 15 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has reached another record high at 1,932, as has the number of patients in ICUs at 659, including 442 people on ventilators.

“I really wish that I had better news to give you today,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate chief medical officer of health, at a media briefing on Thursday afternoon where she presented the updated numbers. “These data are alarming, and should be of tremendous concern to everyone.”

“It is likely we will see our daily cases remain high for the next while, and the number of people in hospital and in intensive care will increase even more,” Dr. Yaffe added. “While we have a stay-at-home order and stronger public health measures in place, it will take some time before we see the effect of these interventions.”

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 50 new cases to report and an additional 50 cases resolved, with the number of active cases increasing by 2 to 464. See below for detailed numbers from each regional health unit.

Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (1,188), Peel (983), York (526), Ottawa (342), Durham (216), Niagara (215), Middlesex-London (181), Hamilton (150), Halton (140), Simcoe Muskoka (118), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (102).

There are double-digit increases today in Windsor-Essex (95), Waterloo (81), Eastern Ontario (74), Grey Bruce (46), Southwestern (36), Brant (31), Haldimand-Norfolk (31), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (29), Huron Perth (22), Lambton (20), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (18), Peterborough (18), Sudbury (16), and Hastings Prince Edward (15), with smaller increases in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (8), Thunder Bay (7), Chatham-Kent (7), and Porcupine (6).

The remaining 5 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with all health units reporting at least 2 cases.

Of today’s new cases, 55% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,719) among people ages 20-39 followed by 1,408 cases among people ages 40-59 and 894 cases among people 19 and under.

With 3,174 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.3% to 88.6%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.6% to 8.0%, meaning that 80 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on April 14.

Ontario is reporting 29 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 21 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 2 from yesterday.

The number of hospitalizations increased by 55 to 1,932, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 17 to 659, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 20 to 442.

A total of 65,559 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 5,566 to 39,682.

A total of 3,528,404 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 105,430 from yesterday, with 339,491 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,285.

The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.30% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.01% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 23.95% of the population, an increase of 0.72% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 50 new cases to report, including 20 in Hastings Prince Edward, 18 in Peterborough, 9 in Northumberland, 2 in Haliburton, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes.

A new outbreak at North Hope Central Public School in Campbellcroft was declared on April 14. A new outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Peterborough was declared on April 15. There is 1 new ICU admission in Hastings Prince Edward and 1 new hospitalization in Northumberland.

There are 41 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 32 in Hastings Prince Edward, 7 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Northumberland.

An additional 50 cases have been resolved, including 22 in Hastings Prince Edward, 14 in Northumberland, 11 in Peterborough, and 3 in Kawartha Lakes.

There are currently 464 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 2 from yesterday, including 148 in Hastings Prince Edward (31 in Quinte West, 75 in Belleville, 7 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 17 in Prince Edward County, 12 in Central Hastings, and 6 in North Hastings), 139 in Peterborough, 119 in Northumberland, 46 in Kawartha Lakes, and 12 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,073 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (922 resolved with 12 deaths), 651 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (563 resolved with 55 deaths), 690 in Northumberland County (563 resolved with 12 deaths), 85 in Haliburton County (72 resolved with 1 death), and 781 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (626 resolved with 7 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Hastings Prince Edward on April 10.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 4 p.m. the previous day, as well as from systems in Toronto, Ottawa, and Middlesex-London at 2 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).

Peterborough Public Health

Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 1,073 (increase of 19)*
Total variants of concern cases: 310 (decrease of 2)
Active cases: 139 (increase of 7)
Close contacts: 421 (increase of 13)
Deaths: 12 (no change)
Resolved: 922 (increase of 11)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 36 (no change)**
Total tests completed: Over 48,100 (increase of 110)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #3 in Peterborough, Champlain Annex at Trent University in Peterborough, Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #4 in Peterborough County, Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #6 in Peterborough (increase of 1)***
Vaccine doses administered: 39,772 (increase of 5,160 as of April 15)

*The health unit is reporting 18 new cases in the last 24 hours, with 1 case added to a previous day increasing the total case count by 19.

**As of April 15, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 17 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (a decrease of 7) and a total of 40 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

***An outbreak at an unidentified workplace (#6) in Peterborough was declared on April 15.

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.

The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 1,426, including 651 in Kawartha Lakes, 690 in Northumberland, and 85 in Haliburton (increase of 30, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 9 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 203, including 67 in Kawartha Lakes, 131 in Northumberland, and 5 in Haliburton (increase of 9, including 7 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 177, including 46 in Kawartha Lakes, 119 in Northumberland, and 12 in Haliburton (net decrease of 3)
Probable cases: 0 (decrease of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
High-risk contacts: Not available***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 55, including 32 in Kawartha Lakes, 20 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 68, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,194, including 563 in Kawartha Lakes, 559 in Northumberland, and 72 in Haliburton (increase of 17, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 14 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 171,316 (increase of 3,908)
Vaccine doses administered: 38,415 (increase of 8,007 as of April 12)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,047 (increase of 58 as of April 12)
Outbreaks: St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Cobourg, Timber House Resort in Brighton, Swiss Chalet in Cobourg, Christian Horizons in Port Hope, Cobourg Collegiate Institute in Cobourg, Fenelon Court long-term care home in Fenelon Falls, North Hope Central Public School in Campbellcroft (increase of 1)*****

*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.

**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.

***As of April 14, the health unit is no longer reporting high-risk contacts due to a “process change of not collecting high risk information”.

****As of April 15, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).

An outbreak at North Hope Central Public School in Campbellcroft was declared on April 14.

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 781 (increase of 20)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 187 (increase of 32)
Active cases: 148 (decrease of 2)
Deaths: 7 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 13 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 5 (increase of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 1 (no change)
Resolved: 626 (increase of 22)
Tests completed: 93,270
Vaccine doses administered: 46,578 (increase of 3,260)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,261 (increase of 37)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Trenton, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified child care facility in Belleville, Tri-board Bus #499 in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville (decrease of 1)*

*An outbreak at an unidentified congregate living facility in Quinte West was declared resolved on April 14.

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 403,571 (increase of 4,736)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 27,278 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,811); 95 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 11); 191 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 15)*
VOC R(t): 1.23 (last updated April 2)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 4,208 (increase of 205)
Positivity rate: 8.0% (decrease of 0.6%)
Resolved: 357,591 (increase of 3,174), 88.6% of all cases (decrease of 0.3%)
Hospitalizations: 1,932 (increase of 55)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 659 (increase of 17)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 442 (increase of 20)
Deaths: 7,639 (increase of 29)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 21 (increase of 2)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,908 (no change)
Total tests completed: 13,358,225 (increase of 65,559)
Tests under investigation: 39,682 (increase of 5,566)
Vaccination doses administered: 3,528,404 (increase of 105,430), 23.95% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.72%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 339,491 (increase of 2,285), 2.30% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.01%)***

*On April 8, the government changed the way it reports cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant. Previously they were reported only when genetic sequencing confirmed they were of the B.1.1.7 lineage. Since genetic sequencing completed to date has determined 95% of specimens screening positive for the N501Y mutation have been found to be the B.1.1.7 UK variant, specimens with the N501Y mutation are now reported as cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant.

**R(t) is a virus’s effective reproduction number, which is the average number of new infections caused by a single infected individual at a specific time (t) in a partially immunized population. To successfully eliminate a disease from a population, R(t) needs to be less than 1.

***An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.

For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.

Peterborough’s Alice Czitrom is among 15 people and organizations across Ontario to receive a 2020-21 Victim Services Award of Distinction from the Ministry of the Attorney General.

Czitrom is the primary handler of Pixie, the Peterborough Police Service’s first-ever facility dog.

“In the face of unprecedented challenges, these dedicated professionals, generous volunteers and outstanding organizations have demonstrated an irrepressible drive to raise awareness of victims’ issues, increase access to crisis intervention services and provide compassionate support in times of need,” Attorney General Doug Downey said in a statement on Wednesday (April 14).

A facility dog is a professionally trained dog that works alongside professionals to provide emotional support to people experiencing trauma and stress, including at police stations and court houses and when testifying virtually.

A social worker by training, Czitrom developed the Peterborough Police Service’s first facility dog program in 2019 and is the civilian coordinator of the police service’s Victim Services Unit.

Pixie, a five-year-old Labrador cross trained and accredited by National Service Dogs of Canada, joined the Peterborough Police Service in January 2020. As well as providing comfort and support to victims and others, Pixie serves as a goodwill ambassador of goodwill between police officers and community residents.

Since becoming the Peterborough police service’s first facility dog, Pixie has provided support at 40 police interviews, five police scenes to help calm the situation, three critical stress debriefings, eight court accompaniments, 25 community presentations, and over 100 meetings between victims and police.

If you want to keep up with Pixie’s work, you can follow her on Instagram account at @ptbopoliceK9pixie.

Other recipients of the 2020-21 Victim Services Award of Distinction include:

Individual Recipients

• Salem Berhane – Windsor
• Cynthia Bland – Ottawa
• Ian Kelly – Toronto
• Erin Lee – Carleton Place
• Patti Lessard – Mattawa
• Georgette Parsons – Sarnia
• Shauna Pitawanakwat – Sioux Lookout
• Shalini Konanur – Toronto

Groups and Organizations

• EveryMind Child Witness Program – Mississauga
• Luke’s Place Support and Resource Centre for Women and Children – Oshawa
• Muskoka Victim Services, Volunteer Team – Bracebridge
• Rainy River District Victim Services – Fort Frances
• Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region – Kitchener
• Sonhatisi:wa – Ohsweken

Bancroft OPP are asking for the public’s help in locating a 29-year-old woman who went missing southwest of Bancroft.

Police say Hope Jemimah (Ogutu) was last seen on Highway 118 near Cheddar Road in the Municipality of Highlands East on Monday (April 12).

She is described as 160 cm (5’2″) tall with a slim build, black hair, and brown eyes.

Jemimah was wearing a green knee-length jacket and was observed next to her silver Mazda 2006 hatchback. It is believed she left her vehicle and could possibly be on foot.

OPP Emergency Response Team members, Aviation Services, and a remotely piloted aerial system are conducting a search of the area.

If you see Jemimah, or have any information on her whereabouts, call Bancroft OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

Having accepted a total of 40 patient transfers since early January — 16 of those over the last two weeks — Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) administrative and medical staff are working to increase critical care capacity while ramping down non-urgent care to provide for their care.

“Over the last week, we’ve seen some alarming numbers emerge,” said Dr. Lynn Mikula, PRHC’s chief medical executive and chief of staff, during a media briefing Wednesday morning (April 14).

“Across Ontario there are now more than 1,800 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario hospitals and more than 600 of these patients have been admitted to intensive care units. These are the highest numbers of hospitalized patients we have seen in Ontario since the beginning of the pandemic.”

Dr. Mikula said all 40 patients transferred to PRHC from various east GTA hospitals have been, or are now, being treated for COVID-19 infection, adding “a good portion” of the current 24 intake patients being cared for are in the hospital’s ICU.

“This week we increased our critical care capacity to a total of 48 beds in anticipation of additional patient transfers and higher patient volumes,” said Dr. Mikula, adding “We’re going to redirect hospital resources as needed to support the necessary level of care for these patients.”

“PRHC has joined hospitals across Ontario in ramping down non-urgent care in response to the provincial critical care surge. This ramp down has allowed us to convert other in-patient space to provide care for patients with COVID-19 who do not require ICU level treatment.”

“For the most it (the ramp down) is affecting our procedural areas. Our non-urgent surgeries are being impacted. In terms of diagnostic services and ambulatory clinics, we’re doing everything that we can to keep those up and running.”

This is the second ramp down of non-urgent care at PRHC since the pandemic began. This first ramp down was directed by the province in the early days of the pandemic on March 19, 2020. PRHC was approved to resume non-urgent surgeries, procedures, and tests in early June 2020.

“Since last May PRHC has been working really hard to maintain non-urgent surgeries, procedures, and tests at or above 100 per cent of our normal patient volumes to help address backlogs caused by last year’s ramp down,” says Dr. Mikula.

“It’s again necessary to ramp down non-urgent care. While this is disappointing, we need to do it to create immediate maximum capacity for critical care. Our goal is to keep this disruption as short and limited as possible.”

“The hospital will continue to provide all lifesaving services and care, and our emergency department will continue to operate as usual. Temporary visitor restrictions will remain the same, with a limited number of designated registered caregivers permitted for specific patient groups.”

Dr. Mikula stresses that those who require hospital care continue to come to the hospital or call 9-1-1.

Saying the Ontario hospital sector “is facing pressure like never before,” Dr. Mikula is appealing to the public for its help and co-operation.

“I urge the people of our community to follow the provincial stay-at-home order and all other public health guidance as we work to support patients across Ontario and our community to receive a level of care that they need.”

As for the pressure placed on hospital staff, doctors, and nurses, she admits “the last couple of weeks have been tough on everybody … we’re all feeling the fatigue and the strain of over a year of this.”

“The mood within the hospital is certainly tired but also resolved. Here we are facing a third wave and we’re ready to do what’s necessary. It’s stressful. This is not our normal way of doing business. We’ve been adapting to these unusual circumstances for a long time and we continue to do so. We’re all focused on doing the job that’s in front of us.”

As for the treatment backlog that resulted from the first ramp down, she says PRHC has handled it well.

“We were one of the earliest hospitals to ramp back up and we’ve really kept going at or above 100 per cent. For many of our different kinds of cases, we’ve actually caught up.”

“We don’t know how long this ramp down is going to last. It’s hard to say what the impact will be going forward. The commitment I can make is we’re going to do everything we can to get back up to speed and catch up as quickly as we can.”

Police have arrested and charged two Trent Hills residents with second-degree murder in the death of 59-year-old John Wesley of Campbellford.

On March 27th, Northumberland OPP responded to a call at a residence in Campbellford. Upon arriving, they learned Wesley had been transported to hospital where he subsequently died.

After a post-mortem examination of Wesley’s body in Toronto, police began investigating the death as suspicious.

On Tuesday (April 13), police arrested and charged Chad Everett and Nancy Gullage, both 41 years old and both of Trent Hills, with second-degree murder.

Everett was also charged with failing to comply with a probation order and failing to comply with conditions of a previous release order.

Both Everett and Gullage appeared in the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg on Wednesday and were remanded into custody.

On November 5, 2020, Wesley himself was arrested as the result of a drug trafficking investigation.

He was charged with possession of a Schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking (cocaine), knowledge of unauthorized possession of firearm, possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000, two counts of possession of firearm or ammunition contrary to prohibition order, and unauthorized possession of a weapon.

With the Peterborough region having now surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and with local infection numbers still rising, medical officer of health Dr. Rosanna Salvaterra is urging those aged 55 and up book a appointment at one of the local pharmacies offering the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“Given the limited supply of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for the near future at least, I am recommending that residents aged 55 years old and up take advantage of the AstraZeneca vaccine now available in some of our pharmacies,” said Dr. Salvaterra during the Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Tuesday (April 13).

Four city pharmacies — Costco Pharmacy (485 The Parkway), High Street Guardian Pharmacy (815 High Street, Unit 9), Walmart Pharmacy (1002 Chemong Road), and Rexall (1154 Chemong Road) — are booking vaccination appointments for those aged 55 and up. Other Kawarthas-area pharmacies offering the vaccine are located in Lindsay, Bobcaygeon, Cobourg, Port Hope, Campbellford, and Brighton.

The full list of Ontario pharmacies providing vaccinations is available at covid-19.ontario.ca/vaccine-locations where visitors can type in their postal code to find the pharmacy closest to home.

Dr. Salvaterra stressed those who do secure a pharmacy appointment, but had previously booked an appointment with a community clinic, need to cancel the clinic appointment so someone can take their spot and no vaccine is wasted.

While 22.1 per cent of area residents have now received at least their first dose of vaccine, Dr. Salvaterra cautioned the positive news is tempered by the fact that “a significant portion” of those vaccinated are health care employees, as well as long-term care and retirement home staff — close to 9,000 people by her estimate.

“While 22.1 per cent can be seen as an impressive number, it does mask some concerning trends about Peterborough’s real need for vaccine and the lack of a sufficient supply,” said Dr. Salvaterra.

“Community residents who are 60 years of age and older are at increased risk for severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. We have a total of 47,222 adults who are 60 years of age and older in Peterborough city and county. That’s a conservative estimate of the size of our population that needs urgent access to immunization.”

“When the province opened bookings to persons aged 60 and over last week, 32 per cent of the 22,000 residents between the ages of 60 and 69 has already been immunized,” Dr. Salvaterra added. “But even with that head start, Peterborough has only enough vaccine at the moment to provide close to 11,000 appointments from now to the end of April. That falls short of the number needed to immunize everyone 60 years and over — it falls short by about 12,000 doses.”

In concert with Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien and Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, Dr. Salvaterra has been lobbying for a “fair share” of available vaccine doses for the Peterborough region. Adding to her concern is the fact the region “has been hit hard by variants of concern … the risk of transmission has never been higher in our area.”

Infection-related numbers only serve to strengthen Dr. Salvatarra’s argument that more vaccine is needed soon and that those who are eligible for a pharmacy appointment book one as soon as possible. As of 4:30 p.m. on Monday (April 12), there were 103 local active cases in the Peterborough region — an increase of 61 cases over the five days previous -— with 55 of those cases having screened positive for a variant of concern.

The number of high-risk close contacts of positive cases being monitored has risen to 373 — 127 more than reported last week. Of particular concern is that several new positive cases have been associated with more than 20 high-risk close contacts.

To date in April, 135 new cases have been reported, putting the month on pace to eclipse the highest local monthly total of 225 new cases reported in March.

“The third wave is presenting higher weekly (positive case) counts than the previous waves,” said Dr. Salvaterra, noting last week’s 84 cases were most in any one week period since the pandemic began.

Also at an all-time high is the number of active outbreaks, which now stands at seven. Of particular concern is the ongoing outbreak at Empress Gardens Gardens Retirement Residence at 131 Charlotte Street in Peterborough where two residents have died as a resulting of contracting the virus, bringing the region’s total COVID death count to 12.

On the enforcement front, an update was provided on the recently ordered closure of the Who’s Next Barber Shop at 72 Hunter Street East in East City.

According to Julie Ingram, environmental health manager for Peterborough Public Health, in addition to the enforcement of a Section 22 order that immediately closed the barber shop, two charges were laid: one for failure to comply with the provisions of the Reopening Ontario Act and the other for “obstruction” in relation to the owner’s intention to continue to have customers.

The first charge comes with a fine of $750; the second with a fine of $1,000.

Also commenting during Thursday’s media briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien, Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, and Peterborough board of health chair and Selwyn mayor Andy Mitchell.