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Ontario reports 1,268 new COVID-19 cases, including 10 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

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

Today, Ontario is reporting 1,268 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 51 to 1,350.

Today’s new cases include 70 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 1,106. The R(t) value for variants of concern — the average number of new infections caused by a single infected individual at a specific time (t) in a partially immunized population — has increased by 0.12 to 1.41.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 10 new cases to report and an additional 17 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 9 to 99. See below for details for each health unit in the region.

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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (366), Peel (220), and York (147).

There are double-digit increases in Hamilton (71), Thunder Bay (61), Ottawa (57), Durham (53), Halton (47), Sudbury (33), Simcoe Muskoka (33), Niagara (27), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District (19), Waterloo (18), Brant (17), Lambton (14), Eastern Ontario (13), and Windsor-Essex (10), with smaller increases in Northwestern (9), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (9), Middlesex-London (8), and Southwestern (8).

The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 4 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 59% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (494) among people ages 20-39 followed by 335 cases among people ages 40-59.

With 1,114 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% to 93.8%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.7% from yesterday to 3.8%, meaning that 38 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 14.

Ontario is reporting 9 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 3 in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 12 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).

Hospitalizations have increased by 98 from yesterday to 699, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 16 from yesterday to 298, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 1 to 187.

A total of 33,975 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 7,540 to 10,954.

A total of 1,191,553 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 33,198 from yesterday, with 287,283 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,668 from yesterday, representing 1.95% of Ontario’s population.

There are 110 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 27 from March 12, including 91 student cases, 15 staff cases, and 4 cases among unidentified people. There are 32 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, an increase of 12 from March 12, with 21 cases among children and 11 cases among staff.

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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 10 new cases to report, including 5 in Haliburton, 3 in Northumberland, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Peterborough. There are no new cases in Hastings Prince Edward for the second day in a row.

There are 9 new regional cases of presumed variants of concern, including 5 in Peterborough, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, 1 in Northumberland, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.

There is 1 new hospitalization in Kawartha Lakes.

An additional 17 cases have been resolved, including 8 in Peterborough, 5 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward. An outbreak at Regency retirement home in Lakefield was declared resolved on March 15.

There are currently 99 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 9 from yesterday, including 55 in Peterborough, 17 in Northumberland, 12 in Hastings Prince Edward (3 in Quinte West, 4 in Belleville, 3 in Prince Edward County, 1 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, and 1 in North Hastings), 10 in Kawartha Lakes, and 5 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 768 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (704 resolved with 9 deaths), 558 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (506 resolved with 55 deaths), 468 in Northumberland County (439 resolved with 12 deaths), 58 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 439 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (421 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Northumberland on March 12.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 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).

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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: 768 (increase of 1)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 121 (increase of 5)
Active cases: 55 (decrease of 7)
Close contacts: 132 (decrease of 9)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 704 (increase of 8)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 27 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 45,050 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence (decrease of 1)**
Vaccine doses administered: 10,320 (no change, last updated March 11)

*As of March 15, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 19 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

**An outbreak at Regency retirement home in Lakefield was declared resolved on March 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. These numbers are from March 14 and 15.

Confirmed positive: 1,084, including 558 in Kawartha Lakes, 468 in Northumberland, and 58 in Haliburton (increase of 9, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, and 5 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 28, including 5 in Kawartha Lakes and 23 in Northumberland (increase of 3, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 34, including 10 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 7 in Haliburton (net increase of 1)
Probable cases: 1 in Kawartha Lakes (no change)
High-risk contacts: 234, including 154 in Kawartha Lakes, 41 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 49, including 29 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 68, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 995, including 506 in Kawartha Lakes, 439 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 8, including 5 in Kawartha Lakes and 3 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 152,883 (increase of 467)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden (no change)

*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.

***This total includes an additional 35 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.

****As of March 15, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 1).

 

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: 439 (no change)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 6 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 12 (decrease of 1)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 421 (increase of 1)
Tests completed: 75,700 (increase of 309)
Vaccine doses administered: 12,508 (increase of 354)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)

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Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 319,374 (increase of 1,268)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) confirmed cases: 1,106 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 70); 44 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 34 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
VOC R(t): 1.41 (increase of 0.12, as of March 11)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,350 (decrease of 51)
Resolved: 298,570 (increase of 1,114), 93.8% of all cases (decrease of 0.1%)
Positivity rate: 3.8% (increase of 0.7%)
Hospitalizations: 699 (increase of 98)**
Hospitalizations in ICU: 298 (increase of 16)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 187 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 7,162 (increase of 9)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 12 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,881 (increase of 3)
Total tests completed: 11,789,084 (increase of 33,975)
Tests under investigation: 10,954 (decrease of 7,540)
Vaccination doses administered: 1,191,553 (increase of 33,198)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 287,283 (increase of 1,668), 1.95% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)

*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.

**More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 12 - March 14, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 12 – March 14, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 12 - March 14, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 12 – March 14, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 12 - March 14, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 12 – March 14, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 12 - March 14, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 12 – March 14, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 12 - March 14, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 12 – March 14, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

Depave Paradise looking to transform pavement into greenspace in Selwyn Township

By kawarthaNOW -
In summer 2019, Peterborough GreenUP's Depave Paradise program and the Downtown Vibrancy Project planted a new garden at Euphoria Wellness Spa in downtown Peterborough. When impermeable asphalt is replaced by greenspace, it allows for water infiltration, reduces flooding and runoff, and creates much more inviting space. (Photo courtesy of GreenUP)

Depave Paradise is looking to transform pavement into greenspace in Selwyn Township.

A joint project of Green Communities Canada and local partners, Depave Paradise sees volunteers working together to remove unwanted pavement and plant gardens filled with native species in its place.

Replacing pavement with greenspace can help mitigate flooding, by allowing water to soak into the soil rather than running over the top of hard surfaces.

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It also reduces pollution that can happen when stormwater washes into the water system. Gardens planted with native species also help pollinators while enhancing the natural beauty of a community.

In 2019, local Depave Paradise partner Peterborough GreenUP transformed five locations, including in downtown Peterborough, with most of the projects more than 100 square metres

Now, Depave Paradise is looking for a business or property owner in Selwyn Township who has a large impermeable asphalt or concrete surface in an area with lots of public traffic.

In 2015, Depave Paradise removed 205 square metres of asphalt at the corner of Lansdowne Street and Brealey Drive in Peterborough and replaced it with greenspace. (Photos courtesy of GreenUP)
In 2015, Depave Paradise removed 205 square metres of asphalt at the corner of Lansdowne Street and Brealey Drive in Peterborough and replaced it with greenspace. (Photos courtesy of GreenUP)

The ideal site needs to have 100 square metres of asphalt or concrete that could be removed and replaced with greenspace. The site also space for disposal bins, temporary storage of plant materials and equipment, and access to washrooms (or space for a portable toilet).

While there is no cost to the business or property owner, in-kind contributions of volunteers and donations of materials are encouraged and the owner is asked to make a commitment to maintaining the site.

Along with the environmental and community benefits, a Depave Paradise project can also add value to a property.

If you are a business or property owner in Selwyn Township with a property that meets these requirements, email acurrier@selwyntownship.ca to submit your property for consideration.

Submissions should include the address, size, and photos of the property. The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 26th.

Depave Paradise will serve as a demonstration site for Selwyn Township’s upcoming Water Wise program in partnership with GreenUP. The program will provide residents with resources to incorporate water-conscious landscape design on their properties.

Ontario reports spike of 1,747 new COVID-19 cases due to ‘data catch-up process’

By kawarthaNOW -

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

Today, Ontario is reporting 1,747 new cases, although the provincial government states today’s case count “may be higher than expected due to a data catch-up process” related to the provincial Case and Contact Management system.

With today’s cases, the seven-day average of daily cases has increased by 68 to 1,337. Today’s new cases include 12 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant (for a total of 1,036) and 1 more case of the B.1.351 South Africa variant (for a total of 44).

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 5 new cases to report and an additional 15 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 10 to 108. However, these numbers do not include Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton as the health unit does not issue updates on Sundays.

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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (545), Peel (352), and York (163).

There are double-digit increases in Hamilton (93), Ottawa (83), Durham (55), Simcoe Muskoka (50), Sudbury (49), Niagara (48), Waterloo (48), Thunder Bay (40), Lambton (38), Halton (38), Windsor-Essex (28), Brant (23), Middlesex-London (13), Haldimand-Norfolk (13), and Eastern Ontario (12), with smaller increases in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (9), Southwestern (8), Huron Perth (7), and Northwestern (6).

The remaining 12 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 2 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 55% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (624) among people ages 20-39 followed by 492 cases among people ages 40-59.

With 1,167 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% to 93.9%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.2% from yesterday to 3.1%, meaning that 31 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 13.

Ontario is reporting 15 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 12 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday), but there have been only 2 new COVID-related deaths in long-term care homes over the past seven days.

Hospitalizations have decreased by 88 from yesterday to 601, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 7 from yesterday to 282, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 11 to 186.

A total of 47,618 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 11,262 to 18,494.

A total of 1,158,355 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 41,859 from yesterday, with 285,615 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 929 from yesterday, representing 1.94% of Ontario’s population.

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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 5 new cases to report in Peterborough. There are no new cases in Hastings Prince Edward. Case information for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton is unavailable as the health unit does not issue updates on Sundays.

There are 4 new cases of presumed variants of concern in Peterborough, for a total of 116. However, only 1 case has been confirmed as a variant of concern.

An additional 15 cases have been resolved, including 14 in Peterborough and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.

There are currently 108 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 10 from yesterday, including 62 in Peterborough, 17 in Northumberland, 13 in Hastings Prince Edward (3 in Quinte West, 4 in Belleville, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 3 in Prince Edward County, 1 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, and 1 in North Hastings), 14 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 767 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (696 resolved with 9 deaths), 557 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (501 resolved with 55 deaths), 465 in Northumberland County (436 resolved with 12 deaths), 53 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 439 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (420 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Northumberland on March 12.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 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).

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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: 767 (increase of 5)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 116 (increase of 4)
Active cases: 62 (decrease of 9)
Close contacts: 141 (decrease of 32)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 696 (increase of 14)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 27 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 45,000 (increase of 200)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 10,320 (no change, last updated March 11)

*As of March 12, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 19 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (increase of 2).

 

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. These numbers are from March 13.

Confirmed positive: 1,075, including 557 in Kawartha Lakes, 465 in Northumberland, and 53 in Haliburton (increase of 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 1 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 25, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 22 in Northumberland (increase of 4 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 33, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (net decrease of 1)
Probable cases: 1 in Kawartha Lakes (no change)
High-risk contacts: 234, including 154 in Kawartha Lakes, 41 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (net decrease of 30)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 48, including 28 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 68, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 987, including 501 in Kawartha Lakes, 436 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 4 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 152,416 (increase of 579)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Haliburton (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.

***This total includes an additional 36 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.

****As of March 12, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).

*****An outbreak was declared at Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden on March 12 based on a single case.

 

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: 439 (no change)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 5 (no change)
Active cases: 13 (decrease of 1)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 420 (increase of 1)
Tests completed: 75,391 (increase of 3,989)
Vaccine doses administered: 12,154 (increase of 210)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)

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Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 318,106 (increase of 1,747)*
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) confirmed cases: 1,036 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 12); 44 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 1); 34 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
VOC R(t): 1.29 (as of March 9)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,401 (increase of 64)
Resolved: 298,570 (increase of 1,167), 93.9% of all cases
Positivity rate: 3.1% (increase of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 601 (decrease of 88)***
Hospitalizations in ICU: 282 (increase of 7)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 186 (increase of 11)
Deaths: 7,153 (increase of 15)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 12 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,878 (no change)
Total tests completed: 11,755,109 (increase of 47,618)
Tests under investigation: 18,494 (decrease of 11,262)
Vaccination doses administered: 1,158,355 (increase of 41,859)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 285,615 (increase of 929), 1.94% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)

*The provincial government states today’s case count “may be higher than expected due to a data catch-up process” related to the provincial Case and Contact Management system.

**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 specifc time (t) in a partially immunized population. To successfully eliminate a disease from a population, R(t) needs to be less than 1.

***More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 11 - March 13, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 11 – March 13, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 11 - March 13, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 11 – March 13, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 11 - March 13, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 11 – March 13, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 11 - March 13, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 11 – March 13, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 11 - March 13, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 11 – March 13, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine booking system launches for 80-plus year olds at 8 a.m. on Monday

By kawarthaNOW -
At a media conference at Queen's Park on March 14, 2021, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces the province's new online booking system and customer service desk for making COVID-19 vaccination appointments at provincial mass immunization clinics will launch on March 15 for residents who are 80 years of age or older in 2021. (CPAC screenshot)

Ontario’s new online portal for booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments at provincial mass immunization clinics is launching at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 15th — but the provincial government is urging only those eligible to receive vaccines to use it.

“It’s critical that everyone in Ontario understands how this portal works,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said during a media conference at Queen’s Park on Sunday (March 14). “So let me clear, because this could not be more important. When this launches tomorrow, it is only to book vaccine appointments for those 80 years of age or older.”

Until April, the website and customer service desk will only be available for booking appointments for Ontario residents who are 80 years of age or older in 2021 (born in 1941 or earlier). This means that a 79-year-old who turns 80 on December 31, 2021 is also eligible for an appointment.

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If an Ontario resident 80 years or older in 2021 doesn’t have access to the internet, or otherwise needs assistance, a person trusted to make an appointment on their behalf can do so instead.

The website is located at ontario.ca/bookvaccine, where people will be guided to make an appointment through the provincial booking system, or through their local public health unit if there is a local public health unit booking system or call centre in place.

Retired general Rick Hillier, chair of Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force, said the booking system will have more than 800,000 appointments available across the province. To support the administration of vaccines, 255 vaccination sites across the province are planned for March, including 153 mass immunization clinics.

When booking an appointment, people will be asked for information from their green Ontario health card (numbers on the front and back of the card are needed), as well as their birth date, postal code, and email address and/or phone number. At the time of booking, eligible people will schedule both their first and second vaccination appointments.

People 80 years or older who don’t have internet access or don’t have someone to help them, or who otherwise require assistance with booking, can call the Provincial Vaccine Information Line number at 1-888-999-6488 from Monday to Sunday between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

People who still have the red-and-white Ontario health card will also need to telephone, as the online system will not accept the older health cards.

To accommodate demand, Premier Ford said the information line will be staffed by 2,200 customer service representatives.

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From April to July, the system will be gradually opened up in five-year increments to adults aged 60 to 79. In July, the system will be expanded to include those 59 years of age and younger.

For the month of March, Ontario is expecting to receive 870,480 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 483,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine. Ontario has also received 194,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine the week of March 8th.

“We are ready to ramp up immediately to 150,000 vaccinations a day, we just need more vaccines,” Ford said. “We have the capacity to do 4.8 million in a month.”

As of March 14, Ontario has administered 1,158,355 doses of vaccine. A total of 285,615 people have been fully immunized with two doses of vaccine, representing 1.93 per cent of Ontario’s total population.

An estimated 70 to 90 per cent of the population needs to be fully immunized to achieve herd immunity.

Crowdfunding campaign set up for mother of two struck by dump truck near Colborne

By kawarthaNOW -
Keira Sayeau with her young sons Hudson and Bennett in October 2020. On March 10, 2021, Sayeau was seriously injured when she was struck by a dump truck while crossing at the traffic lights at an intersection north of the the village of Colborne. (Photo: Keira Sayeau / Facebook)

A crowdfunding campaign has been set up for a 30-year-old mother of two young children who was struck by a dump truck last Wednesday (March 10) north of the village of Colborne.

Related story
Mother walking with toddler and infant struck by dump truck north of Colborne.

Keira Sayeau was airlifted to a Toronto hospital with serious injuries after the accident, which happened on Wednesday afternoon when Sayeau and her children was crossing the intersection of Orchard Road and Percy Street south of Highway 401 at the traffic lights.

As Sayeau walked southbound across Orchard Road with her two sons, four-year-old Hudson and six-month-old Bennett, a northbound dump truck turning west onto Orchard Road struck Sayeau. Her children were taken to hospital as a precaution, where Bennett received treatment for minimal injuries.

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Cassia Piper has organized a GoFundMe on behalf of Sayeau.

“While loved ones and insurance will be able to help during the time it takes to get Keira back on both feet, running after the kids, we thought we would reach out to our amazing community to help supplement the time it takes for the family to find a routine during this transition,” Piper writes on GoFundMe.

“While we await the bones to heal, we are looking to help Keira stay off her feet by organizing cleaning services, dog walking services and food delivery. Zac will have his hands full with the boys and it will be hard to keep Keira from helping.”

More than $4,000 has already been raised of the $5,000 goal.

“We would like to provide her with options so she can plan accordingly for the next several months,” Piper writes. “We hope by providing these alternatives, it will help Keira physically and mentally heal to know that her family is fed and the laundry is complete.”

Ontario reports 1,468 new COVID-19 cases, including 9 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

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

Today, Ontario is reporting 1,468 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 68 to 1,337.

Today’s new cases include 19 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant (for a total of 1,024) and 1 more case of the B.1.351 South Africa variant (for a total of 43).

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 9 new cases to report and an additional 17 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 8 to 118.

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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (381), Peel (226), and York (168).

There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (82), Thunder Bay (66), Waterloo (51), Sudbury (46), Halton (46), Simcoe Muskoka (43), Windsor-Essex (40), Durham (38), Middlesex-London (36), Hamilton (36), Niagara (31), Southwestern (25), Brant (24), Lambton (22), Chatham-Kent (18), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (17), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (15), Northwestern (13), Peterborough (13), and Eastern Ontario (12), with a smaller increase in Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (6).

The remaining 10 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 4 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 58% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (496) among people ages 20-39 followed by 415 cases among people ages 40-59.

With 1,151 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% to 94.0%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.5% from yesterday to 2.9%, meaning that 29 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 12.

Ontario is reporting 11 new COVID-19 deaths today, with 1 new death in a long-term care home. Ontario has averaged 12 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).

Hospitalizations have increased by 13 from yesterday to 689, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 7 to 275 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 14 to 175.

A total of 58,431 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 6,988 to 29,756.

A total of 1,116,496 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 53,586 from yesterday, with 284,686 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,938 from yesterday, representing 1.93% of Ontario’s population.

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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 9 new cases to report, including 3 in Peterborough, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 1 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton.

There are 7 new regional cases of presumed variants of concern, including 3 in Peterborough and 4 in Northumberland.

An outbreak was declared at Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden on March 12 based on a single case. There is 1 new hospitalization in Peterborough and 1 new hospitalization in Kawartha Lakes.

An additional 17 cases have been resolved, including 11 in Peterborough, 4 in Northumberland, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.

There are currently 118 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 8 from yesterday, including 71 in Peterborough, 17 in Northumberland, 14 in Hastings Prince Edward (3 in Quinte West, 5 in Belleville, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 3 in Prince Edward County, 1 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, and 1 in North Hastings), 14 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 762 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (682 resolved with 9 deaths), 557 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (501 resolved with 55 deaths), 465 in Northumberland County (436 resolved with 12 deaths), 53 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 439 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (419 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Northumberland on March 12.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 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).

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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: 762 (increase of 3)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 112 (increase of 3)
Active cases: 71 (decrease of 8)
Close contacts: 173 (decrease of 28)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 682 (increase of 11)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 27 (increase of 1)*
Total tests completed: Over 44,800 (increase of 150)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 10,320 (increase of 4,393, last updated March 11)

*As of March 12, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 19 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (increase of 2).

 

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: 1,075, including 557 in Kawartha Lakes, 465 in Northumberland, and 53 in Haliburton (increase of 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 1 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 25, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 22 in Northumberland (increase of 4 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 33, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (net decrease of 1)
Probable cases: 1 in Kawartha Lakes (no change)
High-risk contacts: 234, including 154 in Kawartha Lakes, 41 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (net decrease of 30)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 48, including 28 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 68, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 987, including 501 in Kawartha Lakes, 436 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 4 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 152,416 (increase of 579)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Haliburton (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.

***This total includes an additional 36 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.

****As of March 12, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).

*****An outbreak was declared at Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden on March 12 based on a single case.

 

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: 439 (increase of 3)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 5 (no change)
Active cases: 14 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 419 (increase of 2)
Tests completed: 71,402 (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 11,944 (increase of 444)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)

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Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 316,359 (increase of 1,468)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) confirmed cases: 1,024 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 19); 43 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 1); 34 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
VOC R(t): 1.29 (as of March 9)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,337 (increase of 68)
Resolved: 297,403 (increase of 1,151), 94.0% of all cases
Positivity rate: 2.9% (increase of 0.5%)
Hospitalizations: 689 (increase of 13)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 275 (decrease of 7)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 175 (decrease of 14)
Deaths: 7,138 (increase of 11)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 12 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,878 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: 11,707,491 (increase of 58,431)
Tests under investigation: 29,756 (decrease of 6,988)
Vaccination doses administered: 1,116,496 (increase of 53,586)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 284,686 (increase of 1,938), 1.93% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)

*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 specifc time (t) in a partially immunized population. To successfully eliminate a disease from a population, R(t) needs to be less than 1.

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 10 - March 12, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 10 – March 12, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 10 - March 12, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 10 – March 12, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 10 - March 12, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 10 – March 12, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 10 - March 12, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 10 – March 12, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 10 - March 12, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 10 – March 12, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

Selwyn Township family releases second parody video on pandemic anniversary

By Hannah Abrahamse -
Selwyn Township's Ashton Kelly sings in "Life in a Pandemic (don't it stink)", a pandemic parody video set to the tune of Alanis Morissette's 1996 hit "Ironic". Ashton and her mom Deborah wrote the original lyrics, while Ashton's stepfather Mark Russell filmed and edited. This is the second pandemic parody video created by the family, who released one in April 2020 set to the tune of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". (Screenshot)

With March 11th the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring a global pandemic, a Selwyn Township family marked the occasion by releasing a parody song about the pandemic.

Related story
Selwyn family turns self-isolation into a viral video

This is not the family’s first time tackling a COVID-19 parody song project. Last April, 23-year-old Ashton Kelly and her family released their first parody song and its accompanying video on YouTube — “Something to Do-ah (The Isolation Song)” to the tune of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen — garnering almost 28,000 views.

Now a year later, their second parody song “Life in a Pandemic (don’t it stink)” is set to the tune of Canadian musical icon Alanis Morissette’s 1996 hit “Ironic” — with the parody video mirroring Morissette’s original music video.

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“Last year, we came up with the idea to do a fun parody song just to lighten spirits a bit,” explains Ashton, who sings in both the videos. “We got a really good response we weren’t expecting, so this year we decided as an anniversary celebration of the first song that we’d do a second one.”

This time around, Ashton and her mom Deborah wrote the lyrics, while Ashton’s stepfather Mark Russell filmed and edited. The entire project took about a week and a half — four days to write lyrics, three and a half days to film, and three days for post-production.

In addition to her passion for singing, Ashton is pursuing acting as her career and is currently a student in a post-secondary acting program that holds some in-person classes. The “Ironic” parody song was shot during Ashton’s reading week.

VIDEO: Life in a Pandemic (don’t it stink?) – Ironic Parody

“It’s hard with COVID … there are no live performances,” Ashton notes. “This is a good way to get my creative juices flowing again. It’s something fun for the whole family as well as keeping that aspect of my passion for singing and acting alive.”

“I was stressed and hard on myself the first time around,” she adds. “This time, I was more worried about it being fun. I wanted it to be something families could enjoy, and our family and friends could laugh at.”

In comparison with the initial video, this one is a fun look at how much and how little has changed over the last year regarding the pandemic. According to Ashton, creating the second video was a reality check for her and her family that it has been a whole year of the pandemic.

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“It was kind of crazy writing lyrics for a pandemic that’s still going on because it was very similar,” Ashton says. “We weren’t expecting last year that we would be in the same predicament a year later.”

In another sense, this second song exemplifies the difference in how many now deal with and talk about COVID-19. For example, there are lyrics about the COVID vaccine, which is being rolled out in Canada at a much slower pace than in many other countries (“Please give us the shot much quicker”).

Ashton says pop-culture references, including Canadian references, were essential for the song, especially since this was one of the most popular elements of last year’s parody video.

As with their first parody video, "Life in a Pandemic (don't it stink)" includes various memes and pop-culture references. (Screenshot)
As with their first parody video, “Life in a Pandemic (don’t it stink)” includes various memes and pop-culture references. (Screenshot)

“We wanted to make sure that we did the same thing but made it new and based on what’s popular right now,” Ashton explains..

The contrast between references to the Netflix hit Tiger King in the first video and currently popular shows like Bridgerton and Schitt’s Creek in the second brings to light the ways popular culture has continued to shift throughout a pandemic as prevalent now as it was a year ago.

Another one of Ashton’s favourite lyrics pokes fun at the unique struggles that have accompanied a pandemic: “It’s DMing the man of my dreams, and then hearing his anti-mask shite.”

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While lyrics like these are comedic, they also hit on how the pandemic has reached and affected seemingly unrelated aspects of an individual’s life, such as dating.

Ashton says keeping the video distinctly Canadian was also important to her family — a partial motivator for their choice to cover “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette.

“It’s a recognizable song and is Canadian,” Ashton explains. “We knew that people of all generations were going to know and recognize the song, and it’s more upbeat in comparison to Hallelujah last year.”

With a few calculated variations, the parody music video is almost a shot-for-shot recreation of Morissette’s original music video. However, the video’s last shot where Ashton walks away from her car varies from Morissette since Ashton puts on a mask in her video.

Alanis Morissette in the music video for her 1996 hit "Ironic" and Ashton Kelly in the pandemic parody video "Life in a Pandemic (don't it stink)". With a few calculated variations, the parody music video is almost a shot-for-shot recreation of Morissette's original music video. (Screenshots)
Alanis Morissette in the music video for her 1996 hit “Ironic” and Ashton Kelly in the pandemic parody video “Life in a Pandemic (don’t it stink)”. With a few calculated variations, the parody music video is almost a shot-for-shot recreation of Morissette’s original music video. (Screenshots)

The video’s repetition of the original with subtle variations that distinctly reference COVID is a fun way to show how COVID has changed daily life.

Regarding the family’s expectations in creating this video, Ashton says they have no expectations of it going viral. Instead, they want it to be something fun to lift people’s spirits around a topic and time that can be negative and exhausting.

“We wanted to make sure this wasn’t diminishing anyone’s struggles with due to COVID,” Ashton says. “We just want to entertain people. We love entertaining, and that is the career I have chosen for myself. It’s also fun to do with family — it was a bonding experience.”

Since being posted on YouTube on Thursday (March 11), the video has over 1,700 views and more than 40 likes as of the date of this story.

Ontario reports 1,371 new COVID-19 cases, including 19 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

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

With Ontario reporting 1,371 new cases today, the provincial government has announced four public health units will be moving to more restrictive levels in the province’s colour-coded COVID-19 response framework: Sudbury and Lambton are moving into ‘Grey-Lockdown’, Northwestern is moving into ‘Red-Control’, and Leeds, Grenville and Lanark is moving into ‘Yellow-Protect’. With the exception of Sudbury, which moves into its new level on March 13, the remaining changes take effect on March 15.

The seven-day average of daily cases has increased by 17 to 1,269. Today’s new cases include 49 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant (for a total of 1,005), 1 more case of the B.1.351 South Africa variant (for a total of 42), and 6 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant (for a total of 34).

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 19 new cases to report and an additional 12 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 10 to 126.

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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (371), Peel (225), York (111), and Hamilton (109).

There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (83), Thunder Bay (52), Simcoe Muskoka (43), Windsor-Essex (39), Sudbury (37), Waterloo (36), Durham (35), Halton (34), Middlesex-London (31), Lambton (27), Niagara (22), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (19), Northwestern (13), Eastern Ontario (12), Brant (11), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (10), and Chatham-Kent (10), with smaller increases in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox (9), Renfrew (9), and Haldimand-Norfolk (6).

The remaining 10 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 2 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 57% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (504) among people ages 20-39 followed by 359 cases among people ages 40-59.

With 1,124 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases is unchanged at 94.1%. The average positivity rate across Ontario is unchanged from yesterday at 2.4%, meaning that 24 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 11.

Ontario is reporting 18 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 12 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).

Hospitalizations have decreased by 4 from yesterday to 676, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 5 to 282 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 5 to 189.

A total of 64,611 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 5,289 to 36,744.

A total of 1,062,910 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 43,503 from yesterday, with 282,748 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,034 from yesterday, representing 1.92% of Ontario’s population.

There are 137 new cases in Ontario schools, an increase of 13 from yesterday, including 99 student cases and 38 staff cases. There are 20 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 7 from yesterday, with 14 cases among children and 6 cases among staff.

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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 19 new cases to report, including 10 in Peterborough, 4 in Northumberland, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 2 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Haliburton.

There is 1 new COVID-related death to report in Northumberland.

There are 8 new cases of presumed variants of concern in Peterborough, for a total of 109.

An additional 12 cases have been resolved, including 9 in Peterborough, 2 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes.

There are currently 126 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 10 from yesterday, including 79 in Peterborough, 20 in Northumberland, 13 in Hastings Prince Edward (3 in Quinte West, 6 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 1 in Prince Edward County, and 1 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), 13 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 759 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (671 resolved with 9 deaths), 556 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (501 resolved with 55 deaths), 464 in Northumberland County (432 resolved with 12 deaths), 52 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 436 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (417 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Northumberland on March 12.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 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).

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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: 759 (increase of 12)*
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 109 (increase of 8)
Active cases: 79 (increase of 3)
Close contacts: 201 (decrease of 21)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 671 (increase of 9)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 26 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 44,650 (increase of 150)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 10,320 (increase of 4,393, last updated March 11)

*The health unit is reporting 10 new cases in the last 24 hours. However, 2 caes have been added to previous days, increasing the total case count by 12.

**As of March 12, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 19 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (increase of 2).

 

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: 1,072, including 556 in Kawartha Lakes, 464 in Northumberland, and 52 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 21, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 18 in Northumberland (no change)**
Active cases: 34, including 13 in Kawartha Lakes, 20 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 1 (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
High-risk contacts: 264, including 166 in Kawartha Lakes, 44 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 19)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 47, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 68, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)
Resolved: 983, including 501 in Kawartha Lakes, 432 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
Tests completed: 151,837 (increase of 781)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay (no change)

*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.

***This total includes an additional 50 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.

****As of March 12, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).

 

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: 436 (increase of 3)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 5 (no change)
Active cases: 13 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 417 (increase of 2)
Tests completed: 71,402 (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 11,500 (increase of 821)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)

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Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 314,891 (increase of 1,371)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 1,005 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 49); 42 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 1); 34 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 6)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,269 (increase of 17)
Resolved: 296,252 (increase of 1,124), 94.1% of all cases
Positivity rate: 2.4% (no change)
Hospitalizations: 676 (decrease of 4)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 282 (increase of 5)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 189 (increase of 5)
Deaths: 7,127 (increase of 18)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 12 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,877 (no change)
Total tests completed: 11,649,060 (increase of 64,611)
Tests under investigation: 36,744 (decrease of 5,289)
Vaccination doses administered: 1,062,910 (increase of 43,503)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 282,748 (increase of 1,034), 1.92% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 9 - March 11, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 9 – March 11, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 9 - March 11, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 9 – March 11, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 9 - March 11, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 9 – March 11, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 9 - March 11, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 9 – March 11, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 9 - March 11, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 9 – March 11, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

The Pin restaurant in downtown Peterborough stays positive amidst shifting COVID-19 restrictions

By Hannah Abrahamse -
The Pin restaurant in downtown Peterborough serves a variety of crafted entrées for lunch and dinner, in addition to starters, seasonal salads, desserts, and wines. Reservations are required for in-person dining to ensure the retaurant can adhere to COVID-19 restrictions. Takeout for pickup is also available. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rollercoaster ride of changes in restrictions for restaurants.

This story is one of an ongoing series by kawarthaNOW in support of locally owned businesses.

With the Peterborough region recently moving into the ‘Red-Control’ level of the province’s COVID-19 response framework, and the local health unit requiring restaurants to ensure diners at the same table are from the same household, the rollercoaster continues for local restaurants.

Nadene Crough, owner of The Pin restaurant in downtown Peterborough, says this back-and-forth in lockdowns, restrictions, and rules has been one of the most challenging aspects of running her small business during COVID-19.

“As an owner, that’s been a main stress,” Crough tells kawarthaNOW. “Will we be open next week? Should I put that order in? Am I going to have the clientele to sell that? Is the money going to be there?”

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Peterborough’s move to the red zone means restaurants are only permitted to seat 10 patrons indoors at one time, with a maximum of four people from the same household per table.

To accommodate the new requirements, Crough says The Pin is organizing set times for in-person dining reservations to keep numbers within limits. Fortunately, with the warmer weather, The Pin also has patio space on its front porch and side deck for additional tables.

To make a reservation for in-person dining, call the restaurant at 705-745-6544. Customers preferring to pick up takeout should also call that number to place their orders, rather than on social media.

“We ask for customers to call because I am working,” says Crough. “I don’t want to miss someone ordering over Facebook or Instagram because I’m busy and didn’t see it.”

The Pin is set inside a beautiful Victorian home, and prides itself on offering a warm and home-style atmosphere. Under provincial restrictions during the pandemic, tables are spaced more than two metres apart and only members of the same household (or caregivers or single people living along joining one other household) can sit at the same table. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)
The Pin is set inside a beautiful Victorian home, and prides itself on offering a warm and home-style atmosphere. Under provincial restrictions during the pandemic, tables are spaced more than two metres apart and only members of the same household (or caregivers or single people living along joining one other household) can sit at the same table. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)

Customers can order from the restaurant’s full menu, which is available online at www.thepin.ca. You can also order the soup of the day or weekly features posted on the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

The Pin’s efforts to quickly adapt to the ever-shifting COVID protocols are motivated by the goal of keeping the business going so, when the pandemic is over, they can once again offer the full intimate dining experience unique to their establishment.

The Pin is set inside a beautiful Victorian home, and the warm home-style dining atmosphere is a large part of what makes the restaurant so special.

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While takeout has helped The Pin make it through lockdowns, Crough points out in-person dining is vital to the restaurant since “that’s part of the enjoyment of going out to eat — going into an establishment and being waited on and being taken care of.”

The end to the province’s stay-at-home order a few weeks ago was therefore exciting news for Crough. While The Pin was closed for indoor dining, Crough says people were fantastic about still ordering food, but business was much slower than during the first lockdown.

As for the recent requirement by Peterborough Public Health that servers confirm customers at the same table are only dining with household members, Crough says the majority of her guests understand servers are just doing their job.

Pictured here in summer 2018, The Pin is Located at the corner of King and Rubidge streets in downtown Peterborough inside a beautiful Victorian home. The interior's warm home-style dining atmosphere is a large part of what makes the restaurant so special, and the restaurant also has outside dining available on its porch and side deck during warmer weather. (Photo: Google Maps)
Pictured here in summer 2018, The Pin is Located at the corner of King and Rubidge streets in downtown Peterborough inside a beautiful Victorian home. The interior’s warm home-style dining atmosphere is a large part of what makes the restaurant so special, and the restaurant also has outside dining available on its porch and side deck during warmer weather. (Photo: Google Maps)

“That responsibility is a lot to put on your servers,” she says. “I know the city is trying to reiterate the onus is on the populous, and we are just doing our duty and covering our bases.”

But Crough adds The Pin had already been confirming their customers were from the same household, well before the mandate issued by Peterborough Public Health.

“We decided that we’d start right off the get-go with this, because it was the province’s recommendation,” she notes. “I thought we might as well get used to it.”

A chicken bruschetta club crepe was the recent feature of the day at The Pin restaurant in downtown Peterborough. The Pin's crepes are available for lunch or dinner, and can be ordered for takeout or dine-in. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)
A chicken bruschetta club crepe was the recent feature of the day at The Pin restaurant in downtown Peterborough. The Pin’s crepes are available for lunch or dinner, and can be ordered for takeout or dine-in. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)

Crough points out diners at the same table don’t necessarily have to live in the same home.

“We do find that the province and the city need to reiterate that caregivers are allowed to join the people to whom they give care and those living alone can join another household,” she explains.

As well as collecting contact information from patrons and verbal attestations that diners seated together are from the same household, The Pin has implemented various other health and safety measures to ensure customers have a safe dining experience.

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“We’ve changed our tablecloths to make it easier and quicker for servers to clean and sanitize tables,” Crough says. “We make sure we try to schedule any reservations with the time to make sure the tables are cleaned, wiped, and sanitized.”

“Before COVID, we used to set our tables with the cutlery already out. The servers now roll the cutlery while in gloves in the morning so that it’s protected.”

Crough says small changes like these, in addition to sanitizing high-touch points often, are steps they are glad to take to instill customer confidence in the restaurant’s safety.

As well as physically distancing tables, The Pin has taken additional steps to ensure a safe dining experience. For instance, cutlery is sanitized and kept rolled rather than being laid out in advance on the tables. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)
As well as physically distancing tables, The Pin has taken additional steps to ensure a safe dining experience. For instance, cutlery is sanitized and kept rolled rather than being laid out in advance on the tables. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)

Nevertheless, it has been difficult for restaurant owners as they are forced to continually adapt to challenges they would not have foreseen prior to the pandemic. Crough reminds the community that The Pin and other locally owned restaurants need ongoing support.

“Even though people may be seeing a lot of these small independent restaurants posting ‘We’re sold out, thanks for a great evening’, they need to remember that we’re still doing only 25 to 30 per cent of what we normally do,” she points out.

That said, Crough is thankful for the understanding, support, and patience the Peterborough community has shown her business as The Pin manages through the pandemic.

“Many restaurants are working with small teams because you can’t staff like normal,” she says. “The Peterborough community has been great, so it would be great if they would continue with their support and understanding.”

The Pin is open for lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday and lunch and dinner Thursday through Saturday. Both in-person dining or takeout for pickup is available. The Pin will be offering a St. Patrick's Day special, which will be announced on the restaurant's Facebook and Instagram pages. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)
The Pin is open for lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday and lunch and dinner Thursday through Saturday. Both in-person dining or takeout for pickup is available. The Pin will be offering a St. Patrick’s Day special, which will be announced on the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram pages. (Photo courtesy of The Pin)

“If you follow us on social media, we always appreciate shares to friends and family,” Crough adds. “The more people seeing our specials and what we are doing, the more people we can get through the door.”

You can support The Pin on social media by following them on Facebook and Instagram.

To view The Pin’s regular lunch and dinner menu, you can visit their website at www.thepin.ca.

The Pin is located at 302 King Street in downtown Peterborough. Currently, they are open for in-person dining reservations and takeout for lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. The Pin is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Ontario reports 1,092 new COVID-19 cases, including 7 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

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

Today, Ontario is reporting 1,092 new cases, including 35 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant (for a total of 956), 2 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant (for a total of 41), and 11 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant (for a total of 28).

With today’s new cases, the seven-day average of daily cases has increased by 14 to 1,252.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 7 new cases to report and an additional 18 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 11 to 116.

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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (293) and Peel (199).

There are double-digit increases in York (79), Ottawa (64), Thunder Bay (48), Simcoe Muskoka (43), Windsor-Essex (39), Hamilton (38), Waterloo (37), Durham (36), Lambton (33), Halton (33), Middlesex-London (26), Niagara (26), Eastern Ontario (18), Sudbury (11), and Chatham-Kent (10), with smaller increases in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (8), Peterborough (8), Brant (7), Huron Perth (6), and Southwestern (6).

The remaining 12 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 4 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 56% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (425) among people ages 20-39 followed by 322 cases among people ages 40-59.

With 1,110 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases is unchanged at 94.1%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.1% from yesterday to 2.4%, meaning that 24 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 10.

Ontario is reporting 10 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 1 death in a long-term care home — the first in four days. Ontario has averaged 12 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).

Hospitalizations have increased by 2 from yesterday to 680, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 4 to 277 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 6 to 184.

A total of 60,619 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 3,515 to 42,033.

A total of 1,019,407 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 40,610 from yesterday, with 281,714 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,510 from yesterday, representing 1.91% of Ontario’s population.

There are 124 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 70 from yesterday, including 102 student cases and 22 staff cases. There are 27 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 13 from yeasterday, with 20 cases among children and 7 cases among staff.

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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 7 new cases to report, including 2 in Peterborough, 2 in Hastings Prince Edward, 2 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton. There are no new cases in Kawartha Lakes.

There are 15 new cases of presumed variants of concern, including 12 in Peterborough and 3 in Northumberland.

An additional 18 cases have been resolved, including 7 in Peterborough, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 2 in Northumberland. An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Central Hastings has been declared resolved.

There are currently 116 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 11 from yesterday, including 76 in Peterborough, 16 in Northumberland, 12 in Hastings Prince Edward (1 in Quinte West, 6 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Prince Edward County, and 1 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), 11 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 747 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (662 resolved with 9 deaths), 553 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (500 resolved with 55 deaths), 459 in Northumberland County (432 resolved with 11 deaths), 52 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 433 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (415 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Haliburton on March 4.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 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).

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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: 747 (increase of 2)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 101 (increase of 12)
Active cases: 76 (decrease of 5)
Close contacts: 222 (increase of 2)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 662 (increase of 7)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 26 (increase of 1)*
Total tests completed: Over 44,500 (no change)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 10,320 (increase of 4,393, last updated March 11)

*As of March 11, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

 

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: 1,064, including 553 in Kawartha Lakes, 459 in Northumberland, and 52 in Haliburton (increase of 3, including 2 in Northumberland and 1 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 21, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 18 in Northumberland (increase of 3 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 28, including 11 in Kawartha Lakes, 16 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (net decrease of 4)
Probable cases: 1 (increase of 1 in Northumberland)
High-risk contacts: 245, including 151 in Kawartha Lakes, 44 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 19)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 47, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 67, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 982, including 500 in Kawartha Lakes, 432 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 8, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 151,056 (decrease of 2,925)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay (no change)

*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.

***This total includes an additional 3 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.

****As of March 11, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).

 

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: 433 (increase of 2)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 5 (no change)
Active cases: 12 (decrease of 2)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 415 (increase of 3)
Tests completed: 71,402 (increase of 2)
Vaccine doses administered: 10,679 (increase of 884)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Belleville (decrease of 1)*

*An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Central Hastings was declared resolved on March 7.

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Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 313,520 (increase of 1,092)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 956 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 35); 41 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 2); 28 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 11)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,252 (increase of 14)
Resolved: 295,128 (increase of 1,110), 94.1% of all cases
Positivity rate: 2.4% (decrease of 0.1%)
Hospitalizations: 680 (increase of 2)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 277 (decrease of 4)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 184 (increase of 6)
Deaths: 7,109 (increase of 10)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 12 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,877 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: 11,584,449 (increase of 60,619)
Tests under investigation: 42,033 (increase of 3,515)
Vaccination doses administered: 1,019,407 (increase of 40,610)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 281,714 (increase of 2,510), 1.91% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 8 - March 10, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from February 8 – March 10, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 8 - March 10, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from February 8 – March 10, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 8 - March 10, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from February 8 – March 10, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 8 - March 10, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from February 8 – March 10, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 8 - March 10, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from February 8 – March 10, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

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