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12 New Cases Reported By NWHU

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The Northwestern Health Unit is reporting 12 new cases of COVID-19 within their catchment area Thursday morning.

There are four new cases each in the Kenora and Fort Frances hubs, two in the Red Lake area and one each in the Sioux Lookout and Dryden regions.

As is the procedure, follow-up is now underway with the cases as well as their close contacts. If you are a known close contact of a confirmed case, the NWHU says they will contact you directly.

The regional health authority says there are currently 59 active cases of the novel coronavirus, a number that is up from the 54 active cases reported on Wednesday.

20 of the active cases are in the Kenora region, 17 in the Sioux Lookout health hub, 12 in the Emo area, seven around Fort Frances, two in the Red Lake region and one in the Dryden area.

There are currently three hospitalizations within the NWHU, while the total number of resolved cases sits at 791.

To date, the Northwestern Health Unit says they’ve administered 21,100 doses of vaccine.

Another person has lost their life in the Thunder Bay district to COVID-19.

Health officials report the 62nd death since the start of the pandemic and 11 new cases.

Ontario reported 3,682 new cases and 40 COVID related deaths.

 

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12 New Cases Reported By NWHU

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The Northwestern Health Unit is reporting 12 new cases of the novel coronavirus Friday morning.

Nine of the new cases are from the Sioux Lookout area, two from the Kenora health hub and one from the Rainy River district.

As is the procedure, follow-up is now underway with the cases as well as their close contacts. If you are a known close contact of a confirmed case, health officials says they will contact you directly.

The regional health authority says there are now 50 active cases within their catchment area; 30 in the Sioux Lookout hub, 15 in the Kenora area, three near Dryden and one each in the Fort Frances and Rainy River health hub areas.

The number of resolved cases now sits at 692, up from 685 on Thursday.

There is only one hospitalization due to COVID-19 within the Northwestern Health Unit catchment area at this time, and there have been 14,056 doses of vaccine administered to date.

To the east, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit is reporting 12 new cases and one COVID-19 related death.

However, the number of actives continue to go down and now sits at 101.

Ontario almost set a new one day record with 4,227 new cases.

That’s the second highest since the pandemic started.

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Province Promotes Covid Alert App

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Ontario continues to encourage people to download an app that sends alerts if you’ve been near someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

It was developed in Ontario and is now in place in seven provinces, including Manitoba.

Premier Doug Ford says 26,000 government workers are using it.

“As government employees, we work for you. Those government cell phones, they’re your property. This is a small, very small, but important way that we can lead by example,” Ford says.

Treasury Board president Peter Bethlenfalvy says it is working.

“Over 1,000 one-time keys have been entered by app users in Ontario who have received confirmed positive COVID-19 test results, notifying tens of thousands of Ontarians of a potential exposure, so that they can take the necessary public health precautions,” Bethlenfalvy explains.

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Ontario Boosting Contact Tracing

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The government is hiring more people to track, trace and isolate cases of COVID-19 in Ontario.

One hundred new contract tracers were in place this week, with another 500 to be hired by mid-November.

Health Minister Christine Ellliott says they’re part of the province’s fall preparedness plan.

“One of the key lines of defense in protecting Ontarians is our case and contact management strategy. By quickly tracing and isolating cases and their contacts, we can prevent the spread of the virus,” Elliott explains.

Currently, 25 of Ontario’s 34 public health units are able to reach 100 per cent of their new cases within 24 hours.

The province has enlisted a recruiting firm to fill the positions.

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National COVID-19 App Out Soon: Hajdu

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The Health Minister says the pilot for the country’s COVID-19 tracking wasn’t released on time because it needed more fine-tuning.

Patty Hajdu says they weren’t ready to launch earlier this month as planned. The app was supposed to pilot in Ontario on July 2nd before launching nationally.

“We know from user science, user behaviour that when people download an app that doesn’t work, they often abandon the app,” Hajdu said. “The success to this app is actually a large portion of Canadians using it, and so it was worth the time and extra energy to make sure that the app was tested and thoroughly debugged to make sure that it would be a pleasant user experience.”

The contact tracing app is currently in a final phase of testing and Hajdu says it will be out as soon as possible.

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COVID-19 Contact Tracing App Coming In July

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A new COVID-19 contact tracing app, being tested in Ontario, will soon be available to download for free.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the app will notify users if they have been exposed to the virus and its use will be “completely voluntary.”

“It’s super simple, It’s super secure. And we’ve worked very, very carefully to ensure that it is that way. It will be available as of the beginning of July right across the country.”

Trudeau says “You download it for free. You leave it in the back of your phone and you forget about it until suddenly it tells you that you may have been in proximity with someone who has since tested positive, reach out to your public health authority.”

Trudeau says at no time will personal information be collected and shared and no location services will be used.

He adds its use will be completely voluntary and the privacy of Canadians will be respected.

The number of known coronavirus cases has now surpassed 100,000 in Canada.

Trudeau states “It’s something that you can just download and forget about. And because it’s completely anonymous. Because it’s low maintenance. Because it’s completely respectful of your privacy, including no location services or geo-tagging of any sort, people can be confident that this is an easy measure that they can have to continue to keep us all safe as we reopen as we get more active. This is an approach that we are confident is going to make a big difference and Canadians can do this and forget about it.”

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Local Health Authority Now In Charge Of Contact Tracing

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The Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority is now in control of case management and contact tracing of COVID-19.

The responsibility has been handed over by Indigenous Services Canada.

Officials say the 31 member communities can expect coordinated, culturally appropriate services in a timely manner during the pandemic.

They add the Authority will be able to respond quickly to minimize the spread of the virus and ensure the protection of its service population.

It’s seen as an important step in moving towards the organizations vision of a public health system that is First Nations governed and managed.

SLFNHA Board Chair John Cutfeet says “this is a recognition of the years of hard work and dedication of the SLFNHA team in building up a public health system to prevent infectious diseases.”

Cutfeet notes “This comes at the most critical time as SLFNHA works with its partners to respond during the COVID-19 pandemic in a way that best meets the needs of the communities.”

Contact tracing is used to identify, assist, and monitor people who have been in close contact with someone who has been infected with a virus, including COVID-19, as these individuals are at a higher risk of becoming infected.

It can help limit further spread and plays a vital role in protecting communities.