THUNDER BAY – Th e Thunder Bay District Health Unit will no longer update COVID-19 case counts on a daily basis on weekdays.
Instead case counts moving forward will only be announced on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The health unit will also being making changes to its COVID-19 dashboard, an effort to better reflect the evolving realities of the virus.
They will, however, continue to report new cases.
According to a release issued on Friday by the health unit, a new graph will be added depicting hospitalizations over time and include those admitted to hospital in the Thunder Bay District, including ICU admissions.
The new case numbers will only reflect lab-confirmed cases, which at the time are limited to a restricted group of people, mostly in vulnerable sectors, such as the hospital and long-term care.
TBDHU will also continue to report institutional outbreaks in long-term care homes, hospitals and other congregate living situations, including correctional facilities and shelters.
An overall number of outbreaks will also be included.
The health unit stopped reporting cases on Sundays last April and on Saturdays last July.
There have been 6,071 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the District of Thunder Bay since the pandemic began, 1,807 of which have been diagnosed in 2022. Of the cases, 5,668 are considered to be resolved and there have been 73 deaths.
There are at present 330 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the TBDHU catchment area, but earlier this week medical officer of health Dr. Janet DeMille said she estimates the true number of cases is likely four to five times higher.
