KENORA – The Northwestern Health Unit reported three cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, with the number of active cases falling to 19.
The number of active cases in the province's westernmost health unit had topped 80 within the past month, and stood at 29 as of Sunday.
All three of the new cases were in the NWHU’s Kenora health hub, which now has the largest number of active cases at 10.
Elsewhere, there were six active cases in the Sioux Lookout hub, two in the Dryden hub, and one in the Atikokan hub. The Emo, Fort Frances, Rainy River, and Red Lake hubs reported no active cases.
NWHU medical officer of health Dr. Kit Young Hoon said the uptick in cases in the Kenora area was due simply to a cluster of individuals and contacts who had tested positive.
There were two new hospitalizations due to COVID-19 last week, but only one individual remained in hospital with the virus as of Tuesday.
The health unit’s testing positivity rate fell marginally to 1.35 per cent for the week of May 17 to 23, with 1,332 tests completed.
That marks an encouraging two-week trend of declining positivity, Young Hoon said.
The health unit has reported a total of 1,055 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, with 19 active and 1,036 considered resolved, including seven deaths in which the virus was a contributing or underlying factor.
