DRYDEN, Ont. - The Northwestern Health Unit will likely be staying in the red control zone of the provincial COVID-19 response framework, as trends in the past two weeks have been high while vaccine booking spots remain available.
There were 14 new cases reported in the NWHU catchment area on Friday, bringing the total number of active cases to 50. Of the cases, four are located in the Dryden area, 19 in the Kenora area, and 27 in the Sioux Lookout area.
“The general trend is someone has travelled from outside of the region or been in contact with someone outside of the region and there is some spread locally. Usually, within a household or two or three households closely linked,” said NWHU medical officer of health, Dr. Kit Young Hoon regarding the cases.
A student at Evergreen Public School in Kenora has also tested positive on Thursday. The impacted classroom has been sent home and the NWHU is following up with any potential contacts.
There have been five variants of concern detected in the catchment area, though there are no longer any active variant cases.
“Variants of concern are not currently an issue for Northwestern Health Unit,” Young Hoon said. “We’ve had five variants of concern to date and they have no spread beyond very close contacts. They are contacts of each other. We’ve had two in the Dryden Health hub and three in Fort Frances.”
Even though there are no active variants of concern, Young Hoon is warning that given the high number of variants arising in other parts of the province, it is important to remain vigilant.
“It is noted that once variants of concern start spreading they can start spreading quite quickly,” she said. “We are mindful of that and are encouraging people to follow public health measures. We are encouraging people to avoid non-essential travel outside of northwestern Ontario, including Thunder Bay where the risk is very high.”
While numbers have been going down in recent days, Young Hoon said because of the high number of cases and incident rates in the past several weeks, it is expected the region will remain under the red control zone as part of the province’s COVID-19 response framework.
“It’s really important to monitor a trend,” she said. “The general approach is you monitor a trend for a period of at least two weeks. In the past few days, we have seen a decline. So it is good to see a decline in the incident rates for approximately two weeks before shifting back down to a lower restriction level.”
The vaccine rollout continues throughout the region, with 7,570 doses of the Moderna vaccine administered to date. Though unlike in Thunder Bay, booking spots are still available for those over the age of 75 in some areas.
“For the most part we are seeing this week’s appointments are filled up,” Young Hoon said. “We are still seeing some empty spots, particularly in Kenora. For people in Kenora, if you are eligible, there is still space. For next week there are still spaces available in our clinics. We are encouraging people, if you are eligible to go through the process. There are spaces still in the next week and the week after that.”
According to Young Hoon, some people have reported issues with the province’s online booking system and she encourages anyone who has not received confirmation to contact the health unit’s hotline.
There might also be vaccine hesitancy and Young Hoon wanted to assure everyone that the vaccine is safe.
Health unit staff are also going through lists of those who have registered wanting a vaccine but may not have booked an appointment yet.
“We are trying to make sure all clinics are 100 per cent full so we get as many people vaccinated as possible,” she said.
“If our vaccination rates are not high enough then that leaves us vulnerable to COVID-19 in the fall and winter and that could lead to more public health restrictions. It is important for all those who are eligible to get the vaccine.”
