THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay District has recorded its second COVID-related death of the week, and the 17th of 2022.
The news came as part of a COVID-19 update from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit issued Friday, which also showed hospitalization and case count numbers rising.
There were 34 COVID-positive patients admitted to hospitals across the district, the health unit reported, with four in the Intensive Care Unit, up from 25 and 3 respectively in the previous report two days earlier.
The hospitalization figures are accurate to the end of day on Wednesday.
There were 304 active cases recorded across the district, with 259 newly reported since the health unit’s previous update on Wednesday.
Those numbers give a limited and unclear picture of the true spread of the virus, however, public health experts have cautioned, with PCR testing currently restricted to vulnerable groups.
Testing eligibility was recently expanded beyond vulnerable settings like long-term care homes to include anyone 70 and older, those 18 and older who are immunocompromised, those 60 and older with fewer than three vaccine doses, and those 18 and older with fewer than three vaccine doses and at least one condition considered to be at risk.
Only a handful of recent cases have been recorded outside of the Thunder Bay area, including Fort William First Nation and outlying rural communities, health unit figures show.
The TBDHU’s seven-day incidence rate sat at 296.1 cases per 100,000 people as of April 20.
The latest death marked the 87th in the district in which COVID-19 was identified as a contributing or underlying factor.
Health unit reporting eight current outbreaks in high-risk settings. Those include long-term care homes Pioneer Ridge, Hogarth Riverview Manor, and Southbridge Roseview, the St. Joseph’s Care Group hospital, and others that are not disclosed by public health.
