THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay District Health Unit reported 10 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, along with three newly confirmed cases of variants of concern.
Of the new cases, eight were in Thunder Bay and the surrounding areas, with one each in a district community and First Nation.
Five were considered a result of close contact, while three had no known exposure and an exposure category for two others was pending.
With four previous cases declared resolved, the number of active cases in the TBDHU rose for the third straight day, to 67.
There were nine district residents in hospital with the virus as of Saturday, an increase of one. Two of those people were in the Intensive Care Unit.
Thirteen cases of variants of COVID-19 variants of concern (VOCs) have now been detected in the health unit, indicating cases that tested positive for the N501Y and E484K mutations. The three new VOC cases reported Saturday involve previously reported COVID-19 cases.
The health unit had a testing positivity rate of 1.3 per cent for the week of April 11 to 17, the most recent data reported. That rate declined from 1.8 per cent the week before, and from a high of 7.7 per cent reached twice in March.
The TBDHU had an incidence rate of approximately 37.35 cases per 100,000 people over the past week, compared to a province-wide incidence rate that has exceeded 200 in recent days.
The percentage of new COVID-19 cases followed-up by the health unit within 24 hours declined to 95.2 per cent for the week of April 11 to 17, down from 97.8 per cent the week before, despite the number of active cases falling every day over that period.
The health unit has reported a total of 3,060 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, with 67 active, 2,931 resolved, and 62 deaths in which the virus was an underlying or contributing cause.
