THUNDER BAY - The number of COVID-19 variants of concern in the district has increased to 40 following six new cases screening positive.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit is reporting nine new cases on Monday, which includes new cases from Sunday as well.
All new cases are from Thunder Bay and surrounding areas, with five considered the result of close contact, two with no known exposure, and two still pending.
With 15 previous cases now considered resolved, the number of active cases has fallen to 48, which is the lowest it has been since Jan. 6 when it was also 48. The number of active cases has not dipped below 48 since Nov. 16.
The health unit is also reporting six additional cases having screened positive for a variant of concern, which brings the total number of variant cases detected in the district to 40.
Last week the health unit confirmed that 10 of the recently detected variant cases were associated with an outbreak at Musselwhite Mine.
There are currently six district hospitalizations and one in the intensive care unit.
To date, the Thunder Bay district has reported a total of 3,113 COVID-19 cases.
