FORT FRANCES, Ont. – The Northwestern Health Unit reported six new cases of COVID-19 Sunday, mainly concentrated in the Fort Frances area, with the number of active cases growing to 86.
The new cases included four in the NWHU’s Fort Frances health hub, and one each in the Dryden and Red Lake hubs.
As of Sunday, there were 28 active cases in the Kenora health hub, 20 in the Fort Frances hub, 17 in the Sioux Lookout hub, 14 in the Emo hub, 4 in the Red Lake hub, and 3 in the Dryden hub.
A full list of the communities included in each health hub is available at the health unit's website.
Three NWHU residents were in hospital with the virus as of Saturday, unchanged from the previous day.
The agency has recorded COVID-19 variants of concern in the Dryden, Kenora, Sioux Lookout, and Fort Frances areas, but does not track the total number of confirmed variant cases in its catchment area.
The health unit had a testing positivity rate of 4.04 per cent on 1,261 tests for the most recent week reported, April 12 to 18.
It had an incidence rate of 67.3 cases per 100,000 people for the most recent week reported, April 15 to 21.
That compares to incidence rates of 28.7 in the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, and 193.6 province-wide for the same period.
A total of 21,827 vaccine doses have been administered in the NWHU, according to its most recent data. NWHU residents can find more information on how to book a vaccine appointment at the health unit’s website.
The health unit has reported a total of 879 cases since the pandemic began, with 86 active and 793 considered resolved. That includes seven deaths, though the health unit notes the virus may not have been the cause of death in all cases.
