KENORA – The Northwestern Health Unit reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, after reporting 22 new cases over the previous two days.
The left 78 cases active Sunday, unchanged from the day before.
NWHU medical officer of health Dr. Kit Young Hoon recently repeated warnings to respect public health restrictions, saying the growing number of variant cases elevated the risk of spread.
As of Friday, 56 cases of variants of concern had been identified across the NWHU.
Hospitalizations have remained low in recent weeks, with three NWHU residents in hospital with the virus as of Sunday, unchanged from the day before. The health unit last reported a COVID-related death on April 9, its seventh.
Of the 78 cases active in the NWHU, 38 were in the Sioux Lookout health hub, 22 in the Kenora hub, 11 in the Fort Frances Hub, 4 in the Emo hub, 2 in the Rainy River hub, and 1 in the Dryden hub.
A recent COVID-19 outbreak in Lac Seul First Nation has driven much of the growth in the Sioux Lookout health hub.
The First Nation, located about 40 kilometres northwest of Sioux Lookout, said Friday it had 30 active COVID-19 cases, with 13 reported just that day.
The health unit had an incidence rate of 67.3 cases per 100,000 residents for the most recent week reported by Public Health Ontario, April 29 to May 5.
That compared to incidence rates of 22 in the neighbouring Thunder Bay District Health Unit and 151.1 province-wide over the same period.
The NWHU has reported a total of 1,002 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, with 924 considered resolved.
