THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay District Health Unit reports the death of another resident related to the COVID-19 virus.
TBDHU on Wednesday revealed the passing of the 98th individual in cases where the virus was determined to be either the underlying or a contributing cause of death.
Across the district, there is currently one active COVID outbreak in a high-risk setting.
It was declared Monday in the acute care section of McCausland Hospital in Terrace Bay.
The COVID-19 positivity test rate in the district fell to 9.3 per cent during the week of June 19 to 25.
In the previous week, it was 9.7 per cent.
Public Health Ontario reported this week that the new Omicron BA.5 subvariant is becoming the virus's dominant strain in the province.
Based on European and other data, it appears to be more transmissible than the BA.2 variant.
Dr. Samir Patel, chief of microbiology at PHO, told CTV News health officials don't yet have enough information to determine if BA.5 causes more severe illness than others, but they are monitoring it carefully.
He said that, so far, although infections are occurring in people who have been fully-vaccinated, "we're also not seeing severe disease as well," but added "we do need more data."
