Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) on Dec. 29 is reporting 169 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, one of the highest single-day case counts this past year. PHSD is also reporting a new outbreak at a Sudbury long-term care home.
The health unit is also reporting there are now 650 active cases that are being monitored. Also, since the PHSD began tracking COVID-19 cases just over 22 months ago, there have been 5,287 total COVID-19 cases confirmed locally. PHSD also said 4,637 of those cases are now resolved. More complete details are included on the daily COVID-19 public health summary.
As for the possible location of the new cases, PHSD said 152 new cases were reported to have occurred in Greater Sudbury, eight new cases in the rural Sudbury district and 10 cases for the Manitoulin district.
With respect to the possible causes of new and recent cases, PHSD reported 36 new cases associated with close contact of a confirmed case, 29 cases with no known epidemiological link, 50 cases with information missing, and 54 cases that are under investigation.
PHSD also reported general demographics each day about the age groups for people who are becoming infected.
Epidemiological data showed that the majority of local cases are persons in the 20 to 39 age category with 1,836 total cases (An increase of 73 cases).
There were also 1,455 cases for the 19 and under age group (An increase of 34).
The next highest number was 1,228 for the 40-59 age group (An increase of 48).
Seniors in the 60 to 79 age group amounted to 590 cases total (An increase of 12).
People aged 80 and over are currently the lowest category with 156 cases (An increase of two).
There was no change in the Not Specified category, which has a total of four cases.
Note: The numbers above might not correspond to other numbers being reported because the health unit does not report fresh numbers daily, as they happen. Some of the numbers are delayed.
With respect to COVID-19 testing, PHSD said there have been 349,648 total tests carried out locally since the pandemic began; an increase of 689 tests since the last testing report.
With respect to vaccination numbers, PHSD is now reporting percentages of people vaccinated rather than doses given. The percentage of area residents who are now fully vaccinated translates to 76.5 per cent of people in the PHSD area.
The health unit has also reported there are several active local outbreaks and several recent exposure risks. This includes a new outbreak at the Pioneer Manor long-term care home in Sudbury. More details can be found on the daily COVID summary page. Just scroll to the bottom of the summary page to COVID-19 Outbreaks. It also includes locations where outbreaks have been declared over.
Also, at Sudbury's Health Sciences North, there were 11 patients with confirmed COVID-19 at the hospital, said the hospital website. Two of those patients were in the intensive care unit. In addition to this there were five admitted patients "being tested" for COVID-19. HSN said one of the five patients was admitted to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). HSN has also reported 12 past-positives for COVID-19 and one of those patients was in the ICU. The other 11 are still being cared for, but not in ICU beds.
On the provincial COVID-19 roster today, the Ontario government daily website reported 10,436 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province. Also today, the province reported three new COVID-19 deaths.
