The Porcupine Health Unit is reporting one new positive COVID-19 case today.
According to the health unit the woman in her 30s works at Timmins and District Hospital. While she was not identified as part of the current outbreak at the facility, the health unit says they are looking for potential linkages. She is isolating at home.
Four new resolved cases are also being reported locally today, this includes a woman in her 90s who first tested positive at Spruce Hill Lodge.
There have now been 55 positive cases of the virus in the health unit's region. Of those, 34 are resolved and three people have died.
The health unit is aware of 1,481 tests done in the region, this is an increase of 113 from the last report. There are 499 tests under investigation.
For the local cases, 33 are in Timmins and 21 of those are resolved and two people have died, 21 are in the area of Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls, and Smooth Rock Falls and 12 of those are resolved and one person has died, and one is in the area of Kapuskasing, Opasatika, Val Rita-Harty, Moonbeam, and Fauquier-Strickland and is resolved.
A COVID-19 outbreak was declared at the hospital Sunday, April 19 after a patient tested positive.
Yesterday, the health unit confirmed an additional two patients, as well as two staff members tested positive. These are people identified in the outbreak investigation.
The outbreak at the Timmins hospital is one of three in the city. There are also declared outbreaks of the virus at Spruce Hill Lodge, and St. Mary's Gardens. The outbreak at Extendicare Timmins has been declared over.
There are COVID-19 Assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Hearst and Hornepayne. They are by appointment only and you must be referred by your primary healthcare provider or the health unit.
The PHU COVID-19 hotline is open during the week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It can be reached at 705-267-1181 or 1-800-461-1818.
The health unit is doing expanded testing on people with milder symptoms for a limited time.
The expanded list of symptoms include cough, fever, and difficulty breathing as well as sore throat/hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, loss of smell or taste, fatigue, muscle aches, runny nose, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and nausea or vomiting.
