No new confirmed COVID-19 cases and one recovery are being reported by the Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) today.
The new resolved case is a Timmins woman in her 70s who tested positive June 21.
To date in the PHU area there have been 67 confirmed cases of the virus. Of those, 58 are resolved and eight people have died. There is one known active case.
The health unit is aware of 7,850 tests being done in the region, which is an increase of 33 from the last report.
With people heading out to their cottage or to go camping or fishing on the weekends, the health unit is reminding people to only go with members of their household or social circle.
"Plan ahead to reduce the number of visits to the store. If possible, remain in the Porcupine Health Unit area," reads today's update.
"Maintain a two-metre (six feet) distance from people outside of your social circle and wear a face covering if this is a challenge. Stay home if you have symptoms. Continue to wash your hands often, cover your coughs and sneezes and disinfect commonly touched surfaces often."
Each week the Timmins-area heath unit has been gathering local data and comparing it to stats from health units across the north and provincially.
This week's epidemiology report is now available and includes data up until the end of day June 29.
Of the 12 virus-related deaths in Northern Ontario, the Timmins region accounts for more than half with eight fatalities.
The PHU case fatality rate is 11.9 per cent, which is higher than the provincial rate of 7.6 per cent.
The resolved rate has dropped to slightly below the provincial rate. The PHU recovered case percentage is 85.1 per cent, while the provincial rate is 86 per cent.
According to the the PHU report, the numbers across the north as of June 29 were:
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Algoma Public Health - 24 confirmed cases, which is the same as the last report, and no deaths. The tests per 100,000 population are 11,402.7, with 0.2 per cent being positive.
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North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit - 31 confirmed cases, which is an increase of one from the last report, and one death. The case fatality rate is 3.2 per cent. The tests per 100,000 are 10,367.2 with .2 per cent being positive.
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Northwestern Health Unit - 36 confirmed cases, which is an increase of six from the last report, and no deaths. The tests per 100,000 are 10,514.1, with 0.4 per cent being positive.
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Porcupine Health Unit - 67 confirmed cases, which is the same as the last report. There have been eight deaths, and the fatality rate is 11.9 per cent. The tests per 100,000 population are 8,996, with .9 per cent being positive.
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Public Health Sudbury and Districts - 67 confirmed cases, which is the same as the last report. There have been two deaths, with the fatality rate being 3 per cent. The tests per 100,000 population are 8,254.9 with 0.4 per cent being positive.
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Thunder Bay District Health Unit, 90 confirmed cases, which is the same as the last report. One person has died, making the fatality rate 1.1 per cent. The tests per 100,000 population are 12,125.6, with 0.5 per cent being positive.
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Timiskaming Health Unit, 18 confirmed cases and no deaths. The testing per 100,000 population is 11,161.5 with 0.8 per cent being positive.
For all of Northern Ontario, when the report was completed there were 333 confirmed cases, which is seven more than the last report. There have been 12 deaths, with the fatality rate being 3.6 per cent. The testing rate per 100,000 population is 10,413.3, with 0.4 per cent being positive.
Northern Ontario's rates are much lower than southern Ontario, where there had been 34,578 cases and 2,653 deaths (or a case fatality rate of 7.7 per cent) when the numbers were pulled. The testing per 100,000 population in southern Ontario is 9,381.5, with 2.7 per cent of test being positive.
Altogether in Ontario at the time the numbers for the report were pulled, there had been 34,911 cases and 2,665 deaths. The testing rate per 100,000 was 9,437.6 with 2.6 per cent being positive.
The full report is available here.
Testing is open to anyone who feels they need to be tested, even if you don't have symptoms. To access testing, call your health care provider or the health unit.
There are COVID-19 assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls, Hearst and Hornepayne.
The PHU COVID-19 hotline is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It can be reached at 705-267-1181 or 1-800-461-1818.
