A second outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared at Extendicare Timmins.
According to the Porcupine Health Unit one resident, a woman in her 70s, tested positive for the virus. She was tested May 7 as part of the testing of all long-term care staff and residents.
PHU medical officer of health Dr. Lianne Catton said they haven't received all of the results from the tests at Extendicare Timmins yet.
There have now been 65 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region. Of those, 49 are resolved and five people have died. The health unit is following 11 known active cases.
The health unit is aware of 3,422 tests being done locally, which is an increase of 310 from the last report. There are 228 tests under investigation.
The regular testing tally doesn't include those being done as part of the mandated surveillance at long-term care homes.
According to the health unit, 612 residents and 763 employees (1,375 total) at eight of the 10 long-term care homes across the district have been tested. In addition, 37 employees at five of the six emergency child care centres have been completed.
Extendicare Timmins was the first institutional outbreak in the health unit's region. It was announced in early April after a staff member tested positive, and declared over April 18.
Since the provincial surveillance of long-term care homes started, there have three outbreaks declared at local facilities.
The other outbreaks are at the Golden Manor in Timmins, and South Centennial Manor in Iroquois Falls.
For the local cases, 41 have been in Timmins. Of those, 28 cases are resolved and four people have died. There have been 23 cases in the area of Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls, and Smooth Rock Falls. Of those, 20 are resolved and one person has died. There has been one case in the area of Kapuskasing, Opasatika, Val Rita-Harty, Moonbeam, and Fauquier-Strickland and it is resolved.
There are COVID-19 Assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls, 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 today from 9 a.m. to 53 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 includes 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.
