The Porcupine Health Unit is reporting 57 new COVID-19 cases and 27 recoveries today.
There are 33 cases in the James Bay area, 20 in Timmins, and four people are in the area of Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls and Smooth Rock Falls.
The exposure of 26 cases is under investigation and 29 people are the contacts of a case, according to the health unit.
The health unit is also providing an update at 2 p.m. today regarding a new variant of concern linked to a local case.
To date in the Porcupine Health Unit region, there have been 1,539 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic. Of those, there have been 1,164recoveries and 27 people have died. There are 348 known active cases — 181 in Timmins, 116 in the James Bay region, 40 in the area of Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls and Smooth Rock Falls, five people in Hearst and Hornepayne, one in the Kapuskasing area, and five people out of region.
So far, 45,740 people have been vaccinated, which is an increase of 649 from yesterday's update. There have been 51,482 doses of the vaccine administered.
There are COVID-19 assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Matheson, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls, Hearst, and Hornepayne, as well as communities on the James Bay coast.
The Porcupine Health Unit COVID-19 information line can be reached at 705-360-4819 or 1-800-461-1818.
