The Porcupine Health Unit reported 57 new COVID-19 cases 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.
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.
The region continues to be a COVID-19 provincial hotspot.
At 248.1 cases per 100,000 people, the weekly case rate is still the highest in Ontario.
The rate in typical hotspots for the same period is 86.1 cases per 100,000 people for Peel Public Health, and 52.7 cases for Toronto Public Health.
Public Health Ontario reported 914 new cases, 1,397 recoveries and 19 deaths today.
This week's local epidemiology reported an increase of 120 cases screening for variants of concern. As of May 31, there have now been 674 cases in the region where a variant of concern has been detected, according to this week's epidemiology report. Read a full breakdown of this week's epi report here.
Three James Bay communities have declared states of emergency. Read the full story here.
Disaster response volunteers from Team Rubicon arrived in Timmins this week and are also heading up to Moosonee to provide support. Read more on that here.
Hugs are back! Restrictions are loosening at long-term care homes next week. Find out what that means for hugging, holding hands and overnight trips here.
Ontario students won't be back in the classroom before September. Read more on that story here.
The stay-at-home order ended this week, but there are still restrictions in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. A breakdown of what you need to know is here.
Vaccines
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.
First-dose clinics that people are booking appointments for are now also open to walk-ins. For people eligible for a second dose, appointments must be booked.
A list of upcoming clinics in the region is available here. The breakdown of who is currently eligible for a second dose locally is here.
Outbreaks
The five active outbreaks are
- Timmins and District Hospital off-site facility at St. Mary's Gardens. It was declared May, 15.
- Tim Hortons, 110 Algonquin Blvd. W. It was declared May 31.
- Dailey's Your Independent Grocer, Timmins. It was declared May 29.
- Kirkland Lake Gold Detour Lake Mine. It was declared May 20.
- Monteith Correctional Complex. It was declared May 14.
Exposure Advisories
- Thursday, May 27 Ontario Northland train from Moosonee to Cochrane that was scheduled to leave at 5 p.m. People in coach two, rows 10 to 14 are considered high risk and must self-isolate immediately and call the Porcupine Health Unit at 1-800-461-1818 or their local health unit. Other passengers are low risk and should self-monitor for symptoms.
- There is a potential high-risk exposure for workers at Baffinland Mary River Mine, Baffin Island Nunavut. Anyone who's worked at the mine since April 30 is at risk of exposure must self-isolate immediately and call the Porcupine Health Unit at 1-800-461-1818 or their local health unit.
