The "much-more transmissible" delta variant of concern has been identified in the Porcupine Health Unit region.
The person is admitted to Timmins and District Hospital, said medical officer of health Dr. Lianne Catton in an update today. There are no further details about their condition or where the person is located.
With the confirmed case of the B.16.17.2 variant, Catton expects there will be more confirmation of it in the region and definitely in Timmins.
“It may also potentially explain some of the significant spread that we continue to see in the region,” she said.
The case has been confirmed through whole genome testing.
The health unit is working with Public Health Ontario and other partners to test other positive samples and "get a handle on what this may mean", said Catton.
The vaccination rate in the region is 68.1 per cent, according to Catton, who said it needs to go much higher than that.
“We know, similar to other vaccines, that as viruses mutate and you get variants there can sometimes be varying efficiencies or effectiveness of vaccines, but we do know that often we still have cross coverage. We’re still looking at that and seeing what the evidence and the numbers will show. There is definitely some concern that second doses are a little bit definitely stronger against this variant,” she said.
The criteria for people who are eligible for second dose of the vaccine locally has opened up to include more people.
This morning, the province also announced that starting Monday, June 7 people 70 and up as well as people who received their first dose of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) on or before April 18 will be able to schedule their second dose appointment.
PHU communications specialist Gary Schelling said the vaccine team is opening up second doses to people 70 years and older “very quickly, if not immediately”.
As work continues to get doses delivers as fast as possible, Catton reminded people that first doses are saving lives and reducing infection rates.
At Timmins and District Hospital, as of 10 a.m. today there were 11 patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, including two people in ICU, according to president and CEO Kate Fyfe.
She said all of the patients are from northeastern Ontario. While she didn't have a community breakdown of where they are from, she said there is one person admitted to hospital from outside the Porcupine Health Unit region.
There are 42 admitted patients waiting for test results and the average age of admitted patients with the virus has dropped to 53 years.
As an added proactive measure this week, Fyfe said all patients at the hospital have been tested for COVID-19.
Testing at the assessment centre across from the hospital is now being done seven days a week, with walk-in clinic hours every day. Fyfe said there will also be pop-up testing in Timmins, Schumacher and Porcupine for the next two weeks.
Today, 57 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the health unit region.
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.
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.
