UPDATED at 5:52 p.m. on 06/08/2020
As of Monday, June 8, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the jurisdiction of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) increased to 151 from 150 confirmed cases on June 7.
According to EOHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, the new case is in a resident of the City of Cornwall who works at a long-term care facility in Ottawa.
Throughout the remainder of the EOHU territory on Monday, there were 120 resolved cases, meaning that there were 31 active cases. Out of the 31 cases, there were 25 active cases among residents of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell and 83 resolved cases. Among residents of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry (SD & G) on Monday, there were four active cases and 22 resolved cases. There were two active cases in the City of Cornwall and 15 resolved cases on Monday.
Among the active cases within the EOHU territory on Monday, two patients were in hospital, and one patient was in intensive care.
Institutional outbreak
As of June 8, the only institutional outbreak of COVID-19 under EOHU jurisdiction was at the St-Viateur Nursing Home in Limoges. An employee of the facility had tested positive but was asymptomatic during the previous week. All other residents employees at St-Viateur remained asymptomatic and had tested negative as of Monday. One case of COVID-19 in an employee or resident of a long-term care facility qualifies as an outbreak.
Testing
COVID-19 testing is open to all residents of the EOHU territory whether they have symptoms of the disease or not. There are five testing and assessment centres throughout the EOHU`s jurisdiction. They are located in Hawkesbury, Casselman, Rockland, Cornwall, and Winchester. As of June 8, 10,189 people had been tested for COVID-19 at the five centres, and by paramedics making home visits. The total includes long-term care patients, but does not include patients tested at hospital emergency rooms.
The EOHU is testing retirement home residents and staff based on the assessed risk of each facility. Retirement residences are listed as green, yellow, or red according to the severity of risk. There are no red level retirement homes within the EOHU`s jurisdiction.
Across Ontario
Throughout the province of Ontario as of Monday, June 8, there had been 30,860 confirmed cases of COVID-19. That total was a 0.8 per cent increase from 30,617 confirmed cases Sunday, June 7. Out of the total number of confirmed cases on June 8, 24,492, or 79.4 per cent of the 30,860 cases were listed by the Ministry of Health as resolved. That means there were 6,368 active cases across Ontario on June 8.
“This is good news,” Roumeliotis commented on Tuesday about the low rate of case increase over the previous weekend.
Throughout Ontario on June 8, 866,889 people had been tested so far for COVID-19. Roumeliotis said that the rate of positive tests remains at approximately two per cent.
There were 603 COVID-19 patients in hospital across Ontario on June 8, which was a decrease from 635 on June 7. Out of that number, 118 patients were in intensive care and 81 patients were on ventilators.
As of Monday, there had been 2,450 deaths due to COVID-19 across Ontario, which was an increase from 2,426 deaths on Sunday. According to the Ministry of Health, out of the 2,450 deaths, 1,575 or 64.3 per cent of them had been in residents of long-term care facilities.
For full COVID-19 information for residents within the Eastern Ontario Health Unit territory, go to https://eohu.ca/en/covid/covid-19-status-update-for-eohu-region .
Stage Two
The EOHU’s territory has been designated by the Ontario government as eligible to begin stage two of the province’s plan for the gradual reopening of businesses and services. The announcement was made by Premier Doug Ford on Monday morning. Stage two takes effect at midnight on Friday, June 12.
The business highlights of stage two include outdoor dining at restaurants and bars, barber shops and hair stylists may reopen, and private campgrounds may begin allowing non-seasonal, short-term campers.
For the faithful, churches and other houses of worship may resume public worship celebrations but seating space is restricted to 30 per cent of capacity.
Overnight camping at provincial parks is also permitted to begin.
Outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people will also be permitted, and up to 10 people may assemble for a wedding or funeral service.
Roumeliotis said that the rule limiting the number of people who may have a social gathering indoors is likely to change in the days ahead. He suspected that Ontario could allow citizens to have a regular “bubble” of friends and family they may regularly gather with without physical distancing.
During stage two, all businesses and services, and the people using them, will still have to respect physical distancing, hand washing, and other preventative measures.
Map of confirmed COVID-19 cases in EOHU jurisdiction on Monday, June 8, 2020.
Map: Eastern Ontario Health Unit.
