Due to technical difficulties, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) was unable to update its online COVID-19 case information on Thursday, January 7.  However, when reporting resumed on Friday, January 8, the total had increased to 565 from 511 on Wednesday.

Out of the 511 cases, the municipality with the greatest amount was the City of Cornwall at 180.  The second-greatest number of cases were in Clarence-Rockland where there were 85 active cases as of Friday, followed by the third greatest number in South Glengarry with 51 active cases.

With the exception East Hawkesbury with zero cases as of January 8, and South Dundas which had just six cases on Friday, all other municipalities under EOHU jurisdiction had a double-digit number of active cases ranging from 11 in North Stormont to 41 in Russell Township.

As of January 8, there were 229 active cases of COVID-19 in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and 159 cases in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry in addition to the 180 in Cornwall.  There were also 23 active cases in the portion of the Akwesasne First Nation under Canadian jurisdiction.

There were 15 COVID-19 patients from communities under EOHU jurisdiction in hospital as of January 8 and three of those patients were in intensive care.  EOHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said on Friday that all of the intensive care patients are at the Cornwall Community Hospital, which is the designated COVID-19 intensive care hospital for the region.  He said it could be difficult for hospitals across the EOHU’s territory to accommodate intensive care patients from other regions of Ontario if it becomes necessary due to a shortage of intensive care space.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 across the EOHU’s territory on January 8 increased to 36 from 35 on January 6.

The EOHU COVID-19 testing and assessment centres in Alexandria and Casselman will be temporarily closed from January 11 to January 22.

All of Ontario remains under a provincewide shutdown that is intended to reduce COVID-19 cases.  All but essential businesses and services are closed, and many retailers are only permitted to offer pickup or delivery service.  Bars and taverns are closed, and restaurants are only offering take-out and delivery service.

No social public or private social gatherings are permitted, unless it is with a person who lives alone.

First vaccinations across EOHU coming in week ahead

On Friday, Roumeliotis said that the first vaccine doses will be arriving for the EOHU to administer to residents, employees, and essential visitors at long-term care facilities in the week ahead.  The first doses will be of the Pfizer vaccine which requires careful storage at extremely cold temperatures.  Roumeliotis is anticipating that the vaccine will arrive on Tuesday, January 12 and will be deployed by paramedics the following day.

The initial shipment of the Pfizer vaccine could allow up to 1,200 people to be vaccinated.

The EOHU will be receiving the Pfizer vaccine on a regular basis and Roumeliotis is expecting to also start receiving the Moderna vaccine which has easier storage requirements, and other vaccines that have recently been developed and are being approved by federal authorities.

Long-term care outbreaks

The following health care facilities, long-term care or retirement facilities, and other group living institutions under EOHU jurisdiction had active cases of COVID-19 as of January 8:

Prescott and Russell Residence in Hawkesbury

Chateau Glengarry in Alexandria

Maxville Manor

Villa St-Albert in St-Albert

Russell Meadows Retirement Home

Foyer St-Viateur Nursing Home in Limoges

Lancaster Long-Term Care

Cornwall Community Hospital—Inpatient Mental Health Unit

Heritage Heights in Cornwall

Heritage Manor in Cornwall

St. Joseph’s Continuing Care (Quinn House) in Cornwall

Glen-Stor-Dun Lodge in Cornwall

Sandfield Place Long-Term Care and Retirement Home in Cornwall

Woodland Villa in Long Sault

Community Living Dundas in Winchester

TSIIonKwa NonhSoTe Long-Term Care Facility in Akwesasne

Ontario situation

On January 7, an unfortunate new record was set for day-to-day COVID-19 case increases across Ontario.  The number of new cases increased by 4,249 from January 6 to January 7.  There were 28,203 active cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, based on calculations using statistics from the Ministry of Health.

The cumulative number of cases of COVID-19 across Ontario was 208,394 as of January 7.  On Thursday, the Ministry reported that 175,309 of those cases were resolved.  Resolved cases do not include deaths.

There were 1,446 COVID-19 patients in hospital across Ontario as of January 7.  Out of those 1,446 patients, 369 were in intensive care, and 250 patients were on ventilators.

There had been 4,882 deaths due to COVID-19 across Ontario as of January 7.

Active COVID-19 cases under EOHU jurisdiction, Friday, January 8, 2021

Map: Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

EOHU COVID-19 media briefing, Friday, January 8, 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbA4T-WkDiw