There were 221 active cases of COVID-19 among residents of the jurisdiction of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) as of Monday, May 3.

As of Monday, there were 22 COVID-19 patients in hospital across the EOHU’s territory and six of those patients were in intensive care.

The number of COVID-19 variant cases across the EOHU’s territory has decreased significantly.  On May 3, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said that only 34 per cent of active EOHU cases that day were variants while 73.5 per cent of cases across Ontario were variants.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” he said.

There had been 101 deaths due to COVID-19 across the jurisdiction of the EOHU as of May 3.

Restrictions

The provincewide shutdown and stay-at-home order is to remain in effect for the entire province of Ontario. The Ontario-Québec boundary is also closed to all but the most essential traffic. The restrictions are in effect until May 20.  On Monday, Roumeliotis said his preference is to have the restrictions extended by four days to include the Victoria Day long weekend.  He intends to make that recommendation to the provincial advisory table.

“The lower we get coming out of this, the better it will be in terms of lifting restrictions,” Roumeliotis said.

Ontario statistics

As of May 3, there were 3,436 new, active cases of COVID-19 across Ontario. According to calculations based on statistics from the Ministry of Health, there were 36,997 active cases of COVID-19 across Ontario as of Friday.

There were 1,925 COVID-19 patients in hospital across Ontario as of Monday. Out of those patients, 889 were in intensive care, and 611patients were on ventilators.

There had been 8,118 deaths due to COVID-19 across Ontario as of May 3, which was an increase of 16 deaths from May 2.

Vaccinations

As of May 3, 63,351 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered across the jurisdiction of the EOHU.

Effective April 30, COVID-19 vaccination appointments became available to all Ontario residents age 55 and greater. On Thursday, May 6, appointments will become available to all individuals age 50 and greater.  Vaccination appointments will be available to all adults age 18 and greater across Ontario by May 24.

Astra-Zeneca vaccine supplies at participating local pharmacies have not been replenished but the EOHU was expecting to get a better indication on Monday of when more will be delivered.

Across Ontario, 5,378,249 vaccine doses had been administered, and 375,905 Ontario residents had been fully vaccinated by receiving both required doses as of May 3.

Within the EOHU’s jurisdiction, Ontario residents 55 years of age and older may book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment using Ontario’s online booking system. In accordance with the latest recommendations, those booking will be given appointments for first and second doses, 16 weeks apart.

Provincial Online Booking System

Ontario’s vaccine booking system is accepting vaccine bookings for individuals who will be turning 55 or older in 2021 (born in 1966 or earlier) in 2021. Booking is available at www.Ontario.ca/bookvaccine. Individuals who require assistance with booking can call the Provincial Vaccine Information Line at 1-888-999-6488.

The booking system will screen for eligibility based on age using health card information. Appointments can be made by an individual or with the help of family or an informal caregiver (note: family/informal caregivers born after 1966 cannot book an appointment for themselves at this time, however, they may use the EOHU Pre-Registration tool to pre-register for an appointment).

If you have a family member or provide care to someone who was born in 1966 or before, please encourage them to get vaccinated. Vaccinations will be available BY APPOINTMENT ONLY at vaccine clinics being held across the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry; the United Counties of Prescott-Russell; and the City of Cornwall. Alternate arrangements will be made for individuals who notify us of barriers preventing them from physically going to a clinic.

Institutional outbreaks

The following hospitals, long-term care, retirement residences, and group home facilities under EOHU jurisdiction also had COVID-19 outbreaks as of May 3:

St-Viateur Nursing Home in Limoges

Residence St-Mathieu in Hammond

Residence Cartier in Bourget

Caressant Care Nursing Home in Bourget

Community Living-Lasalle in Cornwall

St-Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre –Complex Continuing Care side in Cornwall

Open Hands on Gage Street in Cornwall

School closures

All schools in Ontario have switched to learning online indefinitely due to the significant number of new cases of COVID-19 among students in recent weeks.

EOHU COVID-19 case map, May 3, 2021

Map: Eastern Ontario Health Unit.