March 30, 2021 07:30 a.m.

COVID-19 Statistics: Northwestern Health Unit Catchment Area

Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) receives lab confirmation about COVID-19 cases when testing is complete. Before sharing this information with media or posting it to our website, we have to be sure of the facts.

We conduct a full investigation on each case to ensure that the report is about a resident of the NWHU area and to determine what risk there is to the community. We act quickly to ensure that positive cases and contacts are in isolation – this is important for minimizing risk to the community. We ask that you wait to share any information about cases until NWHU has confirmed and shared them on our webpage or social media.

NWHU updates data on our website by 1 pm, (not including statutory holidays) with any new information. For reasons of privacy, NWHU does not release the location of the residence of people who test positive for COVID-19. For more information see 's COVID-19 data tool.

Regional COVID-19 Cases within the NWHU Catchment Area

Health Hub Active Cases Resolved Cases Total Cases Atikokan 0 17 17 Dryden 9 29 38 Emo 0 8 8 Fort Frances 0 41 41 10 387 397 Rainy River 0 28 28 Red Lake 0 20 20 16 113 129 Other ** 0 5 5 Totals 35 648 683

Atikokan Dryden Emo Fort Frances Kenora Rainy River Red Lake Sioux Lookout Other **

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Resolved Cases Active Cases

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• Source: Case and Contact Management System (CCM). Test results are grouped according to the primary residence address provided by the individual at time of testing.

• Active Cases in brackets refer to cases who have a permanent residence outside of the NWHU region, but are currently located within our catchment area. These cases are not counted as part of NWHU’s confirmed case count, as they are recorded within the region of their home address. NWHU conducts contact tracing and monitoring of self-isolation for all cases within our region, including anyone who is here temporarily or not currently identified as a permanent resident.

• Resolved Cases includes the number of individuals with confirmed COVID-19 whom public health considers recovered from their illness plus the number of deaths among individuals in which COVID-19 was determined to be a contributing or underlying cause of death.

• * Cases assigned as ‘Other’ have a primary residence outside of the NWHU region and have not been to the NWHU region. Occasionally old addresses are used on lab requisitions and cases are assigned to a health unit based on their previous area of residence.

Legend of Health Hubs*:

Health Hub Municipalities and Census Divisions Atikokan Atikokan, Seine River 23A, Seine River 23B, Neguaguon Lake 25D Dryden Dryden, Wabigoon Lake 27, Machin, Oxdrift, Vermilion Bay, Eagle River, Eton-Rugby, Minnitaki, Wabigoon, Melgund, Eagle Lake 27, Emo Emo, Sabaskong Bay (Part) 35C, Chapple, Barwick, Finland, Manitou Rapids 11 Fort Frances Fort Frances, Alberton, La Vallee Township, Devlin, Couchiching 16A, Rainy Lake 17A, Rainy Lake 17B, Rainy Lake 18C, Rainy Lake 26A Kenora Kenora , Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls, Keewatin, Norman, Jaffray-Mellick, , , , , , Shoal Lake (Part) 39A, Shoal Lake (Part) 40, , Rat Portage 38A, , Kenora 38B, Northwest Angle 33B, 21, , 37, Sabaskong Bay (Part) 35C, Rainy River Rainy River, Big Grassy River 35G, Dawson, Morley, Sleeman, Stratton, Rainy River, Unorganized, Lake of the Woods, Morson, Big Island Mainland 93, Long Sault 12, Saug- a-Gaw-Sing 1 Red Lake Red Lake, , Balmertown, Cochenour, Madsen, Mckenzie Island, Wabauskang 21 Sioux Sioux Lookout, , Hudson, Bearskin Lake, Cat Lake 63C, Deer Lake, Kee- Lookout Way-Win, Lac Seul 28, Neskantaga, MacDowell Lake, Muskrat Dam Lake, North Spirit Lake, , Pikangikum 14, Poplar Hill, Sachigo Lake 1, Sandy Lake 88, Slate Falls, Weagamow Lake 87

*NWHU is governed by the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) and cannot release information to the public that may identify individuals. Legally we have been advised to group cases using four regions in the catchment area due to the fact that the province releases data on each new case. When that data is combined with a specific location, it may allow a person to be identified because of our small population and geography.

We are currently reporting by ‘health hub’ area instead of by the 4 larger regions. We are able to do this because our daily case numbers are large enough that case information released by the Ministry cannot be linked to the cases we announce.

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Institutional Outbreaks: NWHU Catchment Area

Institution Type Active Outbreaks Total Outbreaks Hospitals 0 1 Long Term Care Homes 0 5 Schools 0 2 Daycares 0 1 Other (correctional facilities, group homes, etc.) 0 2

Total Institutional Outbreaks Active Instiitutional Outbreaks

Long Term Care Homes

*Other

Schools

Daycares

Hospitals

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

All outbreaks reflect the following outbreak definitions at the time they were declared open: - Hospitals: 2 staff or patient cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a specified hospital unit within a 14-day period where both cases could have reasonably acquired their infection in hospital is considered an outbreak in a public hospital. - Long Term Care Homes: 1 staff or resident case of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 is considered an outbreak in long-term care homes (LTCH), retirement homes (RH) and other healthcare institutions (e.g. group home, assisted living, group shelter) and declared facility wide. - Schools: 2 student or staff (or visitor) cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 within a specified class within a 14-day period where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection at school (including transportation and before/after school care) is considered an outbreak in an educational establishment. - Daycares: 1 child or staff (or household member) case of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 is considered an outbreak in a childcare establishment. - *Other: Correctional Facitilies, Group Homes etc. - For more information: COVID-19 cases in schools and daycares: https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-cases- schools-and-child-care-centres COVID-19 cases in long-term care homes: https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-ontario-is- responding-covid-19#section-2

Hospitalizations*: NWHU Catchment Area

Current Hospitalizations Total Hospitalizations Deceased** 6 56 6

*Cases with a hospital intervention due to COVID-19 as indicated in CCM. **Deaths listed include those who had COVID-19 at time of death but died of another cause.

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Number of COVID-19 Cases per Day by Reported Date: Last 14 Days

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0 16-Mar 17-Mar 18-Mar 19-Mar 20-Mar 21-Mar 22-Mar 23-Mar 24-Mar 25-Mar 26-Mar 27-Mar 28-Mar 29-Mar

Atikokan Dryden Emo Fort Frances Kenora Rainy River Red Lake Sioux Lookout

Cumulative Cases: 2021

700 NWHU Catchment Area

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

4-Jan 6-Jan 8-Jan

1-Feb 3-Feb 5-Feb 7-Feb 9-Feb

1-Mar 3-Mar 5-Mar 7-Mar 9-Mar

10-Jan 12-Jan 14-Jan 16-Jan 18-Jan 20-Jan 22-Jan 24-Jan 26-Jan 28-Jan 30-Jan

11-Feb 13-Feb 15-Feb 17-Feb 19-Feb 21-Feb 23-Feb 25-Feb 27-Feb

13-Mar 15-Mar 17-Mar 19-Mar 21-Mar 23-Mar 25-Mar 27-Mar 29-Mar 11-Mar

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Active cases per 100,000: NWHU vs Ontario

250

200

150

100

50

10-Dec 17-Dec 24-Dec 31-Dec 7-Jan 14-Jan 21-Jan 28-Jan 4-Feb 11-Feb 18-Feb 25-Feb 4-Mar 11-Mar 18-Mar 25-Mar 0 3-Dec

NWHU: Active cases per 100,000 Ontario: Active cases per 100,000

Vaccinations: To Date

Number of Doses Administered Age Group Male Female Other Unknown Total 16-59 2099 3279 7 73 5458 60-74 706 916 4 21 1647 75+ 953 1310 1 16 2280 Unknown 6 11 0 0 17 Total 3764 5516 12 110 9402

Number of Doses

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

16-59

60-74

75+ Age Age Group

Unknown

Male Doses Female Doses Doses to "Other" Doses to "Unknown"

Source: Covax Region: NWHU Catchment Area

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NWHU’s reports of COVID-19 cases are based on the best available information at the time of publication. Data are derived from the Ministry of Health Case and Contact Management (CCM) system, which is the official source for COVID-19 statistics in the province. There may be times when the COVID-19 statistics on the Ministry’s website do not match those reported by NWHU because updates take place at different times of the day. Data are being entered into CCM continuously, and may be amended as new information becomes available.

During the week, our reports are based on the data in CCM. On weekends, these reports are based on lab results that we receive, incoming reports from other jurisdictions, and any information that has been entered into CCM. Because we use multiple sources of information on the weekends, we need to reconcile the statistics during the week to ensure that no duplicate cases were reported, or cases missed. This explains why reported values may not correspond to notices sent out on the weekends.

The statistics and notices provided by NWHU are an important information tool for the public and local partners to understand the impact of COVID-19 in our communities. Trends over time help all of us to plan our response to COVID-19, but because of the limitations in reporting methods day-to-day variations in the numbers should not be used to decide when to start personal protective measures like physical distancing, mask wearing, or hand washing.

When NWHU receives a new positive test result, case investigation and contact tracing begins immediately. This allows us to confirm the test result, make sure that the person with COVID-19 knows how to take care of themselves and protect others from infection, and to identify others who might be at risk. As soon as possible afterwards, NWHU enters case information into CCM.

All data in this report pertains to cases that are ‘confirmed’ positive for COVID-19. Any cases currently considered ‘probable’ for COVID-19 may be included in future reports if they are subsequently confirmed with positive test results.

If you’d like even more information, please visit the following sources:

Public Health Agency of

Outbreak Updates: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html

Epidemiological Data: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid- 19/epidemiological-economic-research-data.html

Public Health Ontario

Data & Surveillance: https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/data-and-analysis/infectious-disease/covid-19-data- surveillance

Ontario COVID-19 Data Tool: https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/data-and-analysis/infectious-disease/covid-19-data- surveillance/covid-19-data-tool

Ontario Ministry of Health

COVID-19 Response: https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-ontario-is-responding-covid- 19?_ga=2.218763152.860910484.1607366810-849958059.1603386475

Confirmed Cases: https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/confirmed-positive-cases-of-covid-19-in-ontario/resource/455fd63b- 603d-4608-8216-7d8647f43350?filters=Reporting_PHU:Northwestern%20Health%20Unit

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