New local COVID-19 cases decrease
Article content
It was better news on Wednesday in terms of the number of new local COVID-19 cases being reported.
After announcing Tuesday 17 new cases in the previous 24 hours, the Brant County Health Unit on Wednesday added eight new cases. The number of active cases also dropped to 89 from 97.
Since the pandemic began a year ago, the area has recorded 1,635 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 1,542 have been resolved.
Twelve local deaths have been attributed to COVID-19.
Currently, two COVID-19 patients are being treated at Brantford General Hospital.
As of Wednesday, 30 variants of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the community, although the lineage in each case has not been determined. At the beginning of March, the health unit reported just two variant cases.
To date, 16,852 vaccinations have been given locally, with 2,561 people having received second doses.
Both the Grand Erie District School Board and Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board have seen rising positive COVID-19 cases at Brantford schools.
On Tuesday, the Grand Erie board, in consultation with the health unit, closed Ryerson Heights Elementary School after an outbreak was declared. It is the second Brantford elementary school to close following the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board’s closure of St. Peter until March 11.
Online learning at Ryerson began on Wednesday and will continue until March 31.
An outbreak was declared Tuesday at Walter Gretzky Elementary School after its third case was reported in less than a week. Information on the board’s website says that Walter Gretzky remains open.
The Grand Erie board also reported a new case at North Park Collegiate on Monday.
The Catholic board reported new cases at Brantford elementary schools Holy Cross (Sunday), St. Basil (Monday), St. Gabriel (Monday) and St. Pius (Saturday). At Holy Cross, it was the second case in less than a week.
Last week an outbreak was declared at St. Theresa, a Brantford elementary school, where two students and one staff member tested positive. The school remains open.
There are also two other outbreaks in the community.
St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre, a Brantford long-term care facility, had an outbreak declared March 6 after two staff members tested positive and an outbreak was declared March 1 at a local food processing plant that is now reporting eight cases.
Provincial government guidelines require outbreaks to be declared at long-term and retirement homes, as well as congregate settings, whenever there is a single positive case involving a resident or staff member.
On Six Nations of the Grand River, there were two new cases of COVID-19 reported on Tuesday. There are currently 29 active cases, with one COVID patient hospitalized.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 425 confirmed cases, of which 388 are resolved.
There have been eight deaths related to the virus on Six Nations, with three from this past weekend.
Public Health Ontario reported on Wednesday 1,508 new cases of COVID-19 in the province.
With 14 more deaths attributed to the virus on Wednesday, the total number of deaths in Ontario from COVID is now 7,187.
Latest statistics indicate that more than one-million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the province. A total of 1,301,334 doses of the vaccine have been administered as of Wednesday with 290,659 Ontarians fully vaccinated.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.