Acting medical officer of health for the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge district health unit Dr. Ian Gemmill provided an update on COVID-19 in the region Wednesday.
Gemmill said there has been a recent uptick in cases across the health unit region, but says the numbers are limited in Brighton and Trent Hills.
“I don’t think it’s any secret to tell you that the majority of cases right now are in the municipality of Kawartha Lakes. It’s partly because we have had the outbreak at Caressant Care McLaughlin. There’s been a few dozen of the residents there.”
Gemmill told Quinte News that as of Monday, there have been three cases in Brighton and two cases in Trent Hills in the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge district health unit is set to have lockdown restrictions lifted Tuesday, February 16. Gemmill said this is not a reason to begin flouting public health protocols because it’s no longer mandated. He strongly encouraged people to remain vigilant.
“It does not mean in any way that the risk out there is diminished. And so therefore, even though for example a stay-at-home order is not in place, I am still strongly encouraging people to stay at home unless they have a reason not to be there.”
Gemmill says he expects they will be designated as an orange zone under the province’s colour-coded system.
Vaccination in the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge district health unit is chugging along, but expected to slow soon with delays in the supply chain. Gemmill explained what has been going on with the vaccination rollout in the region.
“We’re in the process of doing four long term care homes today, we did four earlier in the week, we’ll be doing high-risk retirement homes to complete the week so it will all be done before the weekend.”
Gemmill said they received one thousand doses of vaccine on Friday but are not expecting more shipments in the coming weeks.
