Renfrew County and District (RCD) recorded 94 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the Christmas weekend, the area’s highest two-day total since the pandemic began almost two years ago.
The Renfrew County and District Health Unit reported the numbers Monday afternoon.
They follow 10 new cases reported on Christmas Eve, December 24, and 85 in the week from December 16-23.
With 1,173 confirmed cases overall, 984 resolved and 11 deaths since the health unit began tracking numbers in March 2020, that means there are 178 active cases in the district, also the highest number since the pandemic began.
In fact, the previous high for cases in a month was 159, recorded in April 2021.
There are no up-to-date figures on how many people are in hospital. The last update December 23 showed 80 people in self-isolation, with four in hospital and one in intensive care (ICU).
The health unit reported Boxing Day that it had declared outbreaks in two more Renfrew County schools.
The health unit said a total of 11 staff and students at St. Joseph’s Catholic School Arnprior, and six students at Walter Zadow Public School in multiple cohorts have tested positive for COVID-19.
The health unit also announced Christmas Eve that, along with the other Ontario public health units, it is shifting its focus from “community containment” to “mitigation of further transmission” of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
“This will occur by improving vaccination efforts and by managing individuals with the highest risk of transmission, as well as mitigating outbreaks and transmission to vulnerable individuals in high-risk settings, including long-term care homes, schools, daycares, and hospitals, etc.”
“I am urging all RCD residents to remain vigilant, decrease their contacts by 50%, continue practicing all the necessary public health measures and to get fully vaccinated,” said Dr. Robert Cushman, acting medical officer of health.
“We can help to stop the spread of COVID-19 and variants of concern in our community if we all do our part to follow public health guidance.”
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