The number of tri-county area residents with COVID-19 approached the 200 mark on the weekend, while the death toll remained at 15.

A separate count by the province’s health ministry also showed the local health unit is now, statistically, the most infected in the province.

There were 191 cases in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark as of 4 p.m. Saturday, including 15 deaths, the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit reported Sunday afternoon.

The latest numbers came a day after the number of area residents who have died of COVID-19 jumped by six in the span of a day, from nine to 15.

While the number of deaths did not increase, the number of cases went up only slightly, from 187 in the previous count.

A more precise statistical breakdown of the latest cases, or of their specific geographical areas, was not available on the weekend.

The most recent statistical breakdown, based on April 9 numbers, showed an almost even split between COVID-19 cases in the community (40 per cent) and jn long-term care facilities (39 per cent), while 21 per cent of the cases at the time were health-care workers.

Statistics compiled by the province’s health ministry showed the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark health unit had the dubious distinction of rising from the second-most-infected, of 34 health units measured, to the most.

The local health unit had a rate of 106.3 cases per 100,000 in population. The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, recently the most severely affected, was now in close second at 106.1. The provincial average was 47.4 cases per 100,000 people.

The two health units were the only ones in the province with more than 100 cases per 100,000 people.

Those most recent provincial numbers were based on a total of 184 cases in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark, likely because the provincial officials pulled those numbers a bit earlier than the health unit, and new results are constantly being entered.

Medical officer of health Dr. Paula Stewart has cited the high number of COVID-19 cases in local long-term care facilities, and the proximity of the outbreaks, in the north of the area, to Ottawa, as factors in the region’s high rate of infection.

On Saturday, the health unit issued a statement confirming COVID-19 was reported at the Tincap Restaurant – but people who took out food from the establishment were at low risk of getting the disease.

Health unit officials Saturday put out a statement confirming the agency did an assessment at the Tincap Restaurant related to COVID-19.

“If an employee of a restaurant has lab-confirmed COVID-19, then the health unit will follow up to assess whether the public was at risk from contact with this individual,” the statement reads.

“This was done with the Tincap Restaurant” on County Road 29.

“From our assessment, the risk is low for the public who visited the restaurant from the end of March until it was closed on April 4. People who picked up their food would have spent a very short time interacting with employees at the take-out counter. Masks were used by staff interacting with the public for much of this time period.”

In keeping with their confidentiality policy, health unit officials did not elaborate further on the Tincap case.

Health unit officials quoted the Public Health Agency of Canada, which said “there is currently no evidence to suggest that food is a likely source or route of transmission of the virus and there are currently no reported cases of COVID-19 transmission through food. People are unlikely to be infected with the virus through food.”

The health unit added its inspectors “have worked with each restaurant to ensure they adhere to safe food handling practices.

“The public health inspectors have also suggested ways to minimize the contact with the public as people pick up their food – keeping the duration of contact to a minimum, maintaining a distance of six feet, and washing hands or using hand sanitizer between exchanges of food with the public. People who pick up food should wash their hands before they eat the food.”

In a welcome bit of good news on the weekend, Brockville Mayor Jason Baker expressed his gratitude to the community for, among other things, the success of the Community Strong Food Drive, which safely collected donations for the Brockville and Area Food Bank in two separate convoys in the north and south ends of the city Saturday morning and early afternoon.

“On this Easter weekend I wanted to say how proud I am of our community. This weekend alone shows the true meaning of community strong,” Baker wrote on Facebook.

The health unit has staff answering COVID-19-related questions and concerns for the public from 8:30 to 4:30 every day at 1-800-660-5853 x2499.