The Porcupine Health Unit is set to release weekly epidemiology reports for local COVID-19 statistics.

Ahead of the first report, which includes data up to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25, being posted to their website, this morning medical officer of health Dr. Lianne Catton gave highlights of it.

The testing rate for the PHU area is 2,014 per 100,000 people, which she said is about the rate for Ontario at the end of last week.

Catton said the per cent of positive tests for the Porcupine Health Unit is 5.1, compared to 6.7 per cent for Ontario. 

Today, the health unit reported no new cases in the region.

There have been 58 confirmed cases of the virus in the region so far. Of those, 43 cases are resolved and three people have died.

The health unit is aware of 1,715 tests being done, which is an increase of 33 since the last report. There are currently 536 tests under investigation.

For the local cases, 35 have been in Timmins. Of those, 24 cases are resolved and two people have died. There have been 22 cases in the area of Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls, and Smooth Rock Falls. Of those, 18 are resolved and one person has died. There has been one case in the area of Kapuskasing, Opasatika, Val Rita-Harty, Moonbeam, and Fauquier-Strickland and it is resolved.

The majority of the cases have been people between the ages of 50 and 69. 

Catton said the most common exposure has been contact of a confirmed case, and there has been some link to travel and international travel, as well as institutional outbreaks.

“The most important message is we have seen evidence of community exposure in transmission. This is when we do not have linkages to travel or other cases as mentioned above and as discussed throughout the past few weeks, and we have been highlighting this for several weeks now. The need to assume and act as though community transmission is occurring and thus there is potential for exposure in every community across the Porcupine Health Unit remains critical,” she said.

Ontario Health releases a daily epidemiology report, which includes the rate of infection per 100,000 people for each of the health units in the province.

In that report, the PHU no longer has the most number of cases, however it has consistently had the highest rate of infection of the northern health units. Today’s report showed the rate of infection for the region as 68.3 per 100,000 people. That stat is based on 57 confirmed cases, whereas there have been 58 confirmed in the region. The provincial rate is 99.9 people per 100,000.

Broken down further, the local infection rate is 6.8 people out of 10,000, which is the number which has been referenced at recent Timmins health table updates for COVID-19. 

While Catton wouldn’t speak to the provincial data, this morning she talked about the 5.1 per cent of positive tests in the local epidemiology report. 

“I think really hinging on a number is not the key item, the key item is that we do have a significant number of cases in the Porcupine Health Unit area and I think we’re doing an excellent job of identifying those cases,” she said, adding it’s a thorough investigation to determine other people who may have been exposed, which have been the majority of their cases.

“And this means that we’re working with individuals who have been great and extremely forthcoming in providing us the really important key information so we can identify any other individuals who may have been exposed throughout the course of one being ill with COVID.”

At the mayor’s health table, she also cautioned people that the population in the local health unit is small.

“And so when we look at data and we look at numbers, we need to keep in mind that some very small changes can have a significant impact on percentages on things like that compared to areas with higher populations,” she said.

Timmins and District Hospital CAO Blaise MacNeil also asked people to follow public health measures and stay home. 

He noted the Ontario stastics, which show the cause of 36.3 per cent (5,400) of the 14,856 COVID-19 cases in Ontario is community transmission.

“While these are provincial statistics, we know that the virus is still circulating in our community. It is increasingly important that we continue to abide by public health measures in the coming weeks. Every one of us wants to see these measures come to an end, but it has to be done through a slow and measured steps. While recent reports of positive cases in the community have been low, the level of danger remains high. It remains vital to our community and our healthcare sector that we stay the course together,” he said.

Timmins clerk Steph Palmateer also gave an update on the number of COVID-19 calls being made to the city.

From April 20-24, he said the city received 22 complaints and inquiries related to the virus. He said 13 required follow up or investigation by an enforcement officer, and nine were general inquiries. 

Since April 1, he said there have been a total of 82 calls about COVID-19.

Palmateer also reminded people that public boat launches are closed because of the provincial emergency order.

“Unfortunately we have to follow the provincial mandate and these will remain closed until further notice,” he said.

There are COVID-19 Assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Hearst and Hornepayne. They are by appointment only and you must be referred by your primary healthcare provider or the health unit.

The PHU COVID-19 hotline is open today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It can be reached at 705-267-1181 or 1-800-461-1818.

The health unit is doing expanded testing on people with milder symptoms for a limited time.

The expanded list of symptoms include cough, fever, and difficulty breathing as well as sore throat/hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, loss of smell or taste, fatigue, muscle aches, runny nose, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and nausea or vomiting.