Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Thursday, August 12, 2021:
- There have been 553,449 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 324 cases from the previous day. There have been 541,426 people recovered from the virus while 9,412 have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 16,764,787 of which 8,233 have pending results.
- (Health Canada did not update its website at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The following data was compiled by Newswatch from official provincial/territorial sites.) Canada’s coronavirus case total is 1,445,302. The country has 26,688 deaths from the virus – eight in the Yukon, four in Nunavut, 1,778 in British Columbia, 2,331 in Alberta, 584 in Saskatchewan, 1,183 in Manitoba, 9,412 in Ontario, 11,242 in Quebec, 46 in New Brunswick, seven in Newfoundland & Labrador and 93 in Nova Scotia.
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit area added two cases Wednesday to bring the regional total to 1,775 cases, of which three are active (no change from Tuesday) and 1,712 are recovered (two more than Tuesday). There are 60 deaths to date. There is no one in hospital. There are no active institutional outbreaks. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 388 cases (zero active), Lanark County West 400 cases (zero active), Leeds-Grenville Central 210 cases (zero active), Leeds-Grenville East 350 cases (one active) and Leeds-Grenville West 204 cases (one active).
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit area added six cases on Wednesday – two in SD&G and four in Cornwall – to bring the regional total to 4,776 confirmed cases, of which 26 are active (six more than Tuesday) and 4,639 are resolved (no change from Tuesday). The have been 111 deaths to date. There is one person in hospital in the ICU. There is one active institutional outbreak (location not disclosed). Testing unchanged at 148,119. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 1,992 cases (four active), SD&G 1,135 cases (11 active), Cornwall 1,290 cases (11 active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 359 cases (zero active).
- Vaccines: Ontario 19,998,744 (+48,307, last update Aug.11); EOHU 279,381 (last update Aug. 11, +1,970 from previous update Aug. 10); LGL 137,774 individuals living in LGL with first doses, 123,042 with second doses (last update Aug. 10, +1,273 first doses, +4,156 second doses since previous update Aug. 3).
- The federal government is planning on a vaccine passport for fully vaccinated Canadians. The new government document should be ready this fall to allow for proof of vaccination for international travel, Federal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announced Wednesday. While it will be a digital document, there will be an option for those who can’t or don’t want a digital certificate.
- Across the border in St. Lawrence County (which includes Massena, Potsdam and Canton), the department of heath recorded another 60 cases between Monday and Thursday last week to bring the total to 7,749. There are 88 active cases with most being in Stockholm (18, east of Potsdam), Potsdam (9) and Massena (9). There are seven people currently in hospital and there have been 97 deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020.
- When school returns in the fall in Quebec, students will have to wear a mask on the school bus and in common areas of the school. But they won’t have to wear them in the classroom, the schoolyard or for after-school programming. Almost 75 per cent of children in the 12 to 17 age bracket are fully vaccinated in Quebec.
- Alberta recorded its largest single day increase since May on Wednesday with 501 new cases. Roughly 44 per cent of those are around Calgary. A lot of the contact tracing and isolation measures have ended or are about to end shortly.
- Toronto’s University Health Network has released new research suggesting a third COVID-19 booster shot for people who are organ transplant recipients could help to better protect them from the virus.
Have a story or news release related to COVID-19? Send it along for possible inclusion in a future digest on Cornwall Newswatch. Email editor@cornwallnewswatch.com. Please put “COVID-19 Digest” in the subject line.