Here are the latest local, regional and national headlines on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) for Thursday, October 14, 2021:
- There have been 593,020 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across Ontario, an increase of 306 cases from the previous day (VAX: 177 unvaccinated, 14 partially vaccinated, 104 fully vaccinated, 11 unknown). There have been 579,080 people recovered from the virus while 9,804 have died. The number of Ontario people tested is 18,459,728 of which 16,051 have pending results.
- Canada’s coronavirus case is 1,670,241. The country has 28,367 deaths from the virus – 10 in the Yukon, seven in the Northwest Territories, four in Nunavut, 2,033 in British Columbia, 2,901 in Alberta, 764 in Saskatchewan, 1,224 in Manitoba, 9,804 in Ontario, 11,429 in Quebec, 80 in New Brunswick, 13 in Newfoundland & Labrador and 98 in Nova Scotia.
- The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit removed one case from its total cases Wednesday to bring the regional total to 1,920 confirmed cases, of which nine are active (two fewer than Tuesday) and 1,849 are recovered (no change from Tuesday). Another death has been recorded bringing the total to 62 deaths since the pandemic began. There is one person in hospital (one fewer than Tuesday), one in the ICU (one fewer than Tuesday) and one on a ventilator (no change from Tuesday). There are no active institutional outbreaks. The community case breakdown is: Lanark County East 422 cases (three active), Lanark County West 427 cases (zero active), Leeds-Grenville Central 239 cases (four active), Leeds-Grenville East 390 cases (one active), Leeds-Grenville West 213 cases (one active) and Unknown/Out of Region 21 cases (zero active).
- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit added 54 cases Wednesday – 36 in Prescott-Russell and 18 in Cornwall – to bring the regional total to 5,639 confirmed cases, of which 162 are active (36 more than Tuesday) and 5,361 are resolved (18 more than Tuesday). The number of deaths to date is 116. There are 19 people in hospital (two more than Tuesday) and six in the ICU (no change from Tuesday). There are 10 institutional outbreaks (one more than Tuesday – six institutions, three schools, one daycare). Testing increased 415 to 162,982. The breakdown of cases is: Prescott-Russell 2,219 cases (50 active), SD&G 1,306 cases (28 active), Cornwall 1,678 cases (65 active) and Akwesasne (ON/QC) 436 cases (19 active)(Akwesasne health department reports 12 new cases Tuesday: 459 total cases, 26 active).
- Vaccines: Ontario 22,119,312 (+29,857, last update Oct. 13); EOHU 321,271 (last update Oct. 13, +626 from previous update Oct. 12); LGL 150,924 individuals living in LGL with first doses, 142,818 with second doses (last update Oct. 13, +1,806 first doses, +1,890 second doses since previous update Oct. 4).
- Across the border in St. Lawrence County (which includes Massena, Potsdam and Canton) added 86 new cases on Wednesday to bring the total number of cases in the county to 11,487. There are 572 active cases with most of them in Ogdensburg (95), Massena (83), Potsdam (51) and Canton (45). There have been 122 deaths to date. There are 21 people currently in hospital. Just over 54 per cent of nearly 112,000 residents are vaccinated. Just over 410,000 tests have been performed during the pandemic.
- Cornwall’s hospital is closing operating rooms temporarily and cancelling non-emergency surgeries due to the surge in COVID-19 patients. The Cornwall Community Hospital will only do procedures for “life-threatening cancer cases, life or limb patients, or high priority surgeries.” People with cancelled surgeries will be contacted, the hospital said.
- Quebec has delayed the deadline for health care workers to be vaccinated for COVID-19. The original deadline was this Friday but Health Minister Christian Dube says losing thousands of workers is too risky. The new deadline is Nov. 15 and affected workers will be tested at least three times a week until that time.
- The U.S. is planning to allow fully vaccinated Canadians across its land borders starting sometime next month. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was in Washington on the same day of the announcement and says Canadians still need to be careful. There’s still an advisory that people should not travel to the U.S. for non-essential reasons. More details are expected soon.
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