HURON-PERTH – Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) is seeing an increase in new COVID-19 cases as the fourth wave of the pandemic progresses, with Medical Officer of Health Dr. Miriam Klassen saying the majority of them are attributed to a particular demographic.
“The majority of new cases have been in unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated (residents),” said Dr. Klassen during HPPH’s bi-weekly media teleconference on Aug. 25. “Getting vaccinated means that you’re less likely to contract COVID-19, and if you do, you’re more likely to have milder outcomes or less likely to have severe outcomes, and spread the virus to others. Protect yourself and your loved ones against COVID-19.”
As of Monday, active COVID-19 cases stood at 27 in Huron-Perth, including a reported outbreak at Knollcrest Lodge in Milverton that has afflicted four residents and three staff members. Largely as a result of that outbreak, Perth East is seeing the highest number of regional transmissions with 10, while North Perth has reported three active cases. Morris- Turnberry and Stratford both report six cases for each jurisdiction.
The HPPH region surpassed 2,000 cases of COVID-19 last week since the onset of the pandemic 18 months ago.
“Cases are starting to rise again, which reinforces that we have to continue to follow Public Health and workplace safety measures,” said Dr. Klassen. “The pandemic is not over yet.”
Nearly 188,000 people have been vaccinated in the region to date. Of those that are Huron-Perth residents, 79.4 per cent aged 12 and older have received one dose of the vaccine, while 72.4 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
With the 2021-22 school year set to start next week, around 68 per cent of youth aged 12-17 have received a first dosage, while approximately 54 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
“That’s a lot of our youth, and certainly there is room for improvement,” said Dr. Klassen. “There are areas of the province that are getting much higher rates. There’s all these layers of protection, and vaccination is by far the most effective layer – there’s no question about that. The higher we can get the vaccination rate, we’ll be setting up for successful school reopening.”
