{"id":31067,"date":"2022-04-07T19:22:45","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T23:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=31067"},"modified":"2022-04-14T19:23:12","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T23:23:12","slug":"york-region-monitoring-wastewater-signals-as-ottawa-sees-spike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/york-region-monitoring-wastewater-signals-as-ottawa-sees-spike\/","title":{"rendered":"York Region monitoring wastewater signals as Ottawa sees spike"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

York Region Public Health is continuing to monitor COVID-19 indicators in wastewater after the Ottawa region reported a spike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Ontario nears the first month of lifted restrictions, Dr. Barry Pakes, York Region\u2019s Medical Officer of Health, says that Ottawa\u2019s trends are hinting at a \u201csixth wave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re more than one month since restrictions on gatherings were removed and two weeks since indoor mask mandates were lifted,\u201d he said. \u201cAs expected, we\u2019re seeing increased transmission of COVID-19 in York Region and across the Province in what some are calling a \u2018sixth wave.\u2019 Some areas of the Province, like Ottawa, for example, are seeing wastewater signals that surpassed their Omicron surge earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn York Region, we\u2019re seeing an increase but somewhat less dramatic, but we\u2019re still watching it carefully. Most importantly, we\u2019re watching to see if hospitalizations, which have been stable for the last several weeks, start increasing. Fortunately, our high booster vaccination rate in York Region is preventing many from ending up in hospital. We have also received several questions about a fourth dose and this is likely on its way shortly. For now, it is critically important that those who have not yet had their third dose or their booster dose receive it as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walk-in clinics across York Region are open for first, second or third doses depending on eligibility, including children between the ages of 5 and 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Province adjusts to a lifting of public health restrictions, Dr. Pakes once again urged kindness towards people making their own decisions on whether or not to mask up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very happy with what we\u2019re seeing in the community with people showing kindness and respect for others by wearing their masks when indoors,\u201d he said. \u201cThough it is now a personal choice, most York Region residents are continuing to wear masks to protect themselves and others. This is one way we\u2019ve been slowing transmission and preventing a dramatic increase in cases in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease continue to carry a mask with you and be sure to wear it if you\u2019re in a crowded area, a confined space with poor ventilation, or you\u2019re in close contact with others from outside your household \u2013 or if you\u2019ll be around someone immunocompromised or older. Spring is in the air and it is a great time to get outdoors where COVID transmission is less likely. Stay safe, have your mask on or at the ready, and get vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOCAL STATS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Tuesday, April 5, Aurora was experiencing 50 confirmed active cases of COVID-19, according to York Region Public Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, as the Region notes, this number is an under-estimate of the real number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith rapid transmission of Omicron and recent provincial changes in testing eligibility and case management, case counts and outbreaks reported through the COVID-19 in York Region interactive dashboard are an under-estimate of the true number of individuals with COVID-19 and outbreaks in York Region,\u201d the Region stated at the start of January, adding case counts should be treated with caution. \u201cPublic Health units across Ontario are prioritizing case management of high-risk individuals and settings. Workplace outbreaks are no longer reported.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Region is no longer reporting source of exposure for active cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the start of the global pandemic, York Region Public Health had been able to confirm 4,499 PCR-confirmed cumulative cases of COVID-19 in Aurora as of April 5. 4,388 cases are now marked as resolved. There have been 61 fatalities attributed to the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

90.2 per cent of Aurora residents aged 5 and up have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 87.9 per cent had received two doses by Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

York Region Public Health is continuing to monitor COVID-19 indicators in wastewater after the Ottawa region reported a spike. As Ontario nears the first month of lifted restrictions, Dr. Barry Pakes, York Region\u2019s Medical Officer of Health, says that Ottawa\u2019s trends are hinting at a \u201csixth wave.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re more than one month since restrictions on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-855","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-02 14:45:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}