Algoma hits record-breaking high in active COVID-19 cases

A doctor with Algoma Public Health (APH) says the lifting of provincial restrictions on capacity limits and an uptick in COVID-19 cases in children are contributing to the largest number of active cases to date in the region. 

Dr. John Tuinema, associate medical officer of health for APH, says that although the record-breaking 58 active cases in the region is "concerning," the overall weekly rates have not surpassed previous peaks. 

“If we look at that, and look at the epidemiology over the course of the pandemic, we’re not nearly as high as we would’ve been during the second and third wave, but we’re certainly seeing a surge compared to our normal amounts of COVID that we’d be seeing,” said Tuinema, speaking with SooToday Monday.

Three educational facilities in Sault Ste. Marie have reported COVID-19 outbreaks since Oct. 21. Two of those outbreaks - at Grand View Public School and River View Public School - have been deemed facility-wide. The other active COVID-related outbreak was declared at Child Care Algoma’s Before and After School Program, located at Grand View Public School. 

All three outbreaks remain unresolved as of Monday afternoon. 

According to data from Public Health Ontario, 15 cases of COVID-19 were reported in children 11 years of age and younger during the last two weeks in October. Another three reported cases were in the 12-19 age cohort. 

Tuinema says that due to the fact that many young people can’t be immunized, they represent a large group of people who are more likely to get the virus. 

“What we are seeing is a bit of an uptick in younger individuals,” said Tuinema. “And although younger people do much better with COVID-19 as far as severity of their outcome, it’s still very important that we keep those numbers down, as they could transmit it to somebody who’s much more vulnerable.” 

On top of that, Tuinema says that more people are out visiting more and becoming more involved in events since Ontario began easing restrictions and lifting capacity limits in the province. 

“Overall there’s just a higher number of contacts occurring, which can lead to more transmission,” he said.

APH was unable to tell SooToday the vaccination status of the 57 active cases in the region. According to the APH website, 19 of the 86 cases (22.1 per cent) of COVID-19 reported in Algoma between July 1 - Oct. 20 were in fully vaccinated individuals. The remaining 67 cases (77.9 per cent) were in either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals.

Tuinema says the fully-vaccinated COVID cases in Algoma are “well within what APH expects to see.”   

“When you have a vaccine that is not perfect, the proportion of vaccinated people increases - you’re going to have...a higher amount of cases that have been vaccinated,” he said. 

The health unit only reports vaccination statuses on a monthly basis for a couple of reasons.  

“We do it monthly because [of] our relatively low number of cases compared to the rest of the province,” said Tuinema. “To protect privacy, we only report it in aggregates once a month at this time.” 

There have been 545 reported cases of COVID-19 in the Algoma Public Health region to date.