TORONTO -- Thunder Bay, Ont. and its surrounding region have quickly become one of the leading COVID-19 hotspots in Canada.
On Tuesday, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU), which includes a vast region of 149.960 people that includes the city, its surrounding area, and as far north as Hudson Bay, reported 58 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total active case count in the area to 458.
, the TBDHU has seen 652 new cases of COVID-19 in last 14 days and per capita has more than double the new cases of anywhere else in Ontario. It is also one of just three regions in Ontario 鈥 along with Toronto and Peel 鈥 to still be in the 鈥淕rey 鈥 Lockdown鈥 category of restrictions.
鈥淭here is no sense in sugarcoating it, things are not looking very good right now,鈥 Dr. Janet DeMille, the local medical officer of health, said . 鈥淐ases are at an all-time high in the Thunder Bay district, a significant and uncomfortable amount of cases are being reported every day.鈥
Since the beginning of March, the TBDHU has declared four COVID-19 outbreaks in the region, including at schools, a daycare centre and a retirement home.
鈥淐OVID-19 is essentially everywhere, it is in many different places, and it is spreading,鈥 DeMille said.
Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro saidthe recent trend is making people in the area increasingly worried about the situation.
鈥淧eople are concerned from the medical perspective and what this means with this kind of community spread and the impacts on the hospital, but also as a result 鈥 when you have numbers like this, the province puts you into the red or grey, and there [are] very significant consequences for local businesses,鈥 he told 麻豆影视 on Wednesday.
On Feb. 10, the TBDHU reported a COVID-19 outbreak among the City of Thunder Bay鈥檚 vulnerable population, meaning those experiencing homelessness and 鈥渢hose who are precariously housed,鈥
DeMille said that this outbreak was the 鈥渕ajor contributing factor鈥 to rising case number in the area, but now believes other cases outside that initial outbreak are driving the further spike.
鈥淯nfortunately this is not really settling down,鈥 she said.
鈥淲e are in the worst situation we have ever experienced here so far in this pandemic.鈥
DeMille added that the health unit has noticed many people are not following the COVID-19 guidelines, including people interacting with each other during a lockdown and failing to isolate when they鈥檝e shown symptoms.
鈥淲e all need to assume that wherever we go, wherever we are, COVID is there,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t is all those basic measures that we can take that make a difference.鈥
DeMille added five recommendations for people in the district to abide by if they鈥檙e to get out of lockdown: limit interactions with those outside your household, follow all public health measures, screen yourself daily for symptoms, follow the public health measure if you鈥檝e been diagnosed with COVID-19 and for workplaces to review their own safety measures.
鈥淲e need to continue all of these efforts to bring our case numbers down, to prevent the variants of COVID-19 from getting a hold in our area and we need this in order to resume our regular activities,鈥 she said.
Mauro echoed DeMille鈥檚 sentiment and reiterated that the message is simple: be careful wherever you go.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very concerning situation for us, and we鈥檙e hoping we see this plateau in the not-too-distant future,鈥 he said.
