Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) has reported 71 new cases of COVID-19 in the local jurisdiction for Dec. 23.
The health unit is also reporting there are now 349 active cases that are being monitored. Also, since the PHSD began tracking COVID-19 cases just over 21 months ago, there have been 4,768 total COVID-19 cases confirmed locally. PHSD also said 4,419 of those cases are now resolved. More complete details are included on the daily COVID-19 public health summary.
As for the possible location of the new cases, PHSD said 46 new cases were reported to have occurred in Greater Sudbury, nine new cases in the rural Sudbury district and 16 new cases for the Manitoulin district.
With respect to the possible causes of new and recent cases, PHSD reported none of the new cases are associated with an outbreak, however, 10 cases are from close contact of confirmed cases, nine cases have no known epidemiological link and 52 cases are under investigation.
PHSD also reported general demographics each day about the age groups for people who are becoming infected.
Epidemiological data showed that the majority of local cases are persons in the 20 to 39 age category with 1,629 total cases (An increase of 32 cases).
There were also 1,332 cases for the 19 and under age group (An increase of 22).
The next highest number was 1,089 for the 40-59 age group (An increase of 12).
Seniors in the 60 to 79 age group amounted to 548 cases total (An increase of five).
People aged 80 and over are currently the lowest category with 152 cases (no increase).
Note: The numbers above might not correspond to other numbers being reported because the health unit does not report fresh numbers daily, as they happen. Some of the numbers are delayed.
With respect to COVID-19 testing, PHSD said there have been 346,552 total tests carried out locally since the pandemic began; an increase of 661 tests since the last testing report 24 hours ago.
With respect to vaccination numbers, PHSD is now reporting percentages of people vaccinated rather than doses given. The percentage of area residents who are now fully vaccinated translates to 76.4 per cent of people in the PHSD area.
The health unit has also reported there are several active local outbreaks and several recent exposure risks. More details can be found on the daily COVID summary page. Just scroll to the bottom of the summary page to COVID-19 Outbreaks. It also includes locations where outbreaks have been declared over.
Also, at Sudbury's Health Sciences North, there were 10 patients with confirmed COVID-19 at the hospital, said the hospital website. Three of those patients are in the intensive care unit. In addition to this there are six admitted patients "being tested" for COVID-19. HSN said none of the patients were admitted to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). HSN has also reported 13 past-positives for COVID-19 and two of those patients were in the ICU.
On the provincial COVID-19 roster today, the Ontario government daily website reported 5,790 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province. Also today, the province reported seven new COVID-19 deaths.