WELLINGTON COUNTY – It’s turning out to be another week of good news on the COVID-19 front, as the active case count continues to decline across the county despite newly reported cases this past weekend.
After reporting 435 active cases on May 10, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) is reporting 264 active cases as of May 18, with 97 of those newly reported between May 14 to May 18.
The region’s case rate per 100,000 population has also dropped, from 96.8 at the beginning of the month to 67.6 as of May 16.
As of May 7, 7.3 per cent of COVID-19 tests are returning positive for the virus — up from 5.8 per cent a day earlier.
The number of people hospitalized has decreased since last week’s update, from 34 to 23 as of May 16, with seven of those in intensive care at either Guelph General Hospital or Headwaters Health Care in Orangeville (Wellington County hospitals do not have ICUs).
Variants
As of May 12, WDGPH reports 80 per cent of all COVID-19 cases confirmed in the region (seven-day moving average) are variants of concern.
To date there have been a total 1,822 confirmed cases of the B117 (UK) variant, 23 cases of the P1 (Brazilian) variant and none of the B1351 (South African) variant.
An additional 189 individuals have screened positive for a variant of concern not yet identified.
Local trends
As of May 18, Wellington County has 53 active cases, down from 88 on May 10.
Public health is also reporting the county’s 37th COVID-related death. WDGPH spokesperson Danny Williamson confirmed a man in his 80s died with the virus on May 12.
As of May 18, there have been 111 deaths attributed to the virus reported across the WDGPH region.
Dufferin County has 79 active cases as of May 18, down from 139 reported on May 10.
Guelph has 129 active cases as of May 18, less than half the reported total of 318 from three weeks ago.
Vaccines/outbreaks
As of May 18, 130,827 residents in the WDGPH region have received at least one vaccine dose, pushing the region’s vaccination rate past the halfway mark, to 51.2 per cent.
Public health is aiming to have 75% of the region’s eligible population at least partially vaccinated by June.
