WELLINGTON COUNTY – Active cases of COVID-19 continue to drop in Wellington County, but another five residents have died with the virus.
A Feb. 8 update from Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) showed there were 65 new cases reported on the weekend (Feb. 5 to 7), 10 of those in Wellington.
The five new county deaths – three more at Caressant Care Arthur and two at Palmerston and District Hospital – bring Wellington’s total COVID-related death toll to 25.
All but two of those deaths have occurred since the start of November.
Between Feb. 3 and 8 alone, WDGPH reported seven deaths tied to COVID-19 outbreaks at two facilities:
- Caressant Care Arthur, two women aged 86 and 87, and two men aged 90 and 92; and
- Palmerston hospital, three women aged 73, 89 and 93.
Positive trends
The WDGPH weekend case count of 65 is the lowest recorded in the region since mid-November.
Active cases in the region are now at 217, which represents a 56% drop since the figure reached a high of 489 one month ago (Jan. 11).
Several regional COVID-19 indicators have also continued to trend in the right direction in recent weeks.
WDGPH’s latest case rate per 100,000 population is 45.6 and its test positivity rate is 3.6%. Just one week ago those rates were 91.6 and 3.8% respectively – and one month ago (Jan. 11) they were 149.2.6 and 5.9%.
The trend has also been positive in Wellington County, which has one person hospitalized with COVID-19. The county recorded 10 new cases over the weekend and now has 31 active cases, down by more than half from 71 one week ago. Two weeks ago (Jan. 25), the county had a record-high 112 active cases.
The county’s seven-day average for daily cases, which is often used to indicate trends, is now 2.86, down significantly from 11.29 two weeks ago.
There are currently 26 active cases in Dufferin County and 149 in Guelph.
Active case counts by municipality are included in the table below.
Municipality-specific active COVID-19 cases counts as of Feb. 8, 2021. (WDGPH image)
Outbreaks
There are currently 10 facility outbreaks in the WDGPH region, including four in Wellington County:
- Caressant Care Fergus, one staff case, declared on Feb. 6;
- Eden House Care Facility in Guelph-Eramosa, one staff case, declared on Feb. 6;
- Caressant Care Arthur (long-term care), 57 residents (14 deaths) and 57 staff, declared on Dec. 26; and
- Palmerston and District Hospital, six residents (four deaths) and four staff, declared on Jan. 28.
An outbreak at Wellington Terrace Long-Term Care in Aboyne (12 staff, declared on Dec. 12) was declared over on Feb. 8.
