A northern Ontario health unit won’t be loosening pandemic restrictions this week as it battles an ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases that’s spreading among young people and in First Nations communities.

A spokesman for the Porcupine Health Unit confirmed on Tuesday that the region that includes the northeastern city of Timmins, Ont., will not be moving to the first stage of the province’s reopening plan this Friday.

Young, otherwise health adults have been presenting with severe illness and require hospitalization, health officials said this week. Regional COVID-19 data shows the majority of the 349 active cases are located in Timmins and in First Nations communities in the James Bay and Hudson Bay regions.

The more infectious Delta variant, which has been spreading in Peel Region and prompting calls for more vaccine supply, has been detected in the region. Dr. Lianne Catton, medical officer of health for Porcupine, said it was detected through community transmission, meaning it’s likely circulating already.

She said the region isn’t ready to reopen restaurant patios and retail stores and permit more outdoor gatherings, as the rest of Ontario is poised to do on Friday following weeks of positive COVID-19 trends.

“There is no way that we can reopen this week, or within a week, with the numbers that we continue to see,” Catton said during a Monday press conference. She said people should be on the alert no matter where they live in the region.

“We continue to see outbreaks and exposures not only in Timmins, but really across the region, and very unfortunately, as we all know, also into remote communities.”

Ontario reported 469 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, with 40 of those in the Porcupine Health Unit, which serves approximately 84,000 people as of the 2016 census. 

The city of Timmins, Fort Albany First Nation and the Town of Moosonee all declared states of emergency in the last month in response to the rise in infections.

Overall, Tuesday’s case count was the lowest daily infections total for Ontario since Sept. 26, 2020, when the province reported 435 new cases.

Porcupine Health Unit had the third-highest number of new infections.

Ontario’s COVID-19 data on Tuesday was based on nearly 17,600 completed tests. 

The province said 621 people were hospitalized with the virus, including 481 in intensive care and 305 people on ventilators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2021.

Holly McKenzie-Sutter, The Canadian Press

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