Ajax four-day total of 646 allows active case count of COVID-19 to top 6,000 in Durham

COVID-19 cases in Durham Region remain at record levels, though Friday’s new case daily record of 851 has not been approached since and yesterday’s case count was substantially less at 525. With changes in testing driven by the Omicron variant leading to “greater underestimation,” it is unclear what the declining numbers over the past couple of days really mean.

There are no new deaths reported but hospital and ICU cases – which have been much fewer with this variant and with so many people fully vaccinated – are “currently unavailable,” leading to more guesswork as to the severity of the current outbreak.

The active case count has gone from 4,903 as of December 30 to 6,170 as of January 3.

Ajax reported the highest daily case counts on all four days since the last reporting, with 185, 193, 139 and 129 new cases respectively, for a four-day total of 646. Oshawa (546) and Whitby (536) followed.

Uxbridge, which posted a record 31 new cases New Year’s Day, reported just three yesterday, so that’s at least one promising sign.

There are 29 outbreaks in long-term care homes and retirement homes, with the biggest outbreaks at Port Perry Place (11), Westney Gardens (8), Hillsdale Estates (5) and Wynfield LTCH (5). There are also staff outbreaks at 11 facilities – including hospitals in Ajax and Oshawa – with those numbers not counted as those affected are not Durham Region residents.

There are also 14 workplace outbreaks in the region.