Omicron sweeping the region with 147 new cases – 43 from Whitby

The numbers keep going up for the Omicron variant, with 147 new cases of the virus reported yesterday in Durham Region.

Forty-three of the cases were from Whitby – Durham’s new hotspot – with 34 from Oshawa, 28 from Pickering and 23 from Ajax. Clarington reported just nine, with two from Uxbridge and one each from Scugog and Brock. There are now 587 active cases in the region, with slightly more than one-quarter of that total from Thursday alone.

Two residents are in hospital with the virus, with both in intensive care, leaving 585 isolating at home.

School outbreaks now stand at 19, involving 34 students. Six schools are now closed to in-person learning. There is still one small outbreak (two residents) at Sunnycrest Nursery Home in Whitby with ten workplace outbreaks in Durham after a third retail store was added to the list.

The percentage of vaccinated children aged 5-11 – newly eligible for their first shot – is now at 31.7 per cent.