Whitby still the hot spot with 129 of 522 cases of COVID since Friday as Omicron sweeps the region

COVID-19 hit a new high on the weekend with 208 cases reported Friday, followed by 178 Saturday and 136 Sunday, bringing the region’s active case total to a whopping 828 cases.

Whitby continues to be the hotspot for COVID-19 and the new Omicron variant with 129 new cases reported over the past three days, including 68 on Friday, but other communities are catching up. Pickering led the case count Saturday with 44 new positive tests while Oshawa topped Sunday’s totals with 42 new cases.

There are three residents in hospital. All three are in intensive care.

While a small outbreak at Sunnycrest Nursing Home in Whitby has been resolved, a new outbreak has cropped up at Chartwell Wynfields LTCH in Oshawa with one resident self-isolating. The workplace outbreak total has held steady at ten.

School and day care outbreaks have risen to 18, but just 11 students are isolating. The rest of the cases have been resolved. Five schools are now closed and will remain closed at least until after the holiday break concludes in the first week of January.