Thunder Bay, Northwestern health units report combined 68 new COVID-19 cases Monday
CBC
Dozens of new COVID-19 cases have been reported across northwestern Ontario to start off the week before Christmas.
The Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) announced 46 new cases on Monday, with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit reporting 22.
Neither of the two health units reports case updates on weekends, with Monday's announcements covering a three-day period.
The active case count for the NWHU has increased to 117.
For those new cases, 26 are within the Kenora health hub while there were eight in the Dryden health hub. Cases were also reported in the Fort Frances, Sioux Lookout, Rainy River, Red Lake, and Emo health hub regions.
The number of active cases in the Thunder Bay district has grown to 63, the first time in the last two weeks that the count has increased.
Eighteen of the 22 new cases are in the immediate Thunder Bay area, with the other four in district communities.
Ten of those new cases are either household or other close contacts of previously announced cases, while five are linked to travel outside of the region, three had no known exposure to the virus, and four remain pending.