The Eastern Ontario Health Unit recorded 39 new cases over the weekend, of which 16 were in Prescott-Russell. However, the number of active cases dropped by 39 across the region, from 248 on Friday to 209 on Monday.  

The active case count was the lowest in the region since mid-March, but instances remain high in some individual communities. Clarence-Rockland, for example, accounted for more than half of all active cases in Prescott-Russell, and more than a quarter of cases across the EOHU. The municipality recorded 53 active cases as of Monday, a decrease of one since Friday. 

Ontario remains under a stay-at-home order until at least May 20, but EOHU Medical Office of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis called for an extension in order to prevent outbreaks. “Get those numbers down to a more manageable level in terms of public health capacity, » he said. “It’ll set us off in the right direction as we open the economy and society over summer progressively, slowly, and as we increase the number of vaccinations.” 

Outbreaks, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions also dropped over the weekend, but one more death was reported. 

Outbreaks 

Two outbreaks – at Residence St-Mathieu in Hammond and Foyer St-Viateur Nursing Home in Limoges – continued over the weekend. The outbreaks were connected to staff, rather than resident, cases. The EOHU declared the end of two other outbreaks over the weekend in Bourget, at the Caressant Care Nursing Home and Residence Cartier. 

The region 

Of the 209 cases active in the EOHU region on Monday, 103 were in Prescott-Russell communities, including 53 in Clarence-Rockland, 14 in Russell, 11 in Hawkesbury, 10 in Alfred-Plantagenet, 10 in The Nation, 3 in East Hawkesbury, 2 in Champlain, and 0 in Casselman.