With a bump in the number of active COVID-19 cases this week, officials with Hastings Prince Edward Public Health are urging residents to get vaccinated.
While there are currently only 13 active cases across the two counties as of Thursday, that is up from three cases a week ago.
Director of Clinical Programs, Dr. Ethan Toumishey says they can’t be sure just yet that the highly contagious Delta variant is responsible for the uptick but he believes it is likely.
“For these recent cases, we don’t have the sequencing that has determined that to be Delta back as of yet, that can take some time. But when we look at the trends across the province, this is taking up a majority of new cases that are popping up and so this is likely what we are seeing with these recent cases as well.”
Dr. Toumishey notes that some of the most recent cases have been associated with gatherings, especially among younger age groups who may not be vaccinated or fully vaccinated yet.
He says there are a variety of reasons why some people aren’t vaccinated yet, one of which is our relative number of low cases through most of the pandemic.
“There’s a component too that we have had lower case numbers for COVID for a number of months now and that people may not be perceiving of the same risk that would be there.”
He encourages vaccination as the best way to protect your own health and that of those around you and to prevent a fourth wave.
As of Thursday, 81% of Hastings and Prince Edward residents age 12 and up have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine while 66% are fully vaccinated.
