Omicron variant of COVID-19 confirmed in Halton and Durham regions cases
This press release is being issued by the Ontario Public Health Partnerships Unit, Halton Region Public Health.
A Halton County resident who recently returned from a trip to the USA has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The identity of this patient is not believed to be epidemiologically linked to anyone in the Halton Region, despite a recent overseas trip to the US.
The patient is currently isolated at home. The case has been passed to the Halton Health Unit and the Durham Region Public Health Unit, for further investigation.
Halton Health Unit, Halton County, has also established a contact tracing team to collect and share information about those who had close contacts with the patient, who had recently travelled internationally.
In addition, Durham Region Public Health has activated its Coronavirus Response Team (cRRT) for this case. The cRRT provides support to affected public health units across the region, in order to ensure the most appropriate measures are taken to protect the public. We are also in contact with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
As of Jan 30, 2019, there have been at least 28 cases in the Halton Region (18) and 1 in Durham Region. The number of cases in the region have risen to 28 and have peaked at 17 (11) since March 2, 2019. The latest number of cases in Durham Region is 1.
As of May 1, 2019, there have been at least 858 cases across Ontario with 24 deaths (5 in the Halton Region) and 3 in the Durham Region (1).
The Halton Region has not reported any deaths due to COVID-19.
The Durham Region has reported 5 deaths due to COVID-19, including 2 in its local community. Durham Public Health has also launched an online tracker to track COVID-19-related deaths across the region.
Ontario has seen an overall decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases in recent days. This has included a sharp decline of 15 cases in the last week. Total cases at this time of publication is 3,865 (2,760 in Halton Region, 965 in Durham Region) and 17 deaths.
As of