By Felicia Massey

The Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health unit says there are currently 35 active COVID-19 cases and three outbreaks in the community as Omicron variant concerns rise.

With four in Haliburton, 16 in the Kawartha area and 15 in Northumberland, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Natalie Bocking says we can expect to see a continued increase in positive cases over the next couple weeks.

The outbreaks, one at Campbellford Memorial Hospital, a Haliburton school bus cohort and a farm in Brighton, have a handful of cases associated with them, the HKPR announced during a virtual media session on the first of December.

Omicron, a recently-deemed variant of concern by the World Health Organization, is said to have a number of concerning mutations associated with it.

Although the health unit says there has not yet been enough data gathered on this variant, there is believed to be greater than 50 mutations associated with it. Dr. Bocking says some of these mutations are the same ones that we have seen in other variants of concern, such as Delta and Alpha.

“It is a matter of time before we see increased cases associated with this variant.”

HKPR reported that 86.9% of the community ages 12 and older have at least one COVID-19 vaccine, and 84.4% are considered to be fully vaccinated.

Primary care practices and family health teams, as well as 16 pharmacies across the HKPR region are offering vaccine clinics for the pediatric population ages 5-11.

As of Wednesday, 2,000 appointments are currently booked and 8,000 are available in the HKPR jurisdiction throughout the month of December.

Shots for children are distributed in smaller increments, 10 micrograms compared to the 30 micrograms in the normal dose.

Dr. Bocking says she understands the hesitancy that parents may face when it comes to their children receiving the vaccine, and encourages uncertain parents to seek out “thorough and thoughtful resources” and ask their family physician for guidance.

With vaccine eligibility expansion, an increase in positive cases in the jurisdiction and the new variant of concern the local health unit continues to urge those who are eligible to get their vaccine and continue to follow all COVID regulations.