1 in 16 have now been tested locally
No new confirmed cases for Peterborough city and county and Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation were reported Wednesday afternoon by Peterborough Public Health.
There are 89 cases, with 78 of them resolved and two earlier deaths, leaving nine active cases. There were no local institutional outbreaks as of Wednesday.
There have now been more than 9,150 people tested locally, the health unit reported, up about 300 from Tuesday. One in 16 residents has now been tested, said medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra at a virtual press conference on Wednesday. She also said roughly 1,800 tests have been done in the last week alone.
The health unit plans to hold drive-thru testing clinics Friday at 65 Chemong St. in Curve Lake First Nation, Saturday at 431 Hiawatha Line in Hiawatha First Nation and Monday in North Kawartha Township (location yet to be determined), aimed at people who do not have symptoms but want to be tested.
A drive-thru clinic also opened at the Kinsmen Civic Centre in Peterborough last week and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. until further notice.
That drive-thru testing centre has been busy, Salvaterra said: 265 people have been tested there daily since it opened a week ago.
Salvaterra said 73 per cent of those tests had already yielded results by Wednesday and 1,389 had come back negative.
The drive-thru centre returned just one positive case, Salvaterra said, in someone from Durham Region who was in Peterborough and was tested (so the result wasn’t counted in the Peterborough Public Health tally of cases).
Meanwhile, the Peterborough Regional Health Centre continues to have an assessment centre open daily for people who do have symptoms.
The local rate of COVID-19 is 60 cases per 100,000 people, Salvaterra said, which is “notably lower” that the provincial average of 193 cases per 100,000 people.
She also mentioned that she attended the Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Peterborough on Tuesday that attracted hundreds of people — and she was impressed that everyone was wearing a mask.
Women and Gender Equity Minister Maryam Monsef, who was at the virtual press conference on Wednesday, was in Ottawa on Tuesday but heard that people at the rally had worn masks.
She said she was proud of local people for organizing the rally in the first place “and I’m really proud of my community for doing it safely.”
Mayor Diane Therrien was also at the virtual press conference on Wednesday and she said the reopening of city facilities is occurring now under provincial guidance.
Some public washrooms in parks have reopened, for instance, in Beavermead and Millennium parks.
One new COVID-19 case was reported Wednesday in the City of Kawartha Lakes.
Folk festival cancelled
The Peterborough Folk Festival has been cancelled for Aug. 21 to 23 at Nicholls Oval due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Organizers announced the cancellation Wednesday.
Since the annual festival is free, no ticket refunds need to be issued. Organizers said the festival will return from Aug. 20 to 22 in 2021.
Shamrock Festival cancelled
This year’s Ennismore Shamrock Festival and Truck and Tractor Pull has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers announced on Twitter on Wednesday that the festival will return in 2021.
The Shamrock Festival had been planned for July 18 and 19 in Ennismore in Selwyn Township.
The festival has been an annual event since 1967. This year it was going to include ball hockey and soccer tournaments, bouncy castles, barbecues and a petting zoo.
Lakefield fireworks cancelled
The Lakefield Canada Day Celebration and Fireworks have been cancelled this year, with organizers planning to bring the event back next year.