COVID-19 numbers still high in Durham – Pickering leads with 37 new cases

Do two bad days a sixth wave make? Hard to say, but after a day with 173 new COVID-19 cases reported in Durham the numbers actually dropped to a still-too-high 153 Wednesday as the active case count continued to climb; now at 614.

Hospital numbers jumped a bit as well, from 20 to 27 though the ICU totals – 2 – remained the same.

The recent surge in new cases is thankfully staying out of the long-term care homes for now, with four outbreaks still ongoing with just two Durham Region residents isolating.

Pickering, which reported 21 cases Tuesday, saw that total spike to 37 yesterday. Clarington went from 22 to 29 and Ajax also spiked to 27. The three northern communities also saw an increase. Tuesday they combined for just three cases. Wednesday? 16.

Meanwhile Oshawa and Whitby – the centre of Tuesday’s outbreak numbers – both had substantial decreases to their new case numbers. Oshawa went from 60 to 25 and Whitby went from 54 to 18.