For the first time, York Region public health reports that eight health-care workers are among the 82 COVID-19 cases in York Region confirmed tonight, March 24.
Twelve cases, including two in Newmarket, were added tonight.
The health-care workers can include physicians, nurses and paramedics, however, further details aren't available currently.
A woman in her 60s and man in his 50s are the two new cases in Newmarket, now totalling five, and are under investigation — which likely indicates local transmission, or community spread infection.
Southlake Regional Health Centre is investigating an additional eight people for COVID-19 as of 4 p.m. today. That’s up from 34 patients it reported at 5 p.m. March 23.
In addition, the Newmarket hospital’s COVID-19 assessment centre and emergency department have sent home 11 people confirmed positive for the respiratory disease to self-quarantine. There remain three patients in the intensive care unit.
Additional confirmed cases by York Region public health tonight are a man in his 60s in East Gwillimbury; a man in his 20s in Whitchurch-Stouffville; a woman in her 50s in Richmond Hill; a woman in her 50s and a man in his 80s in Markham; a man under 20, a man in his 20s, a woman in her 30s, and two men in their 30s, all in Vaughan. All the cases are under investigation.
This morning, York Region public health reported seven additional confirmed COVID-19 cases — including a girl in her "10s" in Markham — for a total of 19 additional cases today, March 24.
The majority of the additional cases are under investigation, which York Region medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji has said is an indication of the growing number of individuals who have been infected by local transmission, which means travel and close contact are not the sources of transmission.
Of the 82 cases in York Region, 32 are in Vaughan; 27 in Markham, nine in Richmond Hill, five in Newmarket, four in Whitchurch-Stouffville, three in East Gwillimbury and two in Aurora. One case is resolved, Dr. Kurji said.
If you have been tested at Southlake’s Davis Drive assessment centre, results are now available on its online patient connect portal.
To register, call 877-733-5033. Hospital staff are not authorized to release test results over the phone or by text. Please do not call the hospital to ask for your test results.
Editor's Note: This article had been edited to clarify the eight cases involving health-care workers are included in York Region's total number of cases, and were not confirmed as a group on March 24.
