The number of York Region health care workers with confirmed COVID-19 cases has doubled to 24, as the total cases in the region jump from 205 to 241 today, March 30.
While specific details aren't being provided about the health care workers, which includes physicians, nurses and paramedics, in an online COVID-19 update today, York Region medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji said 12 employees at Markhaven Home for Seniors in Markham have confirmed cases of COVID-19.
At the Yee Hong long-term care centre, also in Markham, 10 employees are ill, he said, and at Mackenzie Health in Richmond Hill, two employees have confirmed cases.
The additional confirmed York Region cases reported today include one in Aurora; one in East Gwillimbury, one in Whitchurch-Stouffville, five in Markham; five in Richmond Hill; and 19 in Vaughan, with York Region public health reporting 10 per cent of cases have been resolved.
The majority of the cases are in self-isolation, at 55 per cent, while nine per cent are hospitalized.
At Southlake Regional Health Centre, 10 patients are in the intensive care unit, three of whom are awaiting test results and seven who are positive for COVID-19 as of 4:30 p.m. today. Another 30 people who screened positive as of this afternoon have been sent home to quarantine for 14 days, while 12 inpatients are under investigation.
Kurji said the number of travel-related cases — which account for 32 per cent of the 241 cases, with the majority, at 38 per cent, under investigation — will likely continue to decline in the region.
Yesterday, the majority of the 205 active COVID-19 cases were travel related — at 38 per cent — followed by 30 per cent under investigation.
To prevent an increase in local transmission or community-acquired cases, which currently account for 14 per cent of the 241 cases, Kurji emphasized the importance of staying home, particularly for residents aged over 70, and practising physical distancing before "lockdown" becomes the next possible emergency measure.
Earlier today, the province extended its declaration of emergency and associated measures, including the closure of non-essential workplaces and restrictions on social gatherings.
Tonight, Ontario issued an additional emergency order closing all outdoor recreational amenities immediately, including sports fields, playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, off-leash dog parks, beaches, skateboard and BMX parks, picnic areas, outdoor community gardens, condo parks and gardens, and other outdoor recreational amenities.
Green spaces in parks, trails, ravines and conservation areas that aren't closed can remain open for walk-through access, but individuals must maintain the safe physical distance of at least two metres apart from others. Provincial parks and conservation reserves remain closed.
The majority of cases in York Region — 42 per cent — continue to be in Vaughan, followed by Markham with 24 per cent of the cases confirmed there. Newmarket accounts for seven per cent of the total cases in the region, with 16 cases confirmed.
Of the 241 cases in York Region: 100 are confirmed in Vaughan; 57 in Markham; 38 in Richmond Hill; 16 in Newmarket; 10 in Aurora; eight in Whitchurch-Stouffville; five in East Gwillimbury; four in King Township; one in Georgina. One case is outside the region. Location is pending in some cases.
