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York Region hits highest single-day increase with 89 new COVID-19 cases

Celebrate Thanksgiving with members of your own household only, York Region medical officer of health urges, as second wave gets underway

Newmarkettoday.ca
October 7, 2020

York Region is reporting its highest single-day case count since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 89 new cases confirmed on Oct. 5.

The previous high was 70 cases on April 13, according to regional spokesperson Patrick Casey.

"Today’s increase is partially due to a combination of a backlog of cases and data cleaning," he explained in an email.

Today's record-breaking number marks a leap from the average of about 40 daily new cases in the last week, bringing the total cases in York Region to 4,523 today, of which 446 are active and 151 are under investigation.

Newmarket saw an increase of five new cases today, with April 19 remaining as the largest single-day increase at 20 cases, followed by 15 cases reported May 2, when a 47-day virulent outbreak at Mackenzie Place Long-term Care Home accounted for 80 resident cases, 24 health-care worker cases and 15 COVID-19 related deaths.

Newmarket has 303 confirmed cases, of which 24 are active, and one resident hospitalized on Oct. 5.

The majority of today's new cases occurred in Vaughan, at 35, bringing its total cases to 1,926 and Markham, at 22, pushing its total cases to 1,019.

Increasing outbreaks at workplaces and long-term and community care settings have contributed to the steadily rising number of cases, Dr. Karim Kurji, York Region's medical officer of health, said today in a video update.

Also on the rise are cases without a confirmed source of transmission -- as of Oct. 5, 39 per cent of new cases don't have a link to a known positive case, workplace outbreak or travel.

"It's extremely important that we redouble our efforts to get this outbreak controlled again. We did once and we can do it again," he said.

As Thanksgiving approaches, Kurji is urging residents to celebrate with members of their own household only, in light of the province's announcement last week that social circles should be "paused."

If you do invite other members of your family, restrict the gathering to 10 people, and wear a mask if physical distancing of two metres/six feet is not possible, he added.

“Please remember there are stiff penalties for not abiding by the rules that the province has put forward with respect to private gatherings at residences.”

Case counts In York Region as of 5 p.m. Oct. 5: