Another Lambton resident dies of the virus

For the first time since May, Ontario has registered more than 1,000 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in one day.

Public Health Ontario says 1,031 people tested positive Thursday including 14 in Lambton. Four people, including one in Lambton, died of the virus.

Public health says of those people 442 had been fully vaccinated.

Lambton’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Sudit Ranade says over the last couple of weeks the number of people contracting COVID-19 in Lambton has fluctuated and we have not see the surge in cases some communities – like Windsor – have experienced. “I think we attribute a lot of that to the the impacts of vaccination in the community,” says Ranade.

“This COVID pandemic surges in different places at different times and it’s not always clear why that surge is happening, but what has been fairly clear in Lambton County is that we tend to be delayed in terms of our surges…It just seems that the social networks of interaction that bring COVID into our community are delayed compared to other larger communities,” he says.

Thursday, the provincial government announced people over 50 would begin to be able to book for a third COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 13 with appointments opening up in January. Doctors and scientists have been advocating for the move after the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant – Omicron.

Governments around the globe are changing travel restrictions because of Omicron, Ranade says people traveling into the US should take care. St. Clair County, Michigan recorded nearly 2,100 cases of COVID-19 in 14 days.

“Sure, travel is a risk,” says Ranade, “but I would say the purpose of travel is the propensity to interact socially. It’s the larger risk.”

Meantime, Ranade says Lambton Public Health has also been busy giving vaccinations to 5 to 11 year olds for the first time. As of Thursday, about 500 children have already received their first dose and 2,000 in total have been booked.