The Northwestern Health Unit has confirmed the discovery of 47 new COVID-19 cases in the region on Friday.
20 were found in the Kenora Health Hub, 11 in the Sioux Lookout Health Hub, eight in the Dryden Health Hub, three in the Rainy River Health Hub, two each in the Atikokan and Red Lake Health Hubs, and on in the Fort Frances Health Hub.
There are currently nine people hospitalized in the region from COVID-19, one up from Thursday's update.
NWHU recommends that everyone, including those who have been vaccinated, assume COVID-19 is in their community and practise preventive measures like physical distancing, wearing a mask in enclosed public spaces and when physical distancing is a challenge, good hand hygiene, and not touching their face. Anyone who has symptoms, or who has been in contact with a positive case, should visit www.ontario.ca/exposed for more information on what to do next.
The NWHU does want to note that the confirmed cases are an underestimate of the true number of people with COVID-19 in the Northwestern Health Unit region, given that access to PCR testing is increasingly limited, positive rapid antigen test results are not reported to Public Health, and the likelihood that people with asymptomatic infections may not seek testing.