5 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Thunder Bay district on Thursday

Five new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the Thunder Bay district on Thursday.

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) said two of the cases were due to close contact, two are under investigation, and one has no known exposure.

Two of the cases are in Thunder Bay and surrounding areas, and three are in district communities.

Three cases were also listed as resolved; as of Thursday morning, there were 19 confirmed, active cases of the virus in the TBDHU region.

The TBDHU also announced four more cases with variants of concern. The cases aren't among those reported Thursday, however, as while every positive COVID-19 test is screened for a variant, the screening happens after the case is reported to public health.

In an interview on CBC Superior Morning on Thursday, TBDHUmedical officer of health Dr. Janet DeMille said she's not aware of what the province may do, but she's hoping a regional approach to re-opening, especially for schools, couldtake place.

"Itis the cabinet and [Premier Doug Ford] that makes that decision," DeMille said, adding that she's heard Ford isn't in favour of a regional re-opening.

"But he seems willing to have those discussions, and hear from different parties," DeMille said. "And I'm hoping that decision will change."

DeMillealso said that there's little reason to keep schools closed to in-person learning.

"It is reallyhard to argue why schools are closed here, given the low numbers we've had and the fact that we've had low numbers for several weeks now, and all our data is validating this," DeMille said.

"And now that our partner in the Northwest Northwestern Health Unit has also seen a decline in their cases, it's really hard to hard to argue that the schools should still remain closed."

Elsewhere in the region, the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) reported zero new COVID-19 cases in its service area on Thursday.

There are currently 21 known, active cases of the virus in the NWHU catchment area.