Huron-Perth avoiding COVID-19 third wave surge

Huron, Perth counties avoid worst of third wave From CTV London's Scott Miller – Two area counties are among the few that have largely stayed clear of the third wave battering Ontario.

Wingham, Ont. — Despite adding ten new cases on Tuesday, Huron-Perth has consistently seen some of the lowest case numbers in southern Ontario during the third wave.

“Partly through the hard work of everyone in Huron-Perth and great following of health measures, we’ve been able to get our cases so low, that we can keep them there,” says Huron-Perth’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Miriam Klassen.

Huron-Perth is averaging 22 cases per 100,000 people, which is the lowest case rate in Southern Ontario. With 32 active cases, and a less than one per cent positivity rate, the region has largely kept the third wave at bay.

“I’m very proud of our residents in Huron-Perth. Our residents are adhering to the stay at home order and that is very reflective in the cases,” says Huron County Warden, Glen McNeil.

It’s a stark contrast to the second wave of the pandemic, where Huron-Perth was in the top third of case counts in the province, fueled by outbreaks in long-term care homes.

Vaccinating long term care home residents and staff first in Huron-Perth, has changed that, where over 90 per cent of 70+ adults have received at least one dose.

“It was a great that they were vaccinated first as soon as vaccinations became available. You can see the difference it makes,” says Dr. Klassen.

But as evidenced by nearby Grey-Bruce’s April outbreak, that had them reaching a critical case threshold caused by high school bush parties, and lax contact reporting by COVID-19 carriers, Huron-Perth is one or two bad decisions away from really joining the third wave.

“There’s still a large number of the population that are susceptible to infection and it can escalate very, very quickly into a large number of cases, as we’ve seen elsewhere,” says Klassen.

Huron-Perth’s COVID-19 cases and vaccination statistics can be found here.