SUDBURY -- Public Health Sudbury & Districts added another 28 new COVID-19 28 cases Friday, as the city entered lockdown in an attempt to stem what the medical officer of health called the third wave of the pandemic.
All but 27 of the cases are in the city, with one reported in the Manitoulin district. Friday's numbers follow a record-setting 55 cases reported Thursday.
"We're in the third wave right now," Dr. Penny Sutcliffe told reporters during a videoconference Thursday.
Sutcliffe said there's growing concern that the COVID variant first reported in the United Kingdom is helping to drive the spread in the community.
In the past week, 48 per cent of new cases have screened positive for the variant, she said.
"What is circulating in our community is circulating in our schools," Sutcliffe said, in outlining the more than a dozen outbreaks at area schools.
Also Friday, Health Sciences North reported a surge in the number of people in hospital with COVID or suspected to have COVID.
A total of 25 people are in HSN, including six people confirmed to have the disease. That number was less than 10 for the last several weeks.
