34 new cases of COVID-19, one more death reported Friday by Thunder Bay District Health Unit

Thirty-four new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the Thunder Bay district on Friday, bringing the region's active case count to 127.

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) said 29 of Friday's cases are in Thunder Bay and surrounding communities, while five are in Indigenous communities.

The majority of Friday's cases — 23 — are the result of close contact, the TBDHU said. Seven are due to travel outside fo the region, while four are under investigation.

One more death was also reported by the TBDHU on Friday.

The TBDHU's announcement came a few hours after an appearance by Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janet DeMille on CBC's Superior Morning, during which she expressed concern over the rising number of cases in the district.

DeMille said case numbers are "uncomfortably high."

"I wish they were lower," she said. "I am concerned that we're going to see a rise in cases overall, especially as we approach the holidays, and that could be quite challenging for us."

DeMille said recent case numbers are partly due to people travelling outside of northwestern Ontario, and bringing the virus back with them.

"We did have those some significant introduction, obviously, into the school setting, in particular elementary schools where we're seeing spread ... both in the classes and on the buses," DeMille said. "The kids are then sort of passing it on to others. And that's been a big, a big driver of our spread, let's say, in the last month."

"They pass it on to others in their home," she said. "If they're getting together with other people, perhaps another family, perhaps their extended family, perhaps their friends, then it's passing on to those friends. And then we continue to see the transmission of the virus, even from those people to others."

One more school case was announced later Friday by the TBDHU, which said an individual associated with St. Margaret School in Thunder Bay has tested positive for the virus.

However, the TBDHU said the individual has not been in the school for an "extended period of time." Nonetheless, the TBDHU has asked that anyone identified as a close contact be dismissed and get tested as a precaution.

The case affects one classroom cohort, and one school bus cohort.

DeMille said 40 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the district in November were in people under age 19, and most of those were children under age 10.