The medical officer of the Northwestern Health Unit says further restrictions could be considered for the Kenora area, where COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed over the last week.

The Northwestern Health Unit had 71 active cases, as of Tuesday, with 68 of those in its Kenora region.

Northwestern Health Unit medical officer of health Dr. Kit Young Hoon said 45 were close contacts of existing cases, along with 20 related to an outbreak. Young Hoon did not provide any further details on the nature of the outbreak, but did say "the case increase is very much focused in one main community."

"Case and contact management is ongoing," she said.

"We're doing that in partnership with other agencies, and we're monitoring the situation very closely. We're also looking closely at whether additional restrictions are going to be required for the Kenora area, and that will be something that we need to consider in partnership with the province."

Throughout the pandemic, the health unit has not provided information about specific communities where cases are located, instead dividing its catchment area into four geographic regions. The organization has started publishing a weekly report, providing numbers for its eight health hubs.

Young Hoon referred specific questions about how the outbreak was being managed to the Kenora Chiefs Advisory.

Wabaseemoong Independent Nations implemented a community-wide lockdown on the evening of Feb. 10, with it originally expected to last seven days. At that point, there were 12 active cases, according to the community's website.

A statement from Wabaseemong leadership on Feb. 12 issued by the Kenora Chiefs Advisory said the "pandemic is spreading within the Kenora region, and it is having an impact" on the community.

A spokesperson with the Kenora Chiefs Advisory previously declined to provide further information.

Two cases of COVID-19 were reported in Northwest Angle 33 over the weekend.

Also, on Tuesday, the health unit announced it was issuing a class section order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act that could result in people who are directed to isolate, but fail to do so, being fined between $750 and $5,000.

"Throughout this pandemic we've had the occasional case that has not followed those recommendations and unfortunately in some incidents it has led to spread of COVID-19," Young Hoon said.

"We felt this was a good time to put such a class order in place. This now applies to everyone, and it's a way of informing everyone that they need to follow self-isolation requirements, particularly if they're a case or a high-risk contact."

The health unit emerged from the province's stay-at-home order on Tuesday and is currently in the Yellow-Protect level of the province's pandemic response framework.

Young Hoon said it was too early to say whether the region should be placed into a level with a higher amount of restrictions.

"At this point I think we're looking at our options," she said. "What is clear is that the situation is primarily affecting the Kenora area and not the rest of the catchment area of the Northwestern Health Unit. That makes it a little bit more challenging to think about a blanket restriction level for the entire catchment area."

Aside from the cases in the Kenora region, there are two active cases in the Sioux Lookout region and one in the Dryden and Red Lake region.