For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

April 24, 2020

To ensure everyone has current information during this quickly evolving outbreak, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health will be providing regular COVID-19 updates over the next several weeks.

For more information please review our website or call 613-966-5500.

Updates

Epidemiological

• Hastings and Prince Edward Counties have 37 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 235 probable cases, with 17 lab-confirmed cases having recovered to date.
  • Approximately 1,535 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with a 2.8% positivity rate.
  • Hastings Manor continues to be in COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Moira Place in Tweed declared COVID-19 outbreak yesterday. The testing of all staff and residents will be completed today. So far, all test results have been negative.
  • More details are available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca.
• In Canada, there are 42,099 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in 2,146 deaths. To date, over 634,917 individuals have been tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to April 23, 2020

Note: 142 cases did not specify male or female. Nine cases had an unknown age.

• There are 13,519 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario reported to date in iPHIS. This represents an increase of 640 confirmed cases from the previous report.
  • 41.7% of cases are male, 57.2% are female.
  • 44.8% of cases are 60 years of age and older.
  • Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 59.1% of cases.
  • 11.5% of cases were hospitalized.
• 763 deaths have been reported (please note there may be a reporting delay for deaths in iPHIS). This is an increase of 50 deaths from the previous report.
• 143 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes. This is an increase of 8 outbreaks from the previous report.
• 463 deaths have been reported among residents/patients in long-term care homes. This is an increase of 105 deaths from the previous report.

Federal

Funding for Research and Vaccine Development

• More than $1 billion in support of a national strategy was announced yesterday, on top of previously announced investments of $275 million for coronavirus research and medical countermeasures. New funding will be dedicated to vaccine developments, production of treatments and tackling the virus.
  • $40 million is allocated for the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network (CanCOGeN) to coordinate a COVID-19 viral and host genome sequencing effort across Canada.
  • $23 million for the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) to accelerate development of a vaccine against COVID-19.
  • $29 million for the National Research Council of Canada to build on ongoing work for the production of vaccines in clinical trials, support operations to maintain the facility, and provide infrastructure to prepare vials for individual doses as soon as a vaccine becomes available.
  • $600 million over two years to support COVID-19 vaccine and therapy clinical trials led by the private sector, and Canadian bio-manufacturing opportunities.
  • $10 million for a Canadian data monitoring initiative so we can coordinate and share pandemic-related data across the country.
  • $10.3 million over two years, and $5 million ongoing, to support the Canadian Immunization Research Network in conducting vaccine-related research and clinical trials, and to enhance Canada's capacity to monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness.
  • $114.9 million through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for research projects that will accelerate the development, testing, and implementation of medical and social countermeasures to mitigate the rapid spread of COVID-19, as well as its social and health impacts.
  • $675,000 for research on clinical trials that will evaluate the safety of a potential cell therapy and generate critical information about how cells in the airway and brain are affected by the virus.

Creation of COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

• A COVID-19 Immunity Task Force is being established to set priorities and oversee coordination of national testing and modelling including country-wide blood test surveys.
• The task force, created in consultation with the provinces and territories, will provide data to decision-makers, including disaggregated data that will help us understand the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations, while also leveraging new and existing lab capacity for research.
• At least one million samples will be collected and tested over the next two years to track the virus in the general population and in specific groups at greater risk of having been infected, including health care workers and the elderly.
• The task force will be under direction of the leadership group of: Dr. David Naylor, Dr. Catherine Hankins, Dr. Tim Evans, Dr. Theresa Tam, and Dr. Mona Nemer.

Provincial

Opening Up of Health Care and Schools

• On the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Ontario government is extending all emergency orders that have been put in place to-date under s.7.0.2 (4) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act until May 6, 2020.
• A table of experts being led by Dr. David McKeown is working to advise lifting some of the emergency measures in the future; these decisions will be based on evidence, epidemiological information, and an overall reduction in community spread numbers.
• Health Minister Elliott mentioned yesterday that they are considering plans to proceed (when possible, based on testing levels increasing and number of cases per day going down) with surgeries that were postponed, notably those related to cancer.
• Ontario is not ready to reopen schools even though children are not particularly affected by COVID-19. Public health measures are cautious around the potential of children as a vector for transmission of the virus within the community.

Action Plan for Vulnerable People

• A COVID-19 Action Plan for Vulnerable People was announced yesterday, to better protect those living in high risk settings including homes serving those with developmental disabilities, shelters for survivors of gender-based violence, and human trafficking and children's residential settings. This includes Indigenous residential settings on and off reserve.
• New measures have been introduced to allow mental health and addictions agencies to redeploy staff within different locations or between programs, and employ extra part-time staff, temporary staff or contractors. Agencies would be required to provide appropriate training and education to achieve the purposes of a redeployment plan.

Long-Term Care Measures

• Ontario is changing how it is reporting on COVID-19 in long-term care and retirement homes. It is now providing figures consolidated directly from the Ministry of Long-Term Care, which will provide more timely information.
• Increased testing for all residents and staff in long-term care homes is being advised.
• Military backing is being requested by the province for five of Ontario's hardest hit nursing homes.

Overview of Cases and Testing

• The total number of people battling COVID-19 in Ontario hospitals increased from 878 to 887, however the number of those cases being treated in ICU has gone down (243 down to 233), and the number of patients on ventilators decreased by 7.
• Ontario has increased testing of asymptomatic individuals to help understand the spread of the virus.
• Ontario is looking to separate epidemiological data relating to long-term care residence outbreaks from community outbreak data to help produce more accurate modelling.

Local

• Until further notice, Quinte Waste Solutions is postponing operations at the Household Hazardous Waste Depot located at 75 Wallbridge Crescent in Belleville. All mobile events and programs planned for May have also been cancelled.

• Yesterday, Prince Edward County issued notice that green/recycling bins are for sale to residents, with a reminder about COVID-19 waste special considerations.

• Meals on Wheels are now available anywhere in Prince Edward County. The Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association encourages seniors or their caregivers to call and make arrangements for delivery of hot or frozen meals. Due to the commitment of volunteers, the hot meals go out Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in all locations using physically distant delivery procedures. Free delivery of groceries, medicines and other essentials is also available.

• Quinte West has extended the Community Safety & Well-Being Survey until May 31. Visit the city’s website to provide input on this important project. Participants have the option of entering a draw for a $100 grocery gift card.

• There are two delivery options for residents of Quinte West who need assistance obtaining groceries and medications, Allow Us Senior Services and Big Deal Delivery. Residents who can’t leave their residence, or need assistance collecting essential items, may contact either of these services through the Quinte West community resource page.

• The City of Belleville has created two GIS-based platforms to enable residents to quickly determine which restaurants are open for business and where they are located within the city. The first is an online map, where people will be able to search for restaurants near their location. The second is a storyboard, where restaurants will be listed alphabetically.

• Following issues with the Google Maps On Demand Transit app, Belleville residents can currently book a ride with Belleville public transit by emailing their pick up location, drop off location and request time to bellevilletransit@belleville.ca. The app issue should be resolved within 48 hours.

• The Community Advocacy & Legal Centre issued a release yesterday calling for more financial support during pandemic for people who were already living in poverty. To help ensure that people understand what financial help they may be entitled to because of the pandemic, CALC staff developed a simple chart and infographic, which can be found on their new COVID-19 resource blog.

Public Health

• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health has launched a new online reporting system to provide the public with more information about COVID-19 cases and testing in the region. The online dashboard will be updated daily with the number of local lab-confirmed cases, probable cases, hospitalizations, and deaths related to the virus. In addition, the dashboard provides general information about the number of cases identified across the region, and cases associated with special groups such as long-term care residents and health care workers. Information about the number of tests being administered locally, and associated results, is also included.

• Yesterday’s COVID-19 Update #5 video, hosted by Dr. Oglaza and Dr. Toumishey, is available for viewing on the HPEPH Facebook page. Dr. Toumishey will be continuing the weekly live video updates during Dr. Oglaza’s upcoming 3-week leave.

We want to ensure this bulletin is as useful as possible. Please send your questions, comments and suggestions to klarose@hpeph.ca

Contact Information: 

To give us your comments: klarose@hpeph.ca

You have received this email at from Hastings Prince Edward Public Health as a result of a request you have made or due to a service/subscription that you are registered for. While you may discontinue your subscription to this mailing at any time by pressing the unsubscribe button below, this bulletin will be used to provide important updates about COVID-19 in our community.