Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners May 4 , 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. | - Hastings and Prince Edward Counties have 43 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 195 probable cases, with 20 lab-confirmed cases having recovered and 4 deceased.
- Approximately 3,202 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with a 1.5% positivity rate.
- Facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreak can be found online.
- More details are available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca.
- In Canada, there are 59,844 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in 3,766 deaths. To date, over 919,368 individuals have been tested.
- Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to May 3, 2020
| | Number | Percentage | | Number of cases | 17,923 | N/A | | Change from previous day | 370 | 2.1 increase | | Resolved | 12,505 | 69.8 | | Deceased | 1,300 | 7.3 | | Demographics | | | | Male | 7,453 | 41.6 | | Female | 10,312 | 57.5 | | 19 and under | 431 | 2.4 | | 20-39 | 4,156 | 23.2 | | 40-59 | 5,403 | 30.1 | | 60-79 | 3,939 | 22.0 | | 80 and over | 3,984 | 22.2 | | Testing | | | | Total tests completed | 342,060 | N/A | | Total tests completed in the previous day | 14,555 | N/A | | Currently under investigation | 6,265 | N/A | | Hospitalizations | | | | Number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 | 984 | N/A | | Number of patients in ICU with COVID-19 | 225 | N/A | | Number of patients in ICU on a ventilator with COVID-19 | 175 | N/A | Note: 158 cases did not specify male or female. 10 cases had an unknown age. - There are 17,923 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario reported to date.
- 41.6% of cases are male, 57.5% are female.
- 44.2% of cases are 60 years of age and older.
- Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 60.1% of cases.
- 12.1% of cases were hospitalized.
- 1,300 deaths have been reported (please note there may be a reporting delay for deaths).
- 212 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes.
- 626 deaths have been reported among residents/patients in long-term care homes.
| Funding for Online Primary Care and Mental Health Services - Some $240M in new federal funding will support online primary care and mental health services through building on and creating digital platforms and applications, improving access to virtual mental health supports and expanding capacity to deliver health care virtually, including projects to reach vulnerable Canadians.
- Working with the provinces, territories and other stakeholders, these new federal investments will be used to:
- Help Canadians engage with their health providers and specialists through telephone, text, or video-conferencing.
- Support access to mental health supports and reliable health information.
- Support federal, provincial, and territorial initiatives in collaboration with innovators, health stakeholders, and organizations like Canada Health Infoway, to expand virtual health services to Canadians.
- Support Wellness Together Canada, an online portal that provides free resources, tools, and professional support services to help with wellness and resilience, as well as mental health and substance use.
- Promote the Canada COVID-19 app so people can track their symptoms, receive updates and access resources.
Funding to Develop COVID-19 Treatments - The federal government will be providing $175M to the British Columbia firm, AbCellera Biologics Inc, to support the development of COVID-19 treatments. The company has been examining the antibodies generated in response to the coronavirus and expects to begin human clinical trials this July to test new treatments.
Creation of a COVID-19 Supply Council - Public Services and Procurement Minister Anand announced the creation of a Supply Council to secure ongoing access to medical and personal protective equipment (PPE) (e.g. masks and ventilators).
- The Council will provide advice on production, sourcing, shipping and distribution strategies both for responding to and recovering from COVID-19. This will become especially important as the economy opens up and businesses need access to PPE as well.
- The 17 member Council will bring together leaders from diverse sectors, for example, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Red Cross, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters and Canadian Association of Long-Term Care.
Increase to Canadian Child Benefit (CCB) - Prime Minister Trudeau announced that parents receiving the CCB will receive a one time extra payment of $300 per child this May to help them deal with the added costs of COVID-19, at an estimated total cost of $2B.
CERB Reapplication - Canadians who were among the first to receive the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) must now reapply for another four weeks of benefits.
- The renewal payments are not automatic, meaning anyone who applied for CERB between April 6 and April 10 will now need to reapply for the benefit.
- To qualify for the benefit, Canadians must be at least 15 years of age and have been forced out of work due to the pandemic. They must also have earned at least $5,000 in the previous calendar year and now expect to make less than $1,000 per month while collecting the CERB payments.
- Recipients can reapply for the benefit either online or by calling 1-833-966-2099.
Coronavirus Global Response - Prime Minister Trudeau today joined other global leaders to launch the Coronavirus Global Response. This online pledging event aims to initially raise more than $8B (USD) to help researchers and innovators develop solutions to test, treat, and protect people, and to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
- The Prime Minister highlighted that, to date, the Government of Canada has announced investments of over $850M (CAD) that support this fundraising target. This includes funding to:
- Mobilize Canadian researchers’ and life sciences companies’ coronavirus research and development of medical countermeasures.
- Support accelerated vaccine development, including through the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and other partners.
- Find a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19 through the World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Trial.
- Coordinate a COVID-19 viral and host genome sequencing effort across Canada.
- Help provide COVID-19 diagnostic support to more than 20 partner countries.
- Create strategies to tackle misinformation, stigma, and fear.
| Memo from CMOH Regarding Secondary Residences - Yesterday, Ontario's Chief Medial Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams issued a memo to Ontario Medical Officers of Health regarding his advice on strongly discouraging property owner access to secondary residences, such as cottages, vacation homes, beach houses, cabins, etc. as a public health measure to further prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario.
- Dr. Williams' current recommendation is to not prohibit access to secondary residences through legal order, but to continue to provide communications that discourage their use.
- He similarly recommends that Medical Officers of Health do not issue Section 22 class orders under the Health Protection and Promotion Act prohibiting access to these residences.
Certain Businesses Allowed to Reopen Under Strict Safety Guidelines Premier Ford and Finance Minister Fedeli announced that as of today, May 4, the following list of businesses can operate and open under strict guidelines: - Garden centres and nurseries with curbside pick-up and delivery only.
- Lawn care and landscaping.
- Additional essential construction projects that include:
- shipping and logistics.
- broadband, telecommunications, and digital infrastructure.
- any other project that supports the improved delivery of goods and services.
- municipal projects.
- colleges and universities.
- child care centres.
- schools.
- site preparation, excavation, and servicing for institutional, commercial, industrial and residential development.
- Automatic and self-serve car washes.
- Auto dealerships, open by appointment only.
- Golf courses may prepare their courses for the upcoming season, but not open to the public.
- Marinas may also begin preparations for the recreational boating season by servicing boats and other watercraft and placing boats in the water, but not open to the public. Boats and watercraft must be secured to a dock in the marina until public access is allowed.
Emergency Orders Issued to Help Better Manage Health Care Resources - The province issued new temporary emergency orders to support hospitals in bettering managing health care human resources. Specifically, these orders will:
- Give hospitals the authority to grant privileges to medical and other professional staff in order to address potential surge volumes due to COVID-19, thus allowing a reduction in administrative processes and enabling hospitals to focus their resources on frontline services.
- Authorize coroners, registered nurses appointed as coroner investigators, and public health units to access provincial electronic health records to help reduce demands on clinicians' time related to death investigations, reduce exposure to COVID-19 related death investigations, and improve the ability to monitor the spread of the virus.
- Allow registered nurses appointed as coroner investigators to complete medical certificates of death instead of a physician or nurse practitioner so that medical professionals have more time to focus on patient care.
Temporary Relief for Business in Electricity Costs - The Ontario government is providing temporary relief to companies on their electricity bills for April, May and June 2020 by deferring Global Adjustment (GA) charges.
- This new emergency order will hold GA rates in line with pre-COVID-19 ones to prevent over 50,000 small industrial and commercial consumers seeing a 15% increase in their electricity bills.
Responding to Spring Flooding - Premier Ford described the work his government has been doing on preparedness planning for possible spring flooding. The province has been working with the federal government, municipalities and First Nations partners to develop evacuation plans and identifying suitable locations to host evacuees and minimize the reliance on municipal social and health services.
- This has included working with the federal government to support First Nations communities staying on their lands as long as it is safe to do as well as temporarily relocated, if needed, to higher grounds within their own communities to addresses concerns around the potential spread of COVID-19 in these vulnerable communities.
- The flood preparedness plan covers other parts of the province as well. Ontario's Surface Water Monitoring Centre in Peterborough monitors water levels in areas at risk throughout the province (e.g. northern Ontario, the James and Hudson Bay coasts, Ottawa Valley and along the Great Lakes).
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Residents of the City of Belleville looking to purchase tags for regular garbage, and arrange for bulky item and white goods collection can now do so from the comfort of their own homes. The City has launched online payment forms for these services on the City’s website. Information on pricing is available on the Bulky Item Collection webpage on the City’s website. The City will still be collecting up to two bags without tags at this time to ease the impact of COVID-19 on residents. For property taxpayers within Thurlow Ward, curbside pickup is not provided. All bulky and white goods must be taken directly to the Thurlow Landfill. - On June 1, the City of Belleville's specialized transit services will merge with Belleville Transit. This merge will bring some changes to how the current service operates. Upon the transition to in-house services, passengers can book rides:
- Prince Edward County Mayor Steve Ferguson has called a special Council meeting on Thursday, May 7 at 3 pm for the purpose of considering a resolution asking the provincial government to discourage non-essential travel to Prince Edward County during the COVID-19 pandemic. This meeting will be conducted as a virtual electronic meeting, with no physical public attendance. Council will participate electronically and the meeting will be livestreamed. Members of the public who wish to provide comments under Section 8 of agenda "Comments from the Audience" can do so by contacting clerks@pecounty.on.ca by noon on Wednesday, May 6. Information about electronic public participation and the agenda materials will be posted on the County's CivicWeb portal on Monday, May 4.
- The Community Advocacy and Legal Centre (CLAC) have created two resources to help residents understand what supports are available - an infographic and a tip sheet with more details. These resources will be updated constantly as there are frequent changes. They are both available on their COVID-19 legal information page.
- The Town of Bancroft has issued their May COVID-19 newsletter that shares COVID-19 information relevant to the community and details upcoming event cancellations, and service modifications.
- The United Way reminds the community that tomorrow, May 5th is #GivingTuesdayNow. #GivingTuesdayNow emphasizes opportunities to give back to communities and causes in safe ways that allow for social connection and kindness even while practicing physical distancing.
- One of the biggest summertime events held in the Quinte region has been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. The Hastings County Plowing Match and Farm show which draws many thousands of people to the area every August has been postponed to next year.
| 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 kkhani@hpeph.ca 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. | | | | |
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