Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners March 22, 2022 | To ensure everyone has current information, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health will be providing regular COVID-19 updates. For more information please review our website or call 613-966-5500 or 1-800-267-2803 | Publicly funded PCR testing is now limited to symptomatic high-risk individuals, and individuals who work in high-risk settings. This change came into effect on Dec. 31, 2021 and as a result, positive cases confirmed by PCR testing will underestimate the true number of individuals with COVID-19 in the community. - As of March 21, 2022 Hastings and Prince Edward Counties have 185 active high-risk cases and HPEPH is reporting a total of 45 deaths in the region. There were 72 new high-risk cases reported on March 21.
- There are 8 local high-risk settings experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak; additional outbreak details can be found online.
- More information is available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca
- Vaccinations among residents 5 and older:
- First Dose: 146,539 (89%)
- Second Dose: 136,884 (83%)
Ontario is reporting 1,447 new cases today. 639 individuals are hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Ontario with 179 individuals in the ICU due to COVID-19 related illness. In Canada, as of March 22, 2022, there are 3,404,283 total cases of COVID-19 with 122,435 active cases and 3,181,444 resolved. To date, there have been 37,039 COVID-19 related deaths and more than 58,539,142 individuals tested. | Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to March 20, 2022 | Report | Number | Percentage | | Number of Cases | 1,140,865 | N/A | | Change from previous report (new cases) | 1,447 | 0.1% increase | | Resolved | 1,112,239 | 97.5 | | Change from previous report | 1,562 | 0.1% increase | | Total number of deaths | 12,343 | 1.1 | | Total tests completed | 23,396,211 | N/A | | Total test completed in the previous day | 10,433 | N/A | | Currently under investigation | 6,386 | N/A | | COVID-19 public health measures and advice The following changes to public health and workplace safety measures are in effect as of March 21, 2022. - general masking requirements lifted; however, masking will still be required in certain indoor settings, including:
- public transit, including indoor areas and vehicles. This does not include businesses or organizations that provide sightseeing or touring services
- health care settings including:
- hospitals
- psychiatric facilities
- doctors’ offices
- immunization clinics
- laboratories
- specimen collection centres
- home and community care provider locations only if you are an employee or contractor
- long-term care and retirement homes
- shelters and other congregate care settings that provide care and services to medically and socially vulnerable individuals
For a complete list of settings and exceptions to masking requirements that may apply, please refer to O. Reg. 364/20. Visit the face covering and masking page, for additional information including wear and fit. Also as of March 21, 2022: - passive screening of individuals prior to entering a business is no longer required
- businesses and organizations that are open are no longer required to prepare and make available a safety plan
| - Following several weeks of declining activity, nationally, average daily case counts are now levelling off, with continued regional variability across the country.
- The latest provincial and territorial data shows that the average number of people with COVID-19 being treated in hospitals each day during the most recent 7-day period (Mar 11-17, 2022), was 11% lower than last week. During the same time period, the number of people who were being treated in intensive care units (ICU) daily decreased by 14% compared to the prior week, and an average of 51 deaths were reported daily (Mar 11-17, 2022).
- Age-specific vaccine coverage data, as of March 13, 2022, show that over 88% of people 12 years or older have at least one dose and over 84% are fully vaccinated, while among children aged 5-11 years of age, 57% have at least one dose.
- Health authorities continue to strongly recommend up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination for all eligible people, including for those who have had or may have had a COVID-19 infection.
- Effective April 1, 2022 at 12:01 AM EDT, fully vaccinated travellers will no longer need to provide a pre-entry COVID-19 test result to enter Canada by air, land or water.
- Travellers arriving to Canada from any country, who qualify as fully vaccinated, may need to take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival if selected for mandatory random testing. Travellers selected for mandatory random testing are not required to quarantine while awaiting their test result.
- For partially or unvaccinated travelers who are currently allowed to travel to Canada, pre-entry testing requirements are not changing.
Health Canada authorizes use of the Moderna Spikevax (50 mcg) COVID-19 vaccine in children 6 to 11 years of age - Health Canada has authorized a primary two-dose regimen of 50 micrograms per dose to be administered four weeks apart. This is half of the 100 micrograms primary two-dose regimen authorized for people 12 years of age and older.
- As of March 16, 2022, over 88% of individuals aged 12 and older in First Nations, Inuit and territorial communities have received a second dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine, and over 28% have received a third dose. Over 51% of children aged 5 to 11 have received at least one dose.
- As of March 16, 2022, the following case counts have been reported from First Nations communities:
- 91,307 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, of which 12,909 are the Omicron variant
- 2,581 active cases
- 3,037 hospitalizations
- 88,044 recovered cases
- 682 deaths
- Today, in the context of Nutrition Month, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health and his Parliamentary Secretary, Adam van Koeverden announced funding of nearly $1 million for a new research project. This project will examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the eating habits of children and the link between their nutrition and their physical and mental development and educational performance.
| Hastings Prince Edward Public Health is situated and provides services on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee people. | | | | |
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