For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

May 14, 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 42 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 182 probable cases, with 27 lab-confirmed cases having recovered and 5 deceased.
  • Approximately 5,312 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with a 0.8% positivity rate.
  • Facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreak can be found online.
  • More details are available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca.
• In Canada, there are 72,278 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in 5,304 deaths. To date, over 1,172,872 individuals have been tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to May 13, 2020

 Note: 160 cases did not specify male or female. 15 cases had an unknown age.

• There are 21,494 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario reported to date. This represents an increase of 258 confirmed cases from the previous report.
  • 42.0% of cases are male, 57.2% are female.
  • 43.0% of cases are 60 years of age and older.
  • Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 62.4% of cases.
  • 12.7% of cases were hospitalized.
• 1,798 deaths have been reported (please note there may be a reporting delay for deaths). This is an increase of 33 deaths from the previous report.
• 254 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes. This is a reduction of 2 outbreaks from the previous report.

Federal

Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)

• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced yesterday that students can start applying for the CESB this Friday. Through this program, students can receive:
  • $1,250 a month from May through August.
  • Up to $1,750 if the student is caring for a dependent or has a disability.
  • This benefit even if they have jobs but are making less than $1,000 a month.

Other Measures for Students

• The federal government is also providing the following additional supports for students:
  • Doubling the level of student grants - up to $6,000 for full-time students and $3,600 for part-time students.
  • Raising the maximum weekly amount that can be provided through the Canada student loans program in 2020-2021 to $350 from $210.
  • Providing more than $75 million in additional supports for Indigenous post-secondary students.
  • Adding another $291 million for federal granting councils to extend expiring federal graduate research scholarships and post-doctoral fellowships and supplement existing federal research grants.

Support for Businesses

• More than 500,000 small businesses have received a loan through the CEBA.
• More than 120,000 employers have been approved to receive the CEWS for a total of almost two million workers.
• Prime Minister urged the employers who could not get support through CEWS or CEBA to apply to the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF), where funding is provided in the form of loans through six regional development agencies.

Provincial

Reopening the Economy

• With the number of new daily cases in Ontario being below 400 for six of the last seven days, provincial public health leaders are "cautiously optimistic". Ontario's Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Yaffe, indicated that "in general... the trends are very positive," but she wants to see the numbers drop for a longer period of time.
• In his address this afternoon, Premier Ford confirmed that Phase One of the province's reopening strategy will begin this Tuesday, May 19. 
• Starting May 19, retail stores outside of shopping malls with street entrances can begin reopening with physical distancing measures. Outdoor recreational activities and many individual sport competitions will also be permitted, along with allowing libraries to open for pickup, and allowing property management services, such as cleaning, painting and pool maintenance, to resume.
• Health Minister Christine Elliott announced an expansion of the province's testing guidelines so that "anyone with symptoms" will be able to get a test. "Doing so will help identify and contain new cases and monitor any shifts in community spread to keep Ontarians safe," she continued.
• Premier Ford said that he wants to see the Canada-US border remain closed, explaining that "I want to keep it closed, and I made it very clear on the call with the premiers and Prime Minister, we need it closed... we just can't risk it."

Further Supports for Victims of Gender-Based Violence and Human Trafficking

• Associate Minister of Children and Women's Issue Dunlop announced today that the Ontario Government is investing an additional $1 million to support people experiencing or at risk of sexual assault, gender-based violence and human trafficking during COVID-19.
• The funding will help frontline agencies adapt to remote service delivery and ensure continued operation during COVID-19. For example, the Assaulted Women's Helpline, and Seniors Safety Line will receive $200,000 to hire additional staff to respond to increased call volumes and develop text and online chat platforms, toll-free lines and provide on-demand interpreter services.

Making Prescription Drugs More Affordable During COVID-19

• The Ontario Government is making the cost of prescription drugs more affordable through the following measures, effective yesterday:
  • People using the Ontario Drug Benefit Program will not be required to pay any co-payment until July 1, 2020 for any prescription of 30+ days that is now being dispensed in installments.
  • Existing and new Trillium Drug Program households can apply for an income reassessment to help reduce the financial burden for families during the outbreak.

Protecting Long-Term Care Residents

• The Ontario government has adopted an emergency order that allows it to temporarily take control over the management of long-term care facilities struggling with a COVID-19 outbreak.
• This order gives the province the power to appoint a manager to step in should the facility be facing a high number of cases and deaths and staffing shortages. The manager could be any person, including a corporation or a hospital.

Voluntary Redeployment of Education Workers to Fill Staffing Shortages

• The Ontario government is working with the education sector to allow the temporary voluntary redeployment of education sector employees to meet the staffing needs at congregate care settings during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Starting later this week, eligible education sector staff who volunteer may take on roles such as custodial, maintenance, food preparation, children and youth service workers, social workers, and educational assistants.

Local

• The City of Quinte West reminds residents who want to enjoy fireworks this weekend to be mindful of safety considerations and that gatherings should not exceed 5 people to align with the provincial orders.

• The City of Belleville informed residents that they continue to find ways to address and resolve concerns with bylaw issues while using safe work practices and physical distancing. With recent government mandates, bylaw enforcement has expanded to include patrolling parks and confirming businesses are following the provincial orders for the well-being of the community as a whole.

• Originally scheduled for the first weekend of September, the Belleville Agricultural Society has announced the 2020 Quinte Exhibition will not be taking place this year due to the uncertain circumstances surrounding COVID-19. 

• The Town of Bancroft has extended the deadline for businesses to submit to the Hastings County COVID-19 Business Impact Survey #2. It will now close on Friday, May 15 at 5:00 pm.

• The Municipality of Tweed announced that, as of May 2020, they have established another joint service with the Town of Deseronto, the Township of Madoc, the Township of Stirling-Rawdon and the Township of Tyendinaga to enter into an agreement with the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires for By-law Enforcement Services. A By-law Enforcement Officer will work for all five municipalities and respond to complaints or concerns received through the Joint Service Administration.

Public Health

• HPEPH has updated our website with information pages about Sexual Health and COVID-19 and Substance Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Both pages have harm reduction resources and strategies that apply specifically to the pandemic.

• HPEPH has also created guidance documents that detail requirements for local food businesses (restaurants, groceries, etc.) and farmers' markets. Any such business currently in operation or that may be opening soon are advised to review the requirements and contact HPEPH with any questions.

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

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