For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

April 22, 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 36 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 234 probable cases, with 17 lab-confirmed cases having recovered.
  • Approximately 1,323 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with a 3.2% positivity rate.
  • Hastings Manor continues to be in COVID-19 outbreak.
  • More details are available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca.
• In Canada, there are 38,413 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in 1,834 deaths. To date, over 569,878 individuals have been tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to April 21, 2020

Note: 124 cases did not specify male or female. Nine cases had an unknown age.

• There are 12,245 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario reported to date in iPHIS. This represents an increase of 510 confirmed cases from the previous report.
  • 42.2% of cases are male, 56.8% are female.
  • 44.0% of cases are 60 years of age and older.
  • Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 59.3% of cases.
  • 11.9% of cases were hospitalized.
• 659 deaths have been reported (please note there may be a reporting delay for deaths in iPHIS). This is an increase of 37 deaths from the previous report.
• 125 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes. This is an increase of 4 outbreaks from the previous report.
• 295 deaths have been reported among residents/patients in long-term care homes. This is an increase of 22 deaths from the previous report.

Federal

Funding for Charities

• Recognizing that donations are dropping while demand for the services of charities and non-profit organizations is rising, Prime Minister Trudeau announced yesterday $350M to support charities and non-profit organizations that deliver essential services to those in need.
• Some of this funding will go to smaller, independent organizations while the rest will flow to national groups such as the United Way and Canadian Red Cross to support a number of activities, including:
  • Volunteer-based home deliveries of groceries and medications.
  • Transportation services, like accompanying or driving seniors or persons with disabilities to appointments.
  • Help lines that provide information and support.
  • Support for vulnerable Canadians accessing government benefits.
  • Training, supplies, and other required supports to volunteers.
  • Replacement of in-person, one-on-one contact and social gatherings with virtual contact through phone calls, texts, teleconferences, or the Internet.

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)

• Applications will be available starting April 27.
• A maximum of $847 per employee per week will be provided, for a period of 12 weeks dating back to March 15.
• There is no limit on the total subsidy amount that an eligible employer may claim.
• A calculator will be available on the CRA website to help businesses calculate the amount that can expect to receive.
• Some 90% of applications will be processed by May 5 with direct deposits and cheques sent soon after.

Air Canada Suspending Flights to USA

• Air Canada has announced it is suspending service to the United States after Canada and the U.S. agreed to extend restrictions on cross-border travel for another 30 days because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The airline said Tuesday its last commercial flights between Canada and the U.S. will be on April 26. It plans to resume service May 22, unless government restrictions are extended again. It will waive change fees for affected customers.

Provincial

Additional Relief to the Province's Most Vulnerable

• The Ontario government is investing $11M to support the delivering of meals, medicines and other essentials to those in need through a partnership with the Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA).
• OCSA is launching a new Ontario Community Support Program to expand existing Meals on Wheels services to include the delivery of medications and other essentials to low-income seniors, people with disabilities and those with chronic medical conditions.
• The province is doubling of the Guaranteed Annual Income System (GAINS) payments:
  • Starting this week and for the next six months, individuals will receive up to $166 per month and couples will receive up to $332 per month. This represents an additional $75M to 194,000 vulnerable seniors to cover essential expenses during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Ontario is also investing $40M in the Residential Relief Fund to assist with the purchase of personal protective equipment and enhanced staffing for developmental services, child welfare, victims' shelters as well as organizations delivering social services to vulnerable First Nations individuals and families.
• $148M is pledged to municipal partners that administer social services with funding to support the province's most vulnerable as part of the province's earlier announced $200M in social services relief funding in response to COVID-19.
• The Premier noted that he is being heavily lobbied to reopen Ontario's economy and continued to stress the importance of proceeding cautiously. He expects to be able to share more details soon about what benchmarks would be needed to signal the timing is right to lift some of the emergency orders that have been put in place.

Critical Care Planning

• The Critical Care Command Centre is working to increase the availability of critical care beds and ventilators across the province, use innovative staffing models, provide access to the pandemic stock when required, and re-purpose existing spaces and equipment to maximize the critical care bed capacity. The Command Centre combines the strengths and functionality of Ornge, CritiCall, Critical Care Services Ontario, and the province’s regional critical care leadership.

COVID-19 Testing

• In addition to long-term care homes and retirement residences, the province is supporting expanded testing of other vulnerable populations: hospital inpatients, health care workers, caregivers, care providers, first responders, and community living facilities.
• Ramping up testing is the result of eradicating the backlog in testing results thanks to co-ordination by the COVID-19 Diagnostic Network Operations Centre – 20+ organizations now participating – that has enormously increased testing capability.
• In partnership with the Ministry of Health, Public Health Ontario and labs across the province, the province met their 8,000+ tests a day target by mid-April and are working toward 14,000+ tests a day by later this month.
• There are currently 108 Assessment Centres open to the public, an additional three open for healthcare workers only, and two specifically serving six Indigenous communities.

Local

• In Quinte West, the Council voted to extend the timeline for bag tags and transit. One bag of garbage will be free each week and public transit will be free until June 30. All other garbage bags must be tagged. Please use transit for essential travel only.

• In Quinte West a Special Economic Development & Tourism Advisory Committee Meeting is scheduled to be held on April 29 at 2:00 pm. This meeting will take place virtually and be live streamed. The Regular Council Meeting previously scheduled for May 4 has been cancelled.

• Prince Edward County Mayor Steve Ferguson announced yesterday the members of the county’s COVID-19 economic recovery team. The recovery team will help identify needs, assist in the flow of communication, and better equip the municipality to respond to challenges with programs and activities that leverage support offered at the federal, provincial and regional levels.

• The County of Prince Edward continues to evaluate municipal operations and its financial outlook, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. In an effort to lower costs, staff are reviewing budgets and work plans with an eye on reducing discretionary spending and delaying procurement in order to contain costs.

• Belleville residents are reminded that the Leaf & Yard Waste Depot at 75 Wallbridge Crescent remains open to the public. Remain home if unwell and practise physical distancing at all times. Curbside collection dates will remain the same. For more information, visit: bit.ly/leafandyardwaste

• Volunteer and Information Quinte has had to cancel the organization's new one-kilometre Lager Jogger that was scheduled for April 25 and activities encompassed in National Volunteer Appreciation week from April 20-26. Other affected events include the Dancing with the Stars Quinte scheduled for May 29, which is postponed until further notice, and the 20th Annual Ladies Golf & Spa day scheduled for July 9 at Roundel Glen Golf Course.

• On April 20 the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board sent a letter to Grade 12 students and their families about what to expect for marks, grades and graduation.

Public Health

• Dr. Oglaza will be hosting his next Facebook Live COVID-19 update tomorrow (April 23) at 1:00 pm on the HPEPH facebook page, facebook.com/hpepublichealth. Anyone with questions for Dr. Oglaza is invited to attend.

• Effective April 25, Dr. Oglaza will be taking a 3-week leave from Public Health to be with his family for the birth of his third child. During Dr. Oglaza’s leave, COVID-19 response direction will be provided by Dr. Ethan Toumishey and Dr. Alexa Caturay, supported by the HPEPH Program Managers. Dr. Toumishey will be providing the weekly COVID-19 Facebook Live update on Thursday afternoons.

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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