Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners June 23, 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 continue to have 43 cumulative lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 36 having recovered and 5 deceased. There are 181 probable cases, with 178 having recovered. Over 8,161 tests have been completed to date.
- There are no local facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreak; additional outbreak details can be found online.
- More information is available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca.
- In Canada, there are 101,673 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in 8,436 deaths. To date, over 2,444,118 individuals have been tested.
Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to June 22, 2020 | Severity | Number | Percentage | | Number of Cases | 33,853 | N/A | | Change from previous report (new cases) | 216 | 0.6 increase | | Resolved | 29,107 | 86 | | Change from previous report | 174 | 0.6 increase | | Total number of deaths | 2,619 | 7.7 | | Total tests completed | 1,212,816 | N/A | | Total test completed in the previous day | 16,189 | N/A | | Currently under investigation | 16,418 | N/A | | Reopening the Economy - Prime Minister Trudeau noted that the federal wage subsidy program has resulted in some 2.6 million employees being able to retain their jobs.
- He also referred to the public health fact sheets created by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety as an excellent source of information along with an online space where businesses can share their experience and best practices for reopening.
Migrant Workers - The Prime Minister recognized the critical role that migrant workers play in Canada's food supply and was concerned that some employers have not been taking the needed precautions to protect farm workers. He indicated that changes are being made, the rules will be enforced, and there will consequences for those who are not following the rules.
| Trends in Cases and Testing - The number of new cases is the lowest they've been in nearly 3 months, despite testing continuing at an all-time high with over 20,000 tests per day.
- 29 health units reported 5 or fewer new cases and 16 report no new cases at all.
- More Ontarians are recovering, with the number of hospitalizations decreasing, although the number of deaths remains consistent, with a daily average of 12 deaths per day.
- For the eighth day in over a week, reported cases in Ontario were below 200 yesterday.
- The province is seeing the trends moving in a favorable direction and is hitting the markers needed to support the continued reopening.
Moving to Stage 2 - More of Ontario will be opening up, with the City of Toronto and Peel entering into Stage 2 on Wednesday, June 24.
- With these two regions moving into Stage 2, approximately 4.5 million people will be able to return to work.
Support for Migrant Workers in Windsor-Essex - Premier Ford indicated that Windsor-Essex will need to remain in Stage 1 longer, as the risk is still too great. The province is building on the work completed by Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and collaborating with federal and local authorities to support the implementation of a targeted and collaborative response that includes:
- Continuing with proactive targeted testing for agri-food workers, including enhanced on-farm testing.
- Conducting more than 200 Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development on-farm inspections and investigations.
- Starting new joint inspections of farms with federal authorities to review current working and living conditions of temporary foreign workers with the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development and local public health officials.
- Providing $15 million through the Enhanced Agri-food Workplace Protection program, which provides cost-share funding to improve employee and workplace health and safety on farms and in processing facilities.
- Translating and posting COVID-19 health and safety guidance documents into Spanish.
- Providing specific funding to Workplace Safety and Prevention Services to deliver resources and consulting services to help farmers and other agri-food businesses provide safe workplaces.
- Continuing to press the federal government to provide new funding to support priority sectors impacted by COVID-19, including the agricultural sector.
- With the majority of new cases in Windsor-Essex coming from farm/agricultural workplaces, Premier Ford appealed to farmers in the Windsor-Essex region for their cooperation, noting that it isn't fair to the people and business owners in Windsor-Essex if some are non-compliant and putting others at risk.
- In yesterday's update from Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Williams, it was noted that he drafted a Section 22 order to ensure the registration of all the workers in the area, including all the migrant and domestic workers from temp agencies and any others, so that all farm owners will have to know where workers have come from and ensure that incoming workers have either had a 2-week quarantine or are infection-free when they join the team. This Section 22 order will empower local Medical Officers of Health to take the appropriate actions needed.
- Dr. Williams praised the efforts of those working in the Windsor-Essex County and Haldimand-Norfolk Health Units (and others). The province is looking at ways to help Windsor-Essex meet the demands by sharing staff from other health units in the area.
Moving to Stage 3 - Dr. Williams did not share any details about going to Stage 3 though he mentioned needing at least 2-4 weeks to determine the health impact from reopening. Some of the factors that will be considered in moving to Stage 3 include:
- The number of new cases.
- The ability to manage things from a health perspective such as hospital occupancy.
- Public health resources in each area to ensure that they are able to deal with any potential upticks in new cases.
- Health authorities are still emphasizing the importance of physical distancing around people outside of one's social circles, and the wearing of face coverings.
- The proportion of cases among young people is going up as the total number of cases goes down. Caution is urged among groups of young people, as there is a risk for complacency (as a result of cases generally being milder in young people); Dr. Yaffe reminded Ontarians that young people may pass it on to others who can be more severely affected.
- When a reporter asked about herd immunity and allowing more people to get COVID-19, Dr. Yaffe explained that for that approach to work about 50-60% of the population would need to acquire the infection, more than the current 3-5%. That would mean a lot of people would get sick and a number would probably die. Consequently, public health officials would rather contain the virus and keep the case numbers low until there is a safe and effective vaccine.
Ontario Prepares for the Safe Reopening of Schools - On Friday, the Ontario government released its safety plan for the resumption of class for the 2020-2021 school year, outlining scenarios for how students, teachers and staff can safely return to classrooms in September.
- This was accompanied by the announcement that the province is investing $736 million more in public education for the 2020-2021 school year, increasing the total to more than $25.5 billion.
- Ontario's plan to safely reopen schools will provide options for parents - to send their children in-class or to enter online learning - with health, safety and well-being at its core. Boards will be asked to plan for the following three scenarios to be implemented in September, depending on the public health situation at the time:
- Normal school day routine with enhanced public health protocols - Students going to school every day, in classes that reflect standard class size regulations.
- Modified school day routine - An adapted delivery model has been designed to allow for physical distancing and cohorts of students. Under this model, school boards are asked to maintain a limit of 15 students in a typical classroom at one time and adopt timetabling that would allow for students to remain in contact only with their classmates and a single teacher for as much of the school day as possible. This model would require alternate day or alternate week delivery to a segment of the class at one time.
- At home learning - Should the school closure be extended, or some parents choose not to send their child back to school, school boards need to be prepared to offer remote education.
| - The City of Quinte West is hosting a Virtual Quinte West Canada Day 2020 Celebration. The online event will offer residents the opportunity to come together online, and avoid gathering in groups to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The virtual event will feature a dynamic line-up of online trivia, artist demonstrations, interactive activities, and more. The online content will be live starting July 1, and will continue to be available for on-demand viewing through until July 3. The City will be releasing more details leading up to the event on their website and Facebook page.
- The Town of Bancroft Municipal Office will be available for in-person payments and appointments beginning Tuesday, June 23, 2020 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm. While the front door will remain locked, the Train Station has been modified to allow staff to deliver window-service.
- In Centre Hastings, the Madoc Splash Pad is now open from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. Restrictions apply, such as maintaining physical distancing (6ft minimum) and there will be a limited number of children permitted at one time.
- Marmora and Lake has drive-thru COVID-19 testing on Thursday, June 25 between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm at the Marmora Fairgrounds. No appointment is necessary, but residents may pre-register to avoid a wait by calling 613-961-5544. Another pop-up COVID-19 testing clinic is being held in Stirling on Monday, June 29, call 613-961-5544 for more information.
- Quinte Health Care has suspended their regular visiting policy due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has posted their revised policy to include new requirements for visitors, including making the wearing of a mask mandatory. Visitors are asked to review the policy before attempting to visit a patient.
- Community Care for Seniors continues to offer many free services for seniors living in Prince Edward County. Prince Edward Community Care will soon reopen Foot Care Clinics in Picton and Wellington. When the clinics start again all clients will be called to schedule an appointment. For information call Prince Edward Community Care at 613-476-7493.
| - Following recent events in the US that have highlighted the impacts of racism on Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPoC), HPEPH issued a media release detailing the commitment to anti-racism in all policies and practices.
- HPEPH shared last week that overdose events resulting in Emergency Department visits in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties reached a record high of 22 in May, and 19 in April. Belleville Police Services and Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services have also reported responding to an increase in calls related to overdose events. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated stresses are difficult for many individuals and may lead to an increase in substance use. Naloxone and harm reduction supplies continue to be available during regular office hours at Belleville, Bancroft, and Trenton HPEPH locations for contact-free pickup.
- Please continue to encourage anyone visiting Hastings and Prince Edward Counties to register on the HPEPH Digital Guestbook. This additional measure will supplement existing processes in place to conduct contact tracing across health unit boundaries, as well as requirements for certain industries to keep detailed logs of clients or patrons.
| 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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