For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

May 7, 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 43 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 188 probable cases, with 20 lab-confirmed cases having recovered and 5 deceased.
  • Approximately 3,930 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with a 1.2% positivity rate.
  • Facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreak can be found online.
  • More details are available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca.
• In Canada, there are 63,895 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in 4,280 deaths. To date, over 1,001,958 individuals have been tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to May 6, 2020.

Note: 163 cases did not specify male or female. 12 cases had an unknown age.

• There are 19,121 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario reported to date. This represents an increase of 399 confirmed cases from the previous report.
  • 41.9% of cases are male, 57.3% are female.
  • 43.7% of cases are 60 years of age and older.
  • Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 60.8% of cases.
  • 12.2% of cases were hospitalized.
• 1,477 deaths have been reported (please note there may be a reporting delay for deaths). This is an increase of 48 deaths from the previous report.
• 225 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes. This is an increase of 2 outbreaks from the previous report.

Federal

• There was no media briefing with Prime Minister Trudeau yesterday as he attended the repatriation ceremony at CFB Trenton for the six Canadian Armed Forces members killed in last week's helicopter crash off the coast of Greece.

• Statistics Canada released a study today that revealed, given the disruption and stress of the pandemic, the consumption of cannabis, alcohol and tobacco has increased for some. In particular, Canadians who rated their mental health as fair or poor were more likely to report increased use of these substances. This association persisted for both sexes and also generally for persons young and older.

Provincial

Ontario Extends Electricity Rate Relief and Emergency Orders

• The Ontario government has extended the emergency orders that have been put in place under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act until May 19. This includes the closure of child care centres, outdoor amenities in parks and recreational areas, non-essential workplaces, public places, bars and restaurants, along with restrictions on social gatherings and the prohibition of price gouging.
• Additionally, all publicly-funded schools and provincial parks and conservation reserves will remain closed until at least May 31, 2020.
• Ontarians who pay time-of-use electricity rates will continue to be billed at off-peak pricing 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until May 31, 2020.

Ontario Further Eases Restrictions on Retail Stores and Essential Construction

• Premier Ford emphasized that "as the trends improve, we can move forward with reopening more and more of our economy and getting people back to work" and announced that the following businesses will be able to open in accordance with the Ministry of Health's Guidance Document for Essential Workplaces and occupational health and safety requirements:
  • Garden centres and nurseries for in-store payment and purchases, operating under the same guidelines as grocery stores and pharmacies starting Friday, May 8 at 12:01 a.m.
  • Hardware stores and safety supply stores for in-store payment and purchases at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 9.
  • Retail stores with a street entrance can begin offering curbside pickup and delivery, on Monday, May 11 at 12:01 a.m.
• In addition to easing restrictions on retail stores, the government is also expanding essential construction to allow below-grade multi-unit residential construction projects like apartments and condominiums to begin and above-grade projects to continue.
• When asked by the media for any "good news" for restaurants, the Premier replied that he will have that answer "as quickly as these numbers come down...hopefully sooner than later". Restaurant owners are encouraged to start looking through the health and safety requirements to "get ready".

Premier's Comments about Public Health and Testing

• When asked by the media for clarification on his comments from yesterday about testing, Public Health Units and Medical Officers of Health, the Premier said, "I don't want to blame anyone.... people [of Ontario] expect me to push the system. And it's never personal...cause personally I think Public Health is doing a fine job. But let me tell you everyone has to be held accountable. I am accountable for this whole province and I am going to push the system and will continue...until we get the numbers".

Premier's Message to Cottage Owners

• After a joint call with cottage country mayors on Wednesday, Premier Ford is telling seasonal residents heading up to cottage country to ensure they are physical distancing, while any would-be visitors are asked to stay home.
• "We are still battling a terrible virus, so we are asking seasonal residents travelling to their cottages to practice the same public health measures as usual, including no public gatherings, avoiding non-essential travel as much as possible, and continue to practice social distancing," Ford said in a statement this morning.

Local

• Prince Edward County Library has an upcoming tech webinar May 8 at 2 p.m., teaching the basics of photo editing on a Windows 10 computer. Register online.

• The cities of Quinte West and Belleville are reopening their boat launches this weekend. Residents are reminded to maintain physical distances of 2 metres from others (outside of their immediate family units) and that gatherings of over 5 people are still prohibited.

• In Quinte West the Trent Port Marina is preparing to have their docks open for June 1, as long as provincial government restrictions are lifted by that time.

• In Bancroft, Tweed and Central Hastings, the Restricted Fire Zone remains in effect to ensure public safety and well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak. This preventative measure will ensure that our emergency response system remains strong in the days and months ahead.

Public Health

• Dr. Ethan Toumishey is hosting our weekly Facebook Live event today at 2 pm. The broadcast will feature a local COVID-19 update, responses to frequently asked questions, and the opportunity to address questions live to Dr. Toumishey. To participate in the live event, go to the Hastings Prince Edward Public Health Facebook page. If you have any questions for Dr. Toumishey, please share them directly during the broadcast by commenting on the video. If you are unable to watch the live broadcast, the video will be available for viewing afterward.

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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