For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

January 11, 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.

Updates

Epidemiological

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. To address this, local public health agencies are changing how COVID-19 cases are reported in their regions. For a full list of changes, please read this media release.

  • As of January 12, 2022 Hastings and Prince Edward Counties have 1,166 active high-risk cases and HPEPH is reporting a total of 22 deaths in the region. There were 206 new high-risk cases reported yesterday.
    • There are 20 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: 143,454 (87%)
    • Second Dose: 130,531 (79%)
  • Ontario is reporting 7,951 new cases today. 3,220 individuals are hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Ontario with 477 individuals in the ICU due to COVID-19 related illness.

  • In Canada, as of January 11, 2022, there are 2,595,960 total cases of COVID-19 with 404,404 active cases and 2,160,694 resolved. To date, there have been 30,862 COVID-19 related deaths and more than 54,289,765 individuals tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to January 10, 2022

Report

Number

Percentage

Number of Cases

896,248

N/A

Change from previous report (new cases)

7,951

0.9% increase

Resolved

747,289

83.4

Change from previous report

9,893

1.3% increase

Total number of deaths

10,399

1.2

Total tests completed

21,860,690

N/A

Total test completed in the previous day

45,451

N/A

Currently under investigation

94,223

N/A

Summary of Cases in Ontario Schools

Due to Ontario's latest case and contact management guidance, updates to this page are currently suspended.

Local Updates

Upcoming Vaccination Clinics

Individuals with a green Ontario photo health card may book an appointment through the provincial booking site or by calling the Provincial Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900.

Individuals with a red and white Ontario health card may book an appointment through the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre by phone at 1-833-943-3900.

Individuals who do not have an Ontario health card must contact HPEPH at 613-966-5500. HPEPH staff will assign a COVID ID (a unique number to be used in place of an Ontario health card number). Individuals with a COVID ID may book an appointment through the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre by phone at 1-833-943-3900.

Clinics for adults and youth (ages 12 and over):

Loyalist College

  • Saturday, January 15 - ages 18+ only

Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre

  • Wednesday, January 12
  • Thursday, January 13
  • Friday, January 14
  • Saturday, January 15

Prince Edward Community Centre

  • Mondays and Thursdays through January 27

Batawa Community Centre

  • Thursday, January 13

Clinics for children aged 5 to 11

Prince Edward Community Centre

  • Saturday, January 29

Additional clinics for this age group will be posted shortly. Please check in regularly for updates.

Bancroft Clinics

Eligible individuals may contact the Bancroft Community Family Health Team to book an appointment for COVID-19 vaccination clinics. For more information visit: www.bcfht.org or call the BCFHT at 613-322-1565.

Please note, new clinic dates and times are updated regularly. Please view the HPEPH Booking and Eligibility Page for the latest information.

Provincial

Ontario Accelerating Boosters for Education and Child Care Staff

  • Education workers and child care staff are encourage to seek COVID-19 vaccination, including booster doses when eligible, at HPEPH vaccination clinics by booking through the provincial booking site or by calling the provincial contact centre at 1-833-943-3900.
  • These measures being announced today build on the government’s previous efforts and investments to improve safety in schools during the pandemic. Measures currently in place include:
    • providing optional non-fit-tested N95 masks to all education staff, scheduled to arrive by the end of this week
    • updated and stricter screening requirements to help limit the spread of COVID-19
    • ventilation improvements measures at every school across Ontario, including more than 70,000 HEPA filter units and other ventilation devices already deployed to schools, with an additional 3,000 units being provided
    • access for school boards to $1.6 billion in resources to protect against COVID-19.
  • For child care settings, the below measures have also been put in place to ensure children, staff, and communities remain as safe as possible
    • providing optional non-fit-tested N95 masks for staff in licensed child care settings starting January 10, 2022
    • updating and enhancing child care screening measures to help limit the spread of COVID-19.
  • Starting January 10, 2022, the certain workers are eligible for free emergency child care. Click the link above to view full list in the media release.

Ontario Providing Supports for Small Businesses, Workers and Families

  • The government is introducing a $10,000 grant for eligible businesses that are subject to closures under the modified Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen and is providing additional electricity-rate relief for businesses, as well as workers and families spending more time at home.
  • Eligible small businesses include:
    • Restaurants and bars;
    • Facilities for indoor sports and recreational fitness activities (including fitness centres and gyms);
    • Performing arts and cinemas;
    • Museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos, science centres, landmarks, historic sites, botanical gardens and similar attractions;
    • Meeting or event spaces;
    • Tour and guide services;
    • Conference centres and convention centres;
    • Driving instruction for individuals; and
    • Before- and after- school programs.
  • Eligible businesses that qualified for the Ontario Small Business Support Grant and that are subject to closure under modified Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen will be pre-screened to verify eligibility and will not need to apply to the new program. Newly established and newly eligible small businesses will need to apply once the application portal opens in the coming weeks. Small businesses that qualify can expect to receive their payment in February.
  • The Ontario government is also providing electricity-rate relief to support small businesses, as well as workers and families spending more time at home while the province is in Modified Step Two. For 21 days starting at 12:01 am on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, electricity prices will be set 24 hours a day at the current off-peak rate of 8.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is less than half the cost of the current on-peak rate.
  • Applications for the previously-announced Ontario Business Costs Rebate Program will open on January 18. This program will provide eligible businesses that are required to close or reduce capacity with rebate payments for up to 100 per cent of the property tax and energy costs they incur while subject to public health measures in response to the Omicron variant.

Ontario Takes Action to Support Staffing Access in Schools

  • At present, multiple school boards are realizing staffing shortfalls. The projected shortfall in occasional teachers is anticipated to be 7,000 across all school boards, as reported by school boards in the Fall of 2021.
  • Under the Ontario government’s agreement with the OTF, there will be a temporary increase in the number of days retired teachers can be re-employed in the publicly funded school system from 50 days to 95.

Ontario Invests in New Disinfectant Wipes Production Facility in Barrie

  • The Ontario government is supporting a nearly $10 million investment by Empack Spraytech Inc. in a new disinfectant wipe production facility in Barrie, with more than $1.2 million in support through the Ontario Together Fund.
  • Empack will manufacture a range of Health Canada approved disinfectant wipes using various active ingredients including citric acid, benzalkonium chloride, and combinations of quaternary ammonium compounds, all of which have been tested to prove efficacy against COVID-19.

 

Federal

Statement from the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada on January 7, 2022

  • Currently, COVID-19 epidemic activity is accelerating rapidly as exponential growth of Omicron, which is now the predominant strain, continues across Canada.
  • During the latest 7 day period (Dec 30-Jan 5), an average of 41,743 new cases were reported daily across Canada, which is an increase of 65% compared to the previous week.
  • During the latest 7-day period (Dec 29-Jan 4), laboratory test positivity was 29%, indicating widespread community transmission.
  • The latest provincial and territorial data show that an average of 3,646 people with COVID-19 were being treated in Canadian hospitals each day during the most recent 7-day period (Dec 30-Jan 5), which is 91% higher than last week. This includes, on average, 594 people who were being treated in intensive care units (ICU), 25% more than last week and an average of 39 deaths were reported daily (Dec 30-Jan 5).
  • Close to 7 million eligible people in Canada need a first or second dose of their primary series of COVID-19 vaccine.

HPEPH

Media Release: HPEPH thanks all residents helping to stop the spread of Omicron. Help end the pandemic by staying home if you have symptoms.

  • While Omicron may be less severe than previous variants of COVID-19, its high transmissibility has resulted in a larger number of hospital admissions. Evidence shows that approximately one per cent of Omicron cases in Ontario require hospital care and with the rapid rise in Omicron cases, our hospitals could quickly exceed capacity.
  • Release includes information on:
    • What to do if you have any symptoms of illness;
    • What to do if you had exposure to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 or someone with symptoms of COVID-19;
    • What to do if you test positive for COVID-19; and
    • COVID-19 vaccination opportunities in HPE

Media Release: Public Health updating COVID-19 case reporting process in response to changes in provincial testing eligibility

  • 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. To address this, local public health agencies are changing how COVID-19 cases are reported in their regions.

Useful Links

We want to ensure this bulletin is as useful as possible. Please send your questions, comments and suggestions to communications@hpeph.ca

613-966-5500

hpePublicHealth.ca

HPEPH logo

You have received this email at 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.