For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

March 9, 2021

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
  • Hastings and Prince Edward Counties have 431 cumulative lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 14 active, 411 resolved and 6 deceased. There were 2 new cases reported today.
    • There are no local long-term care facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreak; additional outbreak details can be found online.
    • More information is available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca
  • Vaccines administered to date:  8,552
  • Fully vaccinated individuals to date:  796
  • There are four long-term care homes remaining for residents to receive their second dose of vaccine and these will be completed by mid-March.
  • Ontario is reporting 1,185 cases of COVID-19 and 6 deaths as more than 33,300 tests have been completed. There are 343 new cases in Toronto, 235 in Peel, and 105 in York Region.
  • In Canada, as at March 8, 2021, there are 890,698 total cases of COVID-19 with 30,332 active cases and 838,090 recovered. To date, there have been 22,276 COVID-19 related deaths and more than 25,276,119 individuals tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to March 8, 2021

 

Report

Number

Percentage

Number of Cases

 311,112

N/A

Change from previous day’s report (new cases)

 1,185

0.4 increase

Resolved

 292,806

94.1

Change from previous day’s report

 972 0.3 increase

Total number of deaths

7,083

2.3

Total tests completed

11,469,681

N/A

Total test completed in the previous day

33,264

N/A

Currently under investigation

29,845

N/A

Summary of Cases in Ontario Schools - Updated March 9, 2021.

 

Report

Number of New Cases

 Cumulative Cases

School-related cases 

263

 9,501

School-related student cases

209

 6,832

School-related staff cases

 45 1,522

Individual(s) not identified (other staff)

9

 1,134

Current number of schools with a reported case

 780 N/A

Current number of schools closed

34

 N/A

 


Local Updates

Upcoming Covid-19 Immunization Clinics:

  • March 10 - Madoc Township - FULLY BOOKED
  • March 10 - Loyalist College - Belleville & Quinte West CHC - Clients 80+ 
  • March 11 - Loyalist College - FULLY BOOKED
  • March 12 - Bancroft - FULLY BOOKED
  • March 13 - Madoc Township - Gateway CHC - Clients 80+ (10 am - 4 pm)
  • March 14 - Loyalist College - Belleville NP Clinic - Clients 80+  (9 am to 10 am)
  • March 14 - Loyalist College - Belleville & Quinte West CHC - Clients 80+ (10 am to 4 pm)
  • March 14 - Madoc Township - Central Hastings FHT - Clients 80+ (10 am to 4 pm)

KFL&A Pharmacies to Launch Covid-19 Vaccine Initiative on March 12

  • A new COVID-19 vaccine initiative with over 330 pharmacies participating from three regions in Ontario, including KFL&A, Windsor-Essex, and Metro Toronto is set to launch on Friday, March 12, 2021. KFL&A region may receive over 20,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to share with over 40 pharmacies in the KFL&A region, each initially receiving approximately 500 doses.
  • The current eligibility for this pharmacy initiative is for those individuals 60 to 64 years of age. It is expected that the eligibility requirements will change as the initiative is rolled out across Ontario.
  • Once the local pharmacies are confirmed, a list of the participating pharmacies will be made available on KFL&A Public Health’s website. Visit the Government of Ontario's website for up-to-date information on the vaccine and implementation phases.


Provincial

Phase Two of COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plan:

  • Ontario is preparing to move into Phase Two of its COVID-19 vaccination distribution plan in April, with over two million doses to be delivered by the federal government by the end of March. Phase Two will focus on vaccinating populations based on age and risk.
  • Provincial officials said they expect all adults 60 years and older will have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by early June while other Ontarians will be able to get their first dose by the first day of summer. Some 133 mass vaccination clinics are expected to be running in 26 of 34 public health units by the end of March.
  • During Phase Two, groups eligible to receive the vaccine include:
    • Older adults between 60-79 years of age;
    • Individuals with specific health conditions and some primary caregivers;
    • People who live and work in congregate settings and some primary caregivers;
    • People who live in hot spots with high rates of death, hospitalizations and transmission; and,
    • Certain workers who cannot work from home.
  • An online booking system and call-in customer service desk to support appointment bookings at mass immunization clinics for all public health units will be launched on March 15. This will initially support those aged 80+ and then extend to more groups under Phase Two.
  • Between April 2021 and July 2021, as many as nine million Ontarians will be vaccinated.
  • A pilot for pharmacy vaccine administration is planned for mid-March in select regions, including Toronto, Windsor and the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington region.
  • Ontario will enter Phase Three when vaccines are available for every Ontarian who wishes to be immunized.

Ontario completes all first dose Covid-19 vaccinations in northern remote Indigenous communities

  • Ontario has reached a key milestone in protecting remote and isolated Indigenous communities against COVID-19, having visited all 31 fly-in northern communities and Moosonee to offer first doses of the vaccine as part of Operation Remote Immunity.

 Ontario increasing mental health supports for Indigenous peoples, families and communities

 

  • The Ontario government is investing over $12.8 million to immediately expand and enhance culturally appropriate mental health and addictions services for Indigenous peoples, families and communities across the province. This funding is part of the $176 million being invested in the government's mental health and addictions plan, Roadmap to Wellness. The plan is delivering high-quality care and building a modern, connected and comprehensive mental health and addictions system.

 

Ontario renews calls for Ottawa to provide fair share of health care funding

  • During a virtual news conference on March 4, Premier Doug Ford and his fellow Premiers renewed calls for the federal government to increase its share of funding for provincial and territorial health care to 35 percent.

Ontario provides additional support for municipalities during Covid-19

  • The Ontario government is providing an additional $500 million to help the province's 444 municipalities address ongoing COVID-19 operating costs. The new financial relief will help ensure the delivery of critical services and keep capital projects on track.
  • Ontario's funding is being prioritized to help municipalities hardest hit by the pandemic and can be used to address the unique needs of each community based on COVID-19 related operating pressures. This funding is being allocated based on a combination of a base amount using Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) household data and an amount based on the proportion of provincial COVID-19 cases (from January 1, 2021 to February 18, 2021) in the municipality's respective Public Health Unit.

Ontario hires 100 additional health and safety inspectors

The Ontario government has hired over 100 new occupational health and safety inspectors to support business inspection campaigns, and help ensure employees, businesses and the public are protected. The new inspectors have begun a condensed training program, and will begin making field visits, with a mentor, within five weeks of their start date. They are scheduled to be fully trained and deployed by
July 1, 2021.

Federal

Vaccine Community Innovation Challenge:

  • The Vaccine Community Innovation Challenge calls on individuals and/or groups to propose creative ideas for communication campaigns that will reach groups within their communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 in order to support increased vaccine confidence.

COVID-19 Vaccination and Phase 2 Rollout:

  • Health Minister Elliott confirmed that local public health units won't be required to ask Ontarians to provide proof of their pre-existing health conditions to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in the second phase of the rollout. She said "we haven't run into very many of those situations," indicating that "people are following the rules, they are coming in at the appropriate time, they're being very patient, and they want to make sure that people who are the most at risk are going to be given their vaccinations first."
  • Some Ontario municipalities and hospitals have begun rolling out their own interim vaccination registration systems for people aged 80 and older in the absence of a provincial site.

Statistics Canada Preliminary Data on Confirmed Cases of COVID-19:

  • Data from Statistics Canada reported that 84% of COVID-19 cases in Canada are caused by community exposures.Of the 839,926 COVID-19 cases recorded between January 15, 2020 to February 28, 2021, 704,329 cases were transmitted by community exposures.
  • The report shows that individuals between ages 20 – 29 have the highest number of total transmitted cases and those transmitted by community exposures.
  • Public Health Ontario’s data on the most outbreaks in the province shows that workplace settings account for a total of 1,472 outbreaks, followed by long-term care homes at 1,289 outbreaks and school and childcare at 1,105 outbreaks.

Other News
  • International Developments: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued yesterday Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People. These recommendations relieve fully vaccinated people from: having to wear masks when visiting with others who have been fully vaccinated or with other single households that are at low risk; and being quarantined and tested following a known exposure if asymptomatic.
  • Influenza: Influenza activity remains below the threshold required to declare the start of the 2020-21 influenza season.
  • Vaccine Passport: Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu says that discussions about introducing some form of vaccine passport are “very live” among the G7 countries.
  • 3rd COVID-19 Wave: Ottawa's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vera Etches, says City's third wave is coming, and asking people to maintain physical distancing to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Useful Links

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

Contact Information: 

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