For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

January 5, 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 313 cumulative lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 33 active, 275 resolved and 5 deceased. There were 7 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
  • Ontario is reporting 3,128 cases of COVID-19 and 51 deaths as nearly 35,200 tests have been completed. There are 778 new cases in Toronto, 614 in Peel, 213 in York Region, 172 in Durham and 151 in Hamilton.
     
  • In Canada, as at January 4, 2021, there are 611,424 total cases of COVID-19 with 77,466 active cases and 517,884 recovered. To date, there have been 16,074 COVID-19 related deaths and more than 14,121,468 individuals tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to January 4, 2021

 

Report

Number

Percentage

Number of Cases

197,360

N/A

Change from previous day’s report (new cases)

3,128

1.6 increase

Resolved

166,790

84.5

Change from previous day’s report

2,015 1.2 increase

Total number of deaths

4,730

2.4

Total tests completed

8,178,105

N/A

Total test completed in the previous day

35,152

N/A

Currently under investigation

39,805

N/A

Summary of Cases in Ontario Schools - Updated December 22, 2020.

 

Report

Number of New Cases

Cumulative Cases

School-related cases 

0

7,292

School-related student cases

0

5,103

School-related staff cases

0 1,094

Individual(s) not identified (other staff)

0

1,095

Current number of schools with a reported case

976 N/A

Current number of schools closed

0

N/A

 


Local Updates

  • Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board is reminding parents that January 6, 2021 is the deadline for families to notify the school if switching children's term/semester 2 enrolment from virtual school to in-person school, or vice versa. No action is needed for students who wish to maintain their current enrolment.
  • On Dec 31, our local school boards advised families that the first days of online learning will be unconventional, as the school board works to provide support for teachers and students adapting to remote learning.
    • Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board letter
    • Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board letter


Provincial

Ontario Accelerates COVID-19 Vaccinations for Long-Term Care Homes in Priority Regions:

  • The provincial government is continuing the rollout of Phase One of its vaccine implementation plan by ensuring that all residents, health care workers and essential caregivers at long-term care homes in the priority regions of Toronto, Peel, York and Windsor-Essex receive a COVID-19 vaccination by January 21, 2021.
  • To date, 44 vaccine sites have been established. Over 50,000 people have been administered the Pfizer vaccine, including over 26,000 vaccinations administered to health care workers in long-term care homes and retirement homes, over 20,000 vaccinations administered to health care workers and nearly 1,000 vaccinations administered to residents.
  • As the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continues, the Ontario government is investing an additional $398M during the second wave to reduce the risk of the virus from entering long-term care homes from the community. The new funding will help homes adhere to enhanced staff and visitor testing requirements and continue to improve COVID-19 prevention and containment. The new investment brings Ontario's total funding to protect long-term care homes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to $1.38B.

COVID-19 Vaccination:

  • The province began administering second doses to Ontarians on Monday, as the first five health-care workers who received the COVID-19 vaccine at the University Health Network in mid-December have now gotten their second shot.
  • Dr. Williams noted that the Moderna vaccine has arrived and will be rolled-out this weekend into long term care facilities.
  • As of 8 pm yesterday, 42,419 total doses were administered in Ontario, including 4,808 doses on Sunday.
  • In the face of criticism about only .28 percent of the population being vaccinated, Premier Ford explained “with any rollout that we’ve had throughout the pandemic, there’s a few bumps in the road, but we have proven...once we get rolling we’ll be number one in the entire country [and] hoping... in North America. We’re going full steam forward.”

New COVID-19 Workplace Safety Measures and Outbreak Data:

  • Toronto Public Health (TPH) launched a new outbreak COVID-19 data on its monitoring dashboard and released the findings and trends from recently collected COVID-19 case data on current and historical workplace outbreaks.
  • Toronto businesses and organizations permitted to operate under the Reopening Ontario Act were presented Monday with a letter of instruction outlining additional measures to further limit the spread of COVID-19. These measure include:
    • immediately notifying TPH of two or more people who test positive for COVID-19 within 14 days that are connected to the workplace setting;
    • providing a designated contact to work with TPH to immediately implement any additional required measures to reduce virus spread;
    • providing contact information for all workers within 24 hours to support case and contact tracing, and notify the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training, and Skills Development and any other relevant government authorities; and
    • following enhanced infection prevention and control recommendations to help reduce virus spread (e.g. ensuring hand sanitizer and hand-washing facilities are available, rigorous and frequent environmental cleaning in all high-touch public areas, conducting a regular review of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems to ensure they are functioning well; and ensuring a two metre physical distancing between workers throughout the workplace in lunchrooms,change rooms and washrooms).

Increase in Cases and the U.K. Variant:

  • Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Williams noted Ontario reported the numbers of those infected “was escalating” with a new single day record of 3,363 cases on Saturday, which then declined slightly to 2,964 on Sunday and increased again to 3,270 Monday.
  • Dr. Williams indicated that 58% of the new cases reported were concentrated in the Toronto, Peel and York Region and 21 of 34 public health units were in the red zone with only four left in the green zone, as of the end of last year. He attributed many of these infections to pre-Christmas activity.
  • Dr. Williams also noted the tragic loss of another 149 people to COVID-19 since January 1.
  • Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Yaffe said that Ontario has reported an additional three cases of the U.K. variant of the coronavirus, bringing the provincial total to six.
  • Dr. Yaffe indicated that each of the new cases were residents of Toronto, Peel and York Regions and “all three of the new cases have travelled or have had close contact with someone who travelled outside of the country.”
  • Dr. Yaffe noted that case and contact management is being performed by the relevant public health units.

Ethical Framework for Vaccine Distribution:

  • The Ontario government released an Ethical Framework for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution to guide further vaccine prioritization and distribution across the province. Developed in collaboration with Ontario’s Vaccine Distribution Task Force, the framework includes the following six principles for guiding decision making:
    • Minimize Harms and Maximize Benefits: protect those at greatest risk of serious illness and death due to biological, social, geographical and occupational factors;
    • Equity: reduce disparities in illness, social conditions and death related to COVID-19 and ensure benefits for groups experiencing greater burdens;
    • Fairness: ensure that every individual within equally prioritized groups has the same opportunity to be vaccinated and processes are inclusive, consistent, culturally safe and tailored to the unique needs of Ontario's varied communities; avoid jurisdictional ambiguity (e.g. apply Jordan’s principle to ensure First Nations have equitable access to vaccines);
    • Transparency: ensure decision-making processes are clear, understandable and communicated to the public;
    • Legitimacy: make decisions based on the best available scientific evidence, shared values and input from affected parties, including those historically under-represented; and
    • Public Trust: advance confidence and trust in Ontario's COVID-19 immunization program.

Federal

Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines:

  • In Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer December 31st statement, Dr. Tam drew attention to Canadians’ increased alcohol use.
  • Dr. Tam noted that “it is common to look for ways to cope during periods of uncertainty, but I continue to be concerned about the potential risks of increased alcohol use during COVID-19. Dr. Tam reminded Canadians “to be aware of the impacts of increased alcohol consumption on their health and to find alternative ways of celebrating and coping with stress that respect public health measures in your region” and “while the best way to avoid shortand longer-term risks is to not drink alcohol, Canadians who do consume alcohol can consult Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines for strategies to help lower the risks for them and the people around them.”

Pre-departure COVID-19 testing and negative results to be required for all air travellers coming to Canada:

  • Effective January 7, 2021, at 12:01 a.m. EST, all air passengers five years of age or older will be required to test negative for COVID-19 before travelling from another country to Canada. This implementation date provides all airlines, both foreign and domestic, adequate time to comply with the new requirements.
  • Documentation of a negative laboratory test result must be presented to the airline prior to boarding a flight to Canada. The test must be performed using a COVID-19 molecular polymerase chain reaction (or PCR) test and must be taken within 72 hours prior to the traveller’s scheduled departure to Canada.
  • Anyone who receives a negative test result and is authorized to enter Canada must still complete the full, mandatory 14-day quarantine.
  • The Government of Canada will be further increasing surveillance efforts to ensure travellers entering Canada complete the applicable mandatory 14-day quarantine period under the Quarantine Act.

Other News

Useful Links

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Contact Information: 

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