For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

May 6, 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 192 probable cases, with 20 lab-confirmed cases having recovered and 4 deceased.
  • Approximately 3,666 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with a 1.3% positivity rate.
  • Facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreak can be found online.
  • More details are available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca.

• In Canada, there are 62,458 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in 4,111 deaths. To date, over 970,586 individuals have been tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to May 5, 2020

Note: 166 cases did not specify male or female. 13 cases had an unknown age.

• There are 18,722 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario reported to date. This represents an increase of 412 confirmed cases from the previous report.
  • 41.8% of cases are male, 57.3% are female.
  • 43.8% of cases are 60 years of age and older.
  • Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 60.6% of cases.
  • 12.2% of cases were hospitalized.
• 1,429 deaths have been reported (please note there may be a reporting delay for deaths). This is an increase of 68 deaths from the previous report.
• 223 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes. This is an increase of 5 outbreaks from the previous report.
• 653 deaths have been reported among residents/patients in long-term care homes. This is an difference of 44 deaths from the previous report.

Federal

PM Trudeau Pledges $252M for Canada's Agriculture Industry

In response to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture request for $2.6B in aid, the Prime Minister announced $252M as an "initial amount" aimed at helping farmers and food processors safely navigate the novel coronavirus pandemic. This new funding includes:

• $77M for food processors, including meat packers, to retrofit their factories and increase their capacity to deal with a livestock backlog.
• These funds will be used to:
  • Buy personal protective equipment for workers.
  • Adapt to health protocols.
  • Support other social distancing measures.
  • Expand/adapt the industry's processing capacity to increase the amount of Canadian products made domestically.
• $125Mto the AgriRecovery Fund, a federal-provincial-territorial program aimed at helping farmers during disasters. The cattle industry has been pushing for this type of funding to help cover the cost of extended stays in feedlots.
• $50Mfor a surplus purchase program, similar to what's available for some farmers in the United States to redistribute surplus food to food banks.

Provincial

Premier's Criticism of Public Health and Testing

• When asked by the media about lagging COVID-19 testing numbers, Premier Ford identified that local public health units need to "pick up the pace" particularly in regard to testing of staff and residents in long-term care facilities.
• In response to questions about the survey being conducted with the 34 Medical Officers of Health (MOH) of local public health units, Dr. Williams, the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, stated that some of MOHs have indicated in the last week that there has been a shortage of testing supplies.

Ontario Expands Virtual Mental Health Services During COVID-19

Recognizing the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, Premier Ford conveyed to Ontarians that "You are not alone. We will support you." Starting today, the provincial government expanded access to virtual and online mental health supports. These free internet-based programs include:

• Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT):
  • Clients can self-refer to programs through various service providers and be guided through their client journey to find the supports they need.
  • Online iCBT will be supported by therapists and available in English and French.
  • These services include BounceBack telephone coaching and workbooks, and the Kids Help Phone for children and youth.
• Supports for frontline health care workers:
  • Online iCBT is available to frontline health care workers experiencing anxiety, burnout or post-traumatic stress disorder.
  • Those requiring intensive levels of care can be referred to virtual face-to-face care, weekly online peer discussion groups as well as access to confidential support from a clinician.
• Virtual mental health support services:
  • These services include BounceBack telephone coaching and workbooks, and the Kids Help Phone for children and youth.
• The province has also established a Mental Health and Addictions COVID-19 Response Table, led by the Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence at Ontario Health, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on access to public mental health and addictions services.

Traveling to Cottage Country

• The Premier will be speaking with county mayors today and will provide an update to Ontarians about access to cottages for the Victoria Day weekend.
• When challenged about this being unfair for those who don't have a second home, the Premier agreed and hinted that those without cottages will also "get to go outside" and he will have some good news to share later this week.
• Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, recently issued a memo to his local counterparts saying that while health officials should discourage the use of cottages, the province would not impose a legal ban.

Electricity Rates

• The Ontario government is extending emergency electricity rate relief to families, farms and small businesses until May 31, 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak. Customers who pay time-of-use electricity rates will continue to be billed at the lowest price, known as the off-peak price, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Maternal-Neonatal COVID-19 General Guideline Released

• Based on advice from the Maternal-Neonatal COVID-19 Task Force, the province released this new guideline to provide direction on key areas such as:
  • Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by Providers and Patients during Labour and Delivery.
  • Supporting People for Pregnant Patients during a Labour and Delivery Admission.
  • Mother-Baby Dyad Care for Suspected/Confirmed COVID-19 Mothers.
  • Care of Babies born to Suspected and Confirmed COVID-19 Mothers.
  • Infant Testing.

Local

• North Hastings Children's Services is offering online virtual service for the whole family on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

• Effective today, the City of Quinte West, the City of Belleville and Prince Edward County have lifted their burn bans. Residents are now able to apply for an open-air burn permit with their municipality.

• The County of Prince Edward will continue to operate three landfill and transfer sites on Wednesdays during May and June. In addition to operating on Saturdays, the Picton, Ameliasburgh, and Milford sites will be open on Wednesdays from 8 am until 4 pm. The municipality is opening the Ameliasburgh and Milford sites on Wednesdays to help alleviate traffic and wait times. All of the municipality’s landfill and transfer sites are open on Saturdays.

• Prime Minister Trudeau will be attending this afternoon's repatriation ceremony at CFB Trenton. People are requested to pay their respects by viewing the ceremony on television or online rather than gathering at 8 Wing/CFB Trenton or parking/stopping along Hwy 2. The ceremony will be live-streamed today at 2:30 p.m. http://facebook.com/CanadianForces.

• The Municipality of Tweed issued a COVID-19 update yesterday outlining the ongoing burn ban in effect in the municipality, the continued closure of all municipal parks, recreation areas and boat launches, and that the municipality will not be issuing yard sale permits until further notice. Seasonal residents are also asked to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival and to bring supplies from their primary residence.

Public Health

• In Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, all LTC residents and staff have been tested for COVID-19. Additionally, all staff working in local emergency childcare services for essential workers have also been tested. Anyone with questions about COVID-19 or mild symptoms are encouraged to contact our COVID-19 information line at 613-966-5500/1-866-267-2803. Residents can also directly contact their local COVID-19 assessment centres in Belleville and Quinte West at 613-961-5544 or Bancroft at 613-332-2825, extension 2222.

• HPEPH has issued a release on our website in recognition of World Maternal Mental Health Day and the importance of supporting maternal mental health. Included on the HPEPH website is a new infographic that details mental health information and local statistics related to maternal mental health.

• Dr. Ethan Toumishey is hosting our weekly Facebook Live event tomorrow, Thursday, May 7 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, facebook.com/hpepublichealth, at 2 pm tomorrow. If you have any questions for Dr. Toumishey, please email them in advance or share them directly during the broadcast by commenting on the video.

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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