For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

March 30, 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 Prince Edward Public Health has a seventh lab-confirmed case of COVID-19 in a close contact of an earlier confirmed travel case. The individual is self-isolating at home and being monitored by health authorities.

• Canada currently has 6,320 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 with the majority of cases presenting in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.

• Ontario Cases: On Sunday, there were 211 new cases in Ontario - the biggest increase in cases since the pandemic began. The number of deaths increased by 4 to a total of 23. The Ministry has changed its reporting method and is no longer reporting on individual cases.

Status of Cases in Ontario (Ministry of Health)

• There are 1,706 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario reported to date in the integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS). Note: 12 cases did not specify male or female gender. The age of 2 cases were unknown.
  • 50.2% of cases are male, 49.1% are female.
  • The median age is 50, ranging in age from <1 to 100 years of age.
  • Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 61.4% of cases.
• Of all cases, 26.3% had travelled in the 14 days prior to becoming ill, 9.6% had close contact with a confirmed case, 16.2% had neither and 47.9% have exposure information pending.
   
• 9.9% of cases were hospitalized and 16 deaths have been reported (please note there may be a reporting delay for deaths in iPHIS).

Federal

Domestic Travel

• To prevent anyone showing signs of illness from travelling, starting at noon today, domestic airlines and federally-regulated train operators will be screening passengers before they board a train or plane for travel within Canada.
• Transport Minister Marc Garneau will be working with his provincial counterparts to recommend similar protocols for bus operators.

Support for Seniors and Youth

• Prime Minister Trudeau announced $9M to United Way Canada for local organizations that provide COVID-19 related services to Canadian seniors (e.g. grocery delivery, medications, and personal outreach to assess individuals' needs and connect them to community supports).
• $7M in funding is going to the Kids Help Phone which has seen increased demand for online, telephone, and text mental health counselling services for children and youth.

COVID-19 Cases and Testing

• National Cases: Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said that, as of late Saturday, over 187,448 Canadians had been tested for COVID-19.
• 7% of cases need hospitalization with 12% of those hospitalized under 40 years of age. 3% of cases were critically ill and 1% of cases have been fatal.
• 65% of reported cases in Canada were linked to community transmission, while 35% were either "exposed while travelling or exposed to a traveller returning to Canada".
• Dr. Tam urged everyone to create a two-metre "bubble" around themselves and avoid stepping into other people's bubble, except with those that are co-habitating.

Provincial

Further Limits to Social Gatherings

• Under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, it is now prohibited for more than five people to gather in public in Ontario (reduced from the earlier number of 50 people).
• Exceptions include people at emergency child care facilities or funerals, where 10 people are permitted to gather.

Protecting Consumers from Price Gouging

• Any company charging unfair prices for essential goods (e.g. masks, gloves, non-prescription medications for the treatment of COVID-19 symptoms, household cleaners and disinfectants, personal hygiene products such as soap and paper products) can be fined and/or jailed.
• Individuals can report those perceived to be charging inflated prices on the Report Price Gouging Related to COVID-19 website or by calling 1-800-889-9768.

Purchase and Deployment of Medical Supplies

• The province is centralizing management of the public sector supply chain so that it can have a centralized inventory of supplies and priority needs (e.g. such as ventilators, masks and swabs). This will allow the province to ensure the equipment is purchased and delivered where it is needed most.

Limiting the Spread of COVID-19 at Construction Sites

• Ontario's Chief Prevention Officer at the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skill Development announced updated guidance to ensure employers understand their responsibilities for preventing the spread of COVID-19 at job sites.
• The guidance covers areas from on-site sanitation, health and safety policies, posting site sanitization schedules, staggering shifts, restricting site numbers, limiting elevator usage and tracking and monitoring workers.
• Worksites will be inspected and failure to comply can lead to work stoppage orders.

New Measures for Long-term Care

• A new provincial emergency order amends a number of former regulations to allow long-term care homes the flexibility to take what they deem as needed measures to respond to the pandemic (e.g. hiring new staff and redirecting their staffing and financial resources to essential tasks). Homes will be able quickly fill staff positions and not be required to meet previous training requirements, an issue of concern to some front-line worker unions and associations.

Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act Enforcement

• On March 17, 2020, the Ontario government declared a provincial emergency through the authority granted under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA). As a result, the government signed a ministerial designation under the Provincial Offences Act to authorize all provincial and municipal law enforcement officers, municipal by-law enforcement officers and public health inspectors to take actions to enforce the Act.

Local

• Plans are nearing final stages for a local COVID-19 assessment centre in Belleville. A call for clinicians went out last week on behalf of HPEPH and Quinte Health Care for patient follow-up requirements. More information about the assessment centre will be available soon.

Public Health

• To assist everyone to understand the difference between self-quarantine, self-isolation and physical distancing, HPEPH has posted a chart on our COVID-19 web page that details and provides recommendations for each category.
• HPEPH has created an Emergency Food Providers COVID-19 Recommendations Guidance Document to assist local emergency food providers (e.g. food banks, shelters and outreach centres) with infection control and COVID-19 safety information.

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

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.