Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners October 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. For more information please review our website or call 613-966-5500 or 1-800-267-2803. | - Hastings and Prince Edward Counties has 60 cumulative lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, with a total of 8 active cases, with 47 having recovered and 5 deceased. Over 39,200 tests have been completed to date.
- 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
- In Canada, there are 168,960 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 17,122 active cases. To date, there have been 9,504 COVID-19 related deaths and more than 7,695,259 individuals tested.
Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, Jan. 15, 2020 to Oct. 5, 2020 | Report | Number | Percentage | | Number of Cases | 55,362 | N/A | | Change from previous day’s report (new cases) | 548 | 1.0 increase | | Resolved | 46,906 | 84.7 | | Change from previous day’s report | 546 | 1.2 increase | | Total number of deaths | 2,987 | 5.4 | | Total tests completed | 4,169,346 | N/A | | Total test completed in the previous day | 42,031 | N/A | | Currently under investigation | 55,483 | N/A | Summary of Cases in Ontario Schools - Updated Oct. 6, 2020. | Report | Number of New Cases | | School-related cases (cumulative total) | 611 | | School-related student cases | 333 | | School-related staff cases | 102 | | Individual(s) not identified (other staff) | 176 | | Current number of schools with a reported case | 347 | | Current number of schools closed | 2 | | COVID-19 Response Measures Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that applications are open for two new federal COVID-19 benefit programs, including: - The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, which will provide $500 per week, for up to two weeks effective Sept. 27, 2020 until Sept. 25, 2021, for workers who are unable to work because they contracted COVID-19, self-isolated for reasons related to COVID-19, have underlying conditions, are undergoing treatments or have contracted other sicknesses that will make them more susceptible to COVID-19.
- The Canada Recovery Caregiver Benefit, which will be effective from Sept. 27, 2020 to Sept. 25, 2021, and will provide $500 per week, for eligible workers. Households can apply for up to 26 weeks.
Update on Travel Restrictions and New Border Measures - Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino announced that processes are being introduced to support greater family reunification, entry into Canada for compassionate reasons and the safe and gradual entry of some international students. More specifically, these new processes will provide for the entry of:
- Certain extended family members of Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents, including those in an exclusive dating relationship of at least one year and their dependent children, as well as adult children, grandchildren, siblings and grandparents.
- Foreign nationals for compassionate reasons in specific circumstances, such as life-threatening illness, critical injury or death, with potential limited release from quarantine.
- International students, starting Oct. 20, 2020, if they will be attending a designated learning institution that has been identified by their provincial or territorial government as having a COVID‑19 readiness plan in place.
- Detailed information on who may qualify as an extended family member and the process and requirements to be eligible to travel to and enter Canada will be available on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website on Oct. 8, 2020.
Launch of #CrushCOVID Campaign - In partnership with the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, the #CrushCOVID initiative will reach gamers and youth across the country to help engage young Canadians where they are congregating virtually, reminding them of the importance of public health practices.
Rapid Tests and Analyzers - Last week, the Government of Canada announced that it has signed an agreement with Abbott Rapid Diagnostics ULC to purchase up to 7.9 million ID NOW rapid point-of-care tests, pending Health Canada authorization of the tests.
- If authorized, these tests would be deployed to provinces and territories to support them in ramping up surge capacity for COVID-19 testing.
- Under the agreement with Abbott, the Government of Canada is also purchasing up to 3,800 analyzers, which are the devices that perform the test and deliver the rapid results.
- The Public Health Agency of Canada released a new online tool called COVIDTrends that provides you with the number of confirmed persons with COVID-19 in your area within the last fourteen days.
| Ontario releases $35M for Schools in Priority Communities - Premier Doug Ford announced the allocation of $35M to provide immediate support to school boards in Peel, Ottawa, Toronto and York Region to enhance their public health measures and protection strategies as they confront higher rates of transmission in their communities.
- This funding is part of the government's robust and comprehensive $1.3 billion plan to safely reopen classrooms across the province, including additional resources to help school boards hire additional teachers, early childhood educators, and educational assistants for both in person and remote learning, keep class sizes low, and enhance cleaning in schools so that students can better practise social distancing in class and have more devices to support their online learning.
Additional Public Health and Testing Measures New public health measures were announced Friday that included: - Making face coverings mandatory in all public indoor settings across the province, such as businesses, facilities and workplaces, with limited exemptions, including corrections and developmental services.
- Implementing new targeted measures in Ottawa, Peel, and Toronto as a result of their higher than average rates of transmission.
The new testing measures announced Friday included: - Transitioning to appointment-based testing at Ontario assessment centres beginning Tuesday, October 6, to provide certainty to patients as to when they can receive a test.
- Beginning on Sunday, October 4, discontinuing walk-in testing services.
- Continuing mobile testing and pop-up testing centres to reach vulnerable populations and provide targeted testing for long-term care, congregate care, and other vulnerable populations.
- Expanding the number of pharmacies where people with no symptoms within provincial testing guidance can get tested.
- Implementing updated testing guidance for children to help parents determine when it is most appropriate for students, children and their families to seek a test for COVID-19.
The province will also be increasing its test processing capacity so people can get their results faster by: - Increasing testing and processing capacity to 50,000 tests per day by mid-October and 68,000 tests per day by mid-November.
- Introducing new testing methods once they are approved by Health Canada, including point of care testing and antigen testing.
Ontario Revises COVID-19 Screening and Guidance for Schools and Child Care - In consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Ontario government has updated its COVID-19 school and child care screening guidance. This additional information will help parents determine when it is most appropriate for students, children and their families to seek a test for COVID-19.
- Key updates for the October 1 screening tool include separating potential symptoms of COVID-19 into two groups and removing abdominal pain or conjunctivitis.
- Students are no longer required to seek testing if they exhibit only one of the mild secondary COVID-19 symptoms.
- All school and child care age children should use the new school screening tool.
Ontario Releases Updated COVID-19 Modelling for Second Wave Last week, the Ontario government released updated COVID-19 modelling, which shows the province is experiencing a second surge in cases similar to what other jurisdictions have experienced. Key highlights from the modelling update include: - Ontario is currently on an upward trajectory similar to what its peer jurisdictions, including Victoria, Australia and Michigan in the United States, have experienced.
- Cases are currently doubling approximately every 10 to 12 days.
- The growth in cases was initially in the 20 to 39 age group but now cases are climbing in all age groups.
- Forecasting suggests that Ontario could be around 1,000 cases per day in the first half of October.
- Intensive Care Unit (ICU) occupancy is currently steady, but it is predicted that admissions will likely rise with an increase in COVID-19 patients being hospitalized.
- Ontario may see between 200 and 300 patients with COVID-19 in ICU beds per day if cases continue to grow.
- In order to reduce the spread and the number of new cases, it remains critical that Ontarians continue to adhere to public health measures, including avoiding large gatherings, physical distancing and wearing a face covering
Ontario Delivers $2.8B COVID-19 Fall Preparedness Plan | - Anyone seeking testing for COVID-19 at one of the Community Assessment Centres in Bancroft, Belleville, Quinte West or Picton must now book an appointment for testing. QHC has updated their website with information about how to pre-register and book a testing time.
- At Belleville’s Quinte Sport and Wellness Centre, the Family Dental Centre Arena is now open. Staff have created an informative video to help user groups get comfortable with the new procedures in place. Everyone is asked to review it before their first ice time.
- The Quinte Sport and Wellness Centre has just released the Fall 'B' session Activity Guide. Registration will begin on October 13 for City Taxpayers and October 16 for Non City Taxpayers.
- In Centre Hastings, Mayor Tom Deline has released a letter to the community reminding residents to stay safe and keep gatherings small this Thanksgiving.
- On Friday, HPEDSB Education Director Sean Monteith issued a letter to families about staff and classroom reorganization to accommodate a large shift in the number of students transitioning from in-person to distance learning for the upcoming term.
| - HPEPH and our neighbours KFL&A encourage everyone to stay local this Thanksgiving weekend, limit celebrations to your immediate household and avoid multigenerational gatherings that may expose higher-risk family members to COVID-19.
- All HPEPH offices will be closed October 12 for Thanksgiving Monday.
- HPEPH continues to update our website with current COVID-19 information and resources for the public and for targeted community partners that can be found on the following webpages. Please review relevant pages often for updated information.
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- Community Partners:
| 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. | | | | |
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