For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

October 19, 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 1,457 cumulative lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 23 active, 1,420 resolved and 14 deceased. There were 3 new cases reported today.
  • There are no local retirement facilities experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak; additional outbreak details can be found online.
  • More information is available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca
• 7 day case rate: 10.7 per 100,000                         
• Positivity Rate: 0.7%
• Vaccinations among residents 12 and older:
  • First Dose: 132,918 (89%) 
  • Fully Vaccinated: 122,967 (82%)

• Ontario is reporting 328 new cases (223 cases are in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 105 are in fully vaccinated individuals) and four more COVID-19 related deaths were confirmed since yesterday.

• In Canada, as of October 4, 2021, there are 1,685,342 total cases of COVID-19 with 32,713 active cases and 1,624,065 recovered. To date, there have been 28,564 COVID-19 related deaths and more than 45,140,412 individuals tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to October 18, 2021

Summary of Cases in Ontario Schools - Updated Oct 19, 2021

Local Updates

Upcoming Vaccination Clinics - Turning 12 and over in 2021

Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre

• Thursday, October 21 – 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 27 – 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Prince Edward Community Centre

• Thursday, October 21 – 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Monday, October 25 – 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Thursday, October 28 – 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Monday, November 1 – 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Please note all clinics are now offering walk-ins for all individuals born in 2009 or earlier for first and second doses. See our Booking and Eligibility page for up-to-date information.

The GO-VAXX bus is coming to the Front Street Farmer's Market in Trenton on Saturday, October 23 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m and at 199 Bell Blvd in Belleville on Saturday, October 23 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.. Learn more about the GO-VAXX bus here.

Provincial

Enhanced COVID-19 Vaccine Certificate with QR Code and Verify Ontario App Available for Download Starting October 15

• The enhanced vaccine certificate with official QR code and the free, made-in Ontario verification app, Verify Ontario, are now available for download.
• People can save the electronic version of their vaccine certificate with a QR code to their phone or print a paper copy. Businesses must accept both electronic and paper versions.
• While the current vaccine receipt without a QR code remains valid and will continue to be accepted, the province is encouraging individuals to download their enhanced vaccine certificate with a QR code as an easier, more secure and convenient way to have their proof of vaccination verified.
• Ontarians will need to continue to show a piece of identification with their name and date of birth along with their proof of vaccination when visiting select businesses and organizations.
• Frequently Asked Questions

Ontario Cautiously Lifting Capacity Limits in Select Settings

• With public health and health care indicators remaining stable or improving, the government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, is cautiously lifting capacity limits in select indoor and outdoor settings where proof of vaccination is required, as well as certain outdoor settings that have a capacity below 20,000.
• In keeping with the government’s cautious approach, effective Saturday, October 9, 2021, at 12:01 a.m., capacity limits will be lifted to allow 100 per cent capacity in the following settings:
  • Concert venues, theatres and cinemas;
  • Spectator areas of facilities for sports and recreational fitness (would not include gyms, personal training);
  • Meeting and event spaces (indoor meeting and event spaces will still need to limit capacity to the number that can maintain physical distancing);
  • Horseracing tracks, car racing tracks, and other similar venues; and
  • Commercial film and television productions with studio audiences.

GO-VAXX Mobile Vaccine Clinics Achieve Major Milestone

•    GO-VAXX clinics have now administered more than 10,000 first and second doses through smaller, community-based and easy-to-access settings across Southern Ontario and beyond.

Ontario Taking Action to Immediately Increase Staffing in LTC

• The Ontario government will provide up to $270 million this year to long-term care homes to increase staffing levels by 4,050 new long-term care staff across the province.
• The Minister also announced that as part of the government’s plan to fix long-term care, it intends to bring forward legislation that will enshrine its commitment to four hours of care into law.
• Currently, residents receive an average of two hours and 45 minutes of direct care from nurses and personal support workers. Direct care is hands-on care that includes personal care, such as feeding, bathing and dressing, as well as other important tasks such as helping residents move, medical/therapeutic treatments, and providing medication.

Ontario Expanding Choices for Prospective Nursing Students

• The Ontario government is providing a new pathway for nursing education with the launch of Georgian College’s new stand-alone four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
• Georgian College will welcome the first cohort of new nursing students starting in September 2022.

Statement: Ontario Supports Businesses and Workers as they Safely Return to the Job

• Ontario has now returned back to pre-pandemic employment levels. Since February 2020, Ontario has recovered the 1.1 million jobs that were lost due to the onset of COVID-19.

Federal

Statement from the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada on October 15, 2021

• The latest national 7-day average of 3,168 new cases reported daily (Oct 8-14) is a decrease of 15% over the previous week.
• Hospitalisation and critical care admission trends, primarily involving unvaccinated people, are still elevated nationally. Together with prolonged hospital stays this continues to place a heavy strain on local healthcare resources, particularly where infection rates are high and vaccination rates are low.
• From December 14, 2020 to September 25, 2021, 0.19% of fully vaccinated people became infected, with the majority of recent cases and hospitalizations occurring in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people.
• In recent weeks (August 29 – September 25, 2021):
  • the average weekly rate of new COVID-19 cases in unvaccinated people was 8 times higher than in the fully vaccinated.
  • the average weekly rate of hospitalized cases in unvaccinated people was 26 times higher compared to fully vaccinated people.
    note: the ratios above have decreased compared to last week’s update largely due to an update in the population estimates used (Statistics Canada, July 1, 2021; formerly July 1, 2020). The increase in the 2021 population estimates has resulted in a decrease in the calculated rate of new cases among unvaccinated people.

Health Canada receives submission from Pfizer-BioNTech to authorize the use of Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine in children 5 to 11 years of age

• Health Canada received a submission from Pfizer-BioNTech seeking an authorization for the use of its Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine in children 5 to 11 years of age. As with all COVID-19 vaccines, the Department will prioritize the review of this submission, while maintaining its high scientific standards for safety, efficacy and quality.
• Health Canada will only authorize the use of Comirnaty if the independent and thorough scientific review of all the data included in the submission showed that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the potential risks in this age group.

New App Provides Remote Access to COVID-19 Resources for Workplaces

• The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Safe Work app hosts the Centre’s collection of over 120 COVID-19 resources, including industry and sector-specific tip sheets, infographics, videos, and other guidance materials created to help workplaces keep their workers and customers safe.

Backgrounder: COVID-19 vaccine requirement for the federal workforce

• Under a new policy, federal public servants in the Core Public Administration (CPA), including members and reservists of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), must be vaccinated against COVID-19.
• As early as November 15, public servants who refuse to disclose their status or who are not fully vaccinated will be placed on administrative leave without pay.

Support for long-term care homes in Ontario extended to manage COVID-19 outbreaks

• The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honourable Bill Blair, confirmed that the Government of Canada has approved an extension to a Request for Federal Assistance from the Province of Ontario to manage the COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care and retirement homes.
• As a result of this extension, the Canadian Red Cross will continue to support long-term care and retirement homes upon request from the Ontario government until November 30, 2021, with the option to extend by an additional two months until January 2022.

Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federally regulated transportation employees and travellers

• As of October 30, the Government of Canada will require employers in the federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation sectors to establish vaccination policies for their employees.
• Also effective October 30, travellers departing from Canadian airports, and travellers on VIA Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains, will be required to be fully vaccinated in order to travel.
• For travellers who are in the process of being vaccinated, there will be a short transition period where they will be able to travel if they can show a valid COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours of travel, but that transition period will end on November 30.
• A pan-Canadian, secure, and standardized proof of vaccination for international travel was announced on August 11, 2021, and is being developed in partnership with provinces and territories. This document, which will be available to travellers in digital formats, will be easily recognized and trusted.

Canada endorses OECD joint statement on supporting global economic recovery from COVID-19

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) members, including Canada, endorsed a joint statement on their commitment to supporting the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and to building a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future.

HPEPH

Media Release: Board of Health Update – October 2021

Media Release: Local enforcement activities aim to keep community as safe as possible throughout reopening

• HPEPH received 1,186 COVID-19 related enforcement complaints in 2020, and to date, 1,745 have been received in 2021.
• Since March 2020, ongoing enforcement activities have resulted in 47 COVID-19 related charges being laid under the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) and the Reopening Ontario Act.

Useful Links

• Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen
• HPEPH COVID-19 Vaccine Booking and Eligibility web page
• HPEPH COVID-19 General Information
• HPEPH COVID-19 Information for Health Care Providers
• How Ontario is responding to COVID-19
• Public Health Ontario - COVID-19
• Canada.ca - COVID-19

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