For Municipal Partners

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Online Bulletin for Municipal Partners

May 15, 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 42 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 182 probable cases, with 28 lab-confirmed cases having recovered and 5 deceased.
  • Approximately 5,644 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with a 0.8% positivity rate.
  • Facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreak can be found online.
  • More details are available on our website hpePublicHealth.ca.

• In Canada, there are 73,401 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 resulting in 5,472 deaths. To date, over 1,203,588 individuals have been tested.

Summary of cases of COVID-19: Ontario, January 15, 2020 to May 14, 2020

Note: 164 cases did not specify male or female. 16 cases had an unknown age.

• There are 21,922 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario reported to date. This represents an increase of 428 confirmed cases from the previous report.
  • 42.1% of cases are male, 57.2% are female.
  • 42.7% of cases are 60 years of age and older.
  • Greater Toronto Area public health units account for 62.6% of cases.
  • 12.7% of cases were hospitalized.
• 1,825 deaths have been reported (please note there may be a reporting delay for deaths). This is an increase of 27 deaths from the previous report.
• 263 outbreaks have been reported in long-term care homes. This is an increase of 9 outbreaks from the previous report.

Federal

Federal Support for Canada's Fish Harvesters

• Yesterday, Prime Minister Trudeau announced up to $469.4 million in new measures to support Canada’s fish harvesters, who are economically impacted by the pandemic but cannot access existing federal measures. This investment builds on the $62.5 million for the new Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund announced last month to help Canada’s fish and seafood processing sector. Under these measures, the government launched:
  • The Fish Harvester Benefit, some $267.6 million to provide income support for eligible self-employed fish harvesters and sharespersons crews.
  • The Fish Harvester Grant, a program worth up to $201.8 million, to provide $10,000 grants to help fish harvesters to address non-deferrable business costs.
• The federal government is also looking at making changes to Employment Insurance (EI) to allow greater access by self-employed fish harvesters and sharespersons to EI benefits.
• The Prime Minister encouraged everyone to Buy Canada and "pick up some Canadian cheese to help a local dairy farmer, have a fish fry or buy Canadian lobster."

Support for Indigenous Communities

• The Prime Minister also announced various measures, some of which had been highlighted earlier to support Indigenous communities including:
  • $360 million in interest-free loans and non-repayable contributions to Indigenous businesses.
  • $75 million to First Nations, Inuit and Métis students to help young people find a job in their community this summer.
  • $10 million in emergency shelters for Indigenous women and children who are fleeing violence.

National Parks and Northern Boating

• Some National Parks will be partially reopening at the beginning of June.
• New boating regulations will come in effect on June 1 to protect vulnerable communities in the north. Pleasure craft will not be permitted to operate in Canada's Arctic coastal waters or in the coastal areas of northern Quebec and Labrador; boats used for essential fishing and hunting or for local communities will not be banned.

Provincial

New Approach to Testing

• Health Minister Elliott reported that yesterday marked the lowest number of cases since March 31. She also said that all long term care homes residents have now been tested and more testing will be done in congregate settings; public health is now reaching 90% of cases within 24 hours.
• She noted that "it's going to be really important as we open up parts of our economy that we do ... surveillance testing in the community" to better understand what's happening.
• She announced that the province's testing guidelines have been expanded so that anyone with symptoms will be able to be tested.

Pandemic Pay

• When asked about the timing for pandemic pay, Minister Elliott explained that the province is working out some issues about who should receive this pay before sending it out to make sure they have captured all appropriate parties.

Reopening Workplaces

• Premier Ford announced yesterday that certain retailers, seasonal businesses and health and community service providers will be able to open or expand their services starting Tuesday, May 19. This list includes street-front retail stores, construction, household services, pet care services, certain sports and health and medical services (e.g. in-person counselling, scheduled surgeries and Children's Treatment Centres).
• The Premier also announced that some additional seasonal services and activities will be permitted to open as of Saturday, May 16. These services range from golf courses, marinas, boat clubs, campgrounds to businesses that board animals.
• Some 90 sector-specific public health and safety guidelines have been issued so businesses and organizations can ensure their workplaces are safe for staff, consumers and the general public.
• A website has been created to provide to businesses with information on personal protective equipment (PPE) suppliers.
• When asked about opening up restaurants, the Premier noted that "restaurants would have to wait." He indicated that Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health will be advising on when certain public health restrictions, such as limitations on social gatherings, can be gradually loosened or if they will need to be tightened and when the province will be ready to move from stage 1 to stage 2.
• An announcement on the future of the school year is expected to be made early next week.

Protecting Farm Workers

• Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Hardeman announced that the governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $2.25 million to help farmers better protect employees and ensure the continued supply of healthy food products.
• The funding will be used by farmers to support initiatives like purchasing personal protective equipment, enhanced cleaning and disinfection, as well as covering the unexpected housing and transportation costs from a COVID-19 outbreak among on-farm employees.
• Health and safety inspectors are working with employers in the agri-food sector to help ensure the safety of employees, including temporary foreign workers.

Local

• The Town of Bancroft reminded residents that the Restricted Fire Zone remains in effect across Ontario's fire region. Absolutely NO fireworks may be discharged during a burn ban. This preventative measure is in place to ensure public safety and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The Centre Hastings Family Health Team Madoc and Marmora sites will be closed Monday, May 18 for Victoria Day.

• The County of Prince Edward has announced that it will closely monitor and enforce parking restrictions on County roads surrounding provincial parks, which open for limited day-use activities today. Walking, hiking, and biking are among the day-use activities permitted at Sandbanks and the Lake on the Mountain provincial parks. North Beach Provincial Park remains closed until June 12, its annual reopening date. Beach access, camping, and large gatherings are prohibited. All buildings and facilities will remain closed.

• Community Care for Seniors shared that they are receiving calls on a daily basis from seniors looking for their next appointment at the foot care clinics. This is one of the services that is on hold until further notice during the pandemic, but planning is underway for restarting the clinics and all clients will be called when the clinics reopen to schedule appointments.

• The Belleville Agricultural Society has announced that the 2020 Quinte Exhibition, scheduled for September, has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Organizers of the Havelock Country Jamboree are postponing this year’s event to 2021, because of restrictions that limit large public gatherings. The Jamboree has been scheduled to run between August 19 and 21 of 2021.

Public Health

• The COVID-19 information line will operate this weekend between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm, but will be closed Monday, May 18 for the Victoria Day satutory holiday. Anyone with questions or concerns regarding COVID-19 may contact Telehealth at 1-866-797-0000 or make a self-referral to a local assessment centre (contact information available on our website).

• Local businesses looking for guidance on their reopening plans over the long weekend are encouraged to call the province's Stop the Spread Business Information Line 1-888-444-3659 between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm, Saturday to Monday. The line is open until 9:00 pm weekdays.

• The Municipal Bulletin will not be issued on Monday; it will resume on Tuesday, May 19.

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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