Health information

Masks a requirement for Grades 4 to 12, encouraged for younger grades

Dr. Ethan Toumishey, medical resident with Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) returned Thursday after a six-week break to host the fourteenth COVID- 19 Facebook Live update of its kind. Dr. Toumishey was joined by Dr. Alexa Caturay, Acting Medical Officer of Health with HPEPH. The public are encouraged to continue to post COVID-19 questions and comments at facebook.com/hpepublichealth, to be answered either online or during the next live broadcast (videos are posted at this link after each broadcast). The public can also call the HPEPH information line at 613.966.5500. The next live broadcast is expected in September.

As of August 19, Dr. Toumishey noted 123,490 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada, 41,048 in Ontario, and 45 in Hastings Prince Edward counties, with one active case locally. There have been over 20,000 tests administered locally to date, and the number of deaths remains at five. Dr. Toumishey noted the COVID-19 Dashboard continues to be updated on weekdays (hpepublichealth.ca/covid-19- cases). This briefing covered the Stage 3 reopening, but focused primarily on the re-opening of schools, with questions surrounding mask wearing and class sizes specifically.

STAGE 3 RE-OPENING
Dr. Alexa Caturay noted some key updates since the last live session, including the move locally to Stage 3 which happened on July 17 in the HPEPH region, allowing many businesses and operations to re-open, including indoor dining areas. “Stage 3, builds on Stage 1 and 2 of our provincial re-opening and is based on key public health indicators for our region,” said Caturay. She noted that social gatherings of 50 people indoors (and 100 people outdoors) are now permitted as part of Stage 3, with two-metre distancing, and mask wearing indoors. “It’s really important to keep in mind limiting your number of close contacts, so even though you are allowed to gather with up to 50 people, the number of people in your social circle is still 10, with two-metre distancing,” she said. “Situations like house parties, where physical distancing is impossible, should be avoided in order to prevent big transmission events like we have seen in other places because that risk of transmission is higher in such situations.”

FACE SHIELDS
Addressing the question of the effectiveness of face shields, Dr. Toumishey said there is no clear evidence that demonstrates face shields are as effective as face masks or face coverings. “There may be more space between the mouth and nose where the droplets may be generated, and then open along the sides or below that can create the opportunity, particularly through turbulent flow through the expulsion of cough, that some of the droplets may escape.” He noted a face covering must cover the nose, mouth and chin.

RETURN TO SCHOOL
Dr. Toumishey noted the medical officers of health for HPE, Kingston, Frontenac, and Lennox and Addington public health, including Dr. Caturay, released a joint statement regarding the upcoming return to school for students and educators across the region. He noted there may be some differences in different school environments because of the particular infrastructure or set-ups. “The community can be reassured that there are existing processes in place to prevent and respond to any cases or outbreaks of infectious disease in the school environment, with access to some of the best resources in our communities, such as surveillance and monitoring, assessment centres, testing laboratories, and contact tracing practices.” He said public health are well-equipped to identify and respond to any positive cases that occur, quickly and efficiently. “With continued efforts, with individuals and families who continue to adhere to public health measures, will help keep the number of positive cases low in our area.”

Dr. Toumishey noted as part of the plan for the safe re-opening of schools in September, the provincial government announced an investment of $50 million to hire up to 500 additional school-focused nurses in public health units. “These additional nurses will help support the safe return to school of students throughout the province,” he said. HPEPH will receive provincial funding for up to six nursing positions. He said this will support school boards and schools as COVID-19 health and safety plans, including infection prevention control, surveillance, screening and testing, outbreak management, and case and contact management, are implemented.

Dr. Toumishey said if a child develops symptoms, they would be screened ahead of time and not be attending school. “If they develop symptoms at school, there would be a protocol and procedure for that, but if there is a concern of transmission prior to being symptomatic, droplets will be caught by the face covering and that source of infection controlled.“ HPEPH has launched a new back-toschool planning page on its website (hpepublichealth.ca/back-to-school-planningparents) with information for families planning to return to in-person learning at school.

ON THE BUS
Dr. Caturay addressed the question of whether students will have to wear masks or face coverings on the bus. “The most simple answer to that is ‘yes’,” she said. “In any setting where children are going to be together, we are asking that children wear a mask or face covering. For Grades 4 to 12, or for children age 10 and up, those are a requirement, and they are strongly encouraged for kindergarten through Grade 3.” Dr. Caturay said masks for children should be considered for all settings, not just for school. “In any situation, and for anyone who can tolerate a mask or face covering, it’s the right thing to do,” she said. “If we can teach young children to carry their backpack, remember their lunches and tie their shoes, we can teach them how to wear a face covering,” she said. “It’s going to take some work and it’s going to take us all working hard together to do it, but I think it is possible for the vast majority of children in schools.”

CLASS SIZE LIMITATIONS
Relating to a question about class size limitations, Dr. Toumishey said the goal of having physical distancing implemented as much as possible in the school system is being actively regarded as a safety measure to reduce the risk of transmission. He said the class sizes is a component of that, as well as promoting physical distancing, noting the specifics depends on how many children will be attending school and are in the schools, which schools they will be attending, and the physical infrastructure. “The solutions and operations that we may see in each school are going to be optimized to that environment, but with regard to class size and limitation, this is being actively encouraged as the foundation principle on when we are consulting on the safe re-opening of schools.” He said they were looking at trying to introduce a suite of public health interventions and safety measures to reduce the risk of transmission. “One of the parts that is going to be critical to that is the surrounding community,” said Toumishey, noting locally, “We are starting from a good place.”

COVID-19 STATISTICS (AT AUGUST 25):
HPE SUMMARY: NEW LAB-CONFIRMED CASES: 2; ACTIVE LAB-CONFIRMED CASES: 4; OVERALL COVID-19 ACTIVITY LEVEL: VERY LOW. CASES IN PEC: 1-4.

Lab-confirmed cases: 23,676,599 (worldwide); 5,754,150 (US); 125,647 (Canada); 41,507 (ONT); 48 (HPE)

Cases per 1 million people: 3,045 (worldwide); 17,460 (US); 3,308 (Canada); 3,052 (ONT)

Active cases: 4,870 (Canada); 1,036 (ONT)

Individuals tested: 5,169,166 (Canada); 2,690,795 (ONT); 22,145 (HPE)

Deceased: 813,789 (worldwide); 177,198 (US); 9,083 (Canada); 2,798 (ONT); 5 (HPE)

Individuals recovered: 111,694 (Canada); 37,673 (ONT); 39 (HPE)