Health information

Outbreak update with public health’s Dr. Toumishey

This week, Dr. Ethan Toumishey hosted week six of the health update in Dr. Oglaza’s absence. Dr. Toumishey trained as a family physician and currently works with Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) as a public health resident in association with Queen’s University. He has been with Dr. Oglaza’s team for the past couple of months responding to COVID-19.

The Facebook Live sessions provide a local weekly update on the COVID-19 outbreak and usually take place every Thursday. The public are encouraged to post questions at facebook.com/hpepublichealth and will be answered during the weekly live broadcasts. Videos of the broadcasts are posted at the link above after each broadcast.

Dr. Toumishey updated the public Thursday afternoon, noting 52,056 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada, with 16,187 cases in Ontario, and 41 in Hastings Prince Edward counties. There have been four COVID-19 related deaths in HPE, two of those recent deaths in long-term care residences. Overall, 2,544 tests have been administered in HPE. This information is available in more detail at the HPEPH COVID-19 Dashboard on the HPEPH website which is updated daily (current data also appears at the end of this article).

Dr. Toumishey addressed questions surrounding infection transmissibility, the availability of a new quick test, as well as the phased re-opening of businesses. He also noted the HPEPH website has added a list of new symptoms, as well as updated key measures for employers. “This is a great resource for workplaces and I highly recommend you check out the website for updates,” said Dr. Toumishey. Regarding testing and assessment, Toumishey said, “Public health is working with local health partners to ensure testing and assessment is available, as required.” Adding, “Individuals can self-refer to a local assessment centre by calling the COVID-19 hotline at 613-961-5544.” He noted assessment centres are currently operating in Bancroft, Belleville and Picton.

LONG -TERM CARE FACILITIES
“HPEPH and our partners are supporting the promising efforts to slow the progress of COVID-19 in longterm care homes,” said Dr. Toumishey. “There has been an implementation of more enhanced testing measures for workers and residents which is part of an overall strategy to bolstering the overall prevention control practices.”

TRANSMISSIBILITY
” Dr. Toumishey addressed the question of how easy it was to pick up the infection from the grocery store or from hard surfaces. “There is no documented data of the ability of direct transmission of COVID-19 that someone has got it from attending the grocery store from picking up an item or other hard surfaces,” he said. “We have indirect evidence of it potentially being the case.” Dr. Toumishey highlighted again the importance of the measures of frequently washing hands and cleaning commonly touched surfaces. “These are very crucial measures,” he added.

CONTACT TRACING
Another question asked if contact tracing was being done on confirmed and probable cases locally. “Our staff is conducting contact tracing on all confirmed and probable cases on an on-going basis,” Dr. Toumishey acknowledged.

70-PLUS GROUP
It is recommended that, in general, the 70-plus age group and any others considered vulnerable are encouraged to limit going out into the community and contacting people. “There is an aspect of risk assessment in each person,” said Toumishey. “For those people who are more at risk or are specifically vulnerable, or are in the older category or immune compromised, we recommend taking extra precautions, but there is a balance because we want people to stay active.” He said they want people to limit trips to those essential as much as possible. “Do all the measures recommended to protect yourself including keeping your distance, frequent hand washing, avoid touching the face,” he said. “Look at your own situation and do what makes sense for you.”

RAPID TESTING
One of the questions posed this week asked if people would have access to Spartan Bioscience’s rapid testing. “This is something that has been approved by Health Canada, and Ottawa company Spartan Bioscience have a different testing module; it’s the same sort of testing looking for the genetic material of the virus.” Toumishey said the cartridge–type format means it is portable and could be deployed in different locations, and could give more rapid tests within an hour. “While it has been approved by Health Canada, it is currently with Public Health Ontario labs and is going through some validation.”

Update: It was announced May 3, Health Canada has paused regulatory approval for the COVID-19 rapid test due to unreliable test results.

PHASED RE-OPENING
Dr. Toumishey noted the province has announced a phased approach to opening the province.

“Locally at HPE, we are looking at integrating that horizontally, so we are looking at crafting something that makes sense to the regional context,” he said. “We are working on a plan right now and looking forward to having more details available as we continue to watch the progress that we are making toward COVID-19 and looking to keep the community safe.”

He said public health are looking for the broadest key areas of focus for the staged re-opening in the next couple of weeks. “As these businesses and workplaces are permitted to re-open, we will ensure they have enhanced infection control measures in place,” he said. “As public health measures begin to be lifted, the message needs to be reinforced that it’s important to maintain these principles of physical distancing, hand hygiene, as well as self-isolating, if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.”

Dr. Toumishey said the phases for specific businesses would likely begin with places deemed at lower risk. “I think you are going to se more places doing enhanced cleaning, specific cleaning, hand hygiene for people, eliminating commonly-touched areas, reducing number of shared tools in a workplace or cleaning them, expect to see those principles used more,” he said. “Where this is easier to implement, those places will be opening earlier.” He also noted the recent change to the essential businesses act to include community gardens. “They serve an important part for food security and food production within our community”. Dr. Toumishey said they were working with all their partners to deliver a consistent message, “To keep people as safe as we can.” He said expect to see more announcements coming soon.

COVID-19 STATISTICS (AT MAY 5):
Lab-confirmed cases: 61,159 (Canada); 18,310 (ONT); 43 (HPE)* ** ***; 5-9 (PEC)+

*Transmission cause: Travel: 14; close contact: 7; community: 22

**2/43: Long-term care residents; 7/43: health care workers

***Age 60 and over: 33% female/19% male; Age 40- 59: 23% female/7% male; Age 20-39: 9% female/9% male (no cases aged 19 and under)

In rural communities where numbers are low, a range is given to ensure anonymity

Probable cases: 192 (HPE); 38 (PEC)

Individuals tested: 940,643 (Canada); 341,180 (ONT); 3,438 (HPE) -1.4% positive

Total hospitalized (HPE): 1 (in ICU: 1; on ventilator: 0)

Facility outbreaks (HPE in part): Hastings Manor, Belleville

Deceased: 3,915 (Canada); 1,361 (ONT); 4 (HPE: 2 long-term care)

Source: hpepublichealth.ca and canada.ca

Specific information relating to COVID-19, including mental health and children’s resources, can be found at hpepublichealth.ca. The HPEPH COVID-19 information line is 613.966.5500 or 1.800.267.2803 (seven days a week). General information can be found at the municipality’s website at thecounty.ca/county-residents/covid-19/. The County COVID-19 Help Line is 1.833.676.2148 (five days a week).