Health information

Dr. Toumishey updates the public in week seven

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

Dr. Toumishey began with the numbers, noting 65,895 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada, 19,121 in Ontario, and 43 in Hastings Prince Edward counties. The number of deaths in HPE increased to five this week. There are currently 188 probable cases in HPE, and 3,930 tests have been administered. Statistical data can be found at the HPEPH COVID-19 Dashboard on the HPEPH website which is updated daily (current data also appears at the end of this article).

In this week’s brief update, Dr. Toumishey addressed questions around transmission, assessment, as well as re-opening preparations. He also noted May 4 to 10 is Mental Health Week, where this year the campaign is #GetReal, which focuses on promoting social connection, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Research shows that social connection and social supportive factors protect and promote good mental health, and you don’t have to be physically close to nurture a sense of closeness and connection,” said Toumishey. “Reach out and connect, particularly during this time; this can be very important, and the best way we can all get through this period is all together.” He said keeping active, daily exercise, eating healthy food and proper sleep are all important steps to protect mental health.

ASSESSMENT/TESTING
Dr. Toumishey said Public Health is working with local health partners, such as hospitals, primary care providers and paramedic services to ensure that assessment and testing is available to those who need it. “We encourage those who are ill or have been exposed to COVID-19 to seek assessment.” Assessment centres are currently operating in Bancroft, Belleville, Picton and, new this week, Trenton. Dr. Toumishey encourages the public to check out the HPEPH website or call the COVID-19 information line, or individuals can contact their primary healthcare provider.

Dr. Toumishey noted surveillance testing has been completed in long-term care. “There has been some testing done in some other settings as well, such as child care for health care workers and hospitalized patients,” he said. “There are multiple ways we are trying to keep up those numbers and we’ve expanded those definitions as far as criteria for people to access testing.“

EMERGENCY ORDERS EXTENDED
The Ontario government has extended the emergency orders until May 19, put in place under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, noted Dr. Toumishey. “These orders include the closure of daycare spaces, outdoor amenities, parks and recreation areas, non-essential workplaces, public spaces, bars and restaurants, along with restriction on social gatherings, and the prohibition of price gouging.”

TRANSMISSION
“Reinforcement of modes of transmission, whether it’s passing it through droplets or contact, it reinforces those safety measurements we are advocating for, but also the community has been adhering to,” he said. “It really bears out that we have seen so little community transmission, and the science is validating those approaches.” He suggests keeping up with hand hygiene and physical distancing, and for those who think they have COVID-19 symptoms, Dr. Toumishey recommends using the online tools or call local public health.

LIFTING OF RESTRICTIONS
“As public health measures begin to be lifted, the public will need to continue the directions with regard to safety measures,” said Toumishey. “The low level of transmission we are seeing is due to the collective effort,” he said. He also said it was important to note the restrictions being lifted in some areas may vary in details between municipalities.

“Be sure to stay informed of what is happening in your community,“ he said. “As businesses are permitted to be open, we will ensure they have enhanced infection control measures in place and support their safe reopening through education, recommendation, and enforcement, if necessary,” said Toumishey. “I would like to emphasise as we are going toward re-opening, the same messages with regard to public safety will remain core, such as hand hygiene, physical distancing and stay home if you feel unwell. These are going to continue to be essential parts of our response to COVID-19 as a community.”

RE-OPENING PLANNING
“When we are looking forward to reopening, there is a lot of thought and groups involved to come up with the most appropriate and the most science-based recommendations to reduce any risk with regards to transmission,” said Toumishey. “We still see very limited evidence of transmission from COVID-19 from commonly-touched objects or delivery packages, including take-out food. We have to plan if there could be a risk, but as far as the cases we are seeing, there is only a very small number.”

Dr. Toumishey said with regards to a re-opening, it can take different variations if people are travelling from other communities to this community, whether accessing secondary residences or visiting people. “Right now, we are still discouraging non-essential travel to areas such as secondary residences,” said Toumishey. He said if people are attending a seasonal residence, they should bring their own food in. He also noted that the same measures remain in place for primary and secondary residences, but people should follow all recommendations in place for each community. “We continue to have restrictions on how many people we can have in a gathering and maintaining physical distancing spaces, and all these measurements that are in place will continue to be there, as well as the same mechanisms of enforcement.”

COVID-19 STATISTICS (AT MAY 12):
Lab-confirmed cases: 70,342(Canada); 20,907 (ONT); 42 (HPE)* ** ***; 5-9 (PEC)+

*Transmission cause: Travel: 14; close contact: 7; community: 21

**12/42: Long-term care residents; 8/42: health care workers

***Age 60 and over: 31% female/19% male; Age 40- 59: 24% female/7% male; Age 20-39: 10% female/10% male (no cases aged 19 and under)

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

Probable cases: 182 (HPE); 38 (PEC)

Individuals tested: 1,145,759 (Canada); 444,882 (ONT); 4,457 (HPE) – 1.0% positive

Hospitalized (HPE): 1 (in ICU: 1; on ventilator: 0)

Facility outbreaks (HPE in part): Hastings Manor, Belleville; Hallowell House, Picton (respiratory, unknown organism)

Deceased: 5,049 (Canada); 1,725 (ONT); 5 (HPE) – 3 long-term care

Source: hpepublichealth.ca and canada.ca

Information relating to COVID-19, including mental health 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).