Health information

Physical distancing and hand washing still best to combat virus

Dr. Piotr Oglaza, Medical Officer of Health with Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) along with Dr. Ethan Toumishey hosted this week’s Facebook Live session, the 10th event of its kind. They provided an update on the local COVID-19 outbreak and answered submitted questions. The public are encouraged to post questions at facebook.com/hpepublichealth to be answered during the weekly live broadcasts (videos are posted at this link after each broadcast).

Dr. Oglaza provided an update on the numbers, noting 87,891 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada, 26,866 in Ontario, and 43 in Hastings Prince Edward counties, with no new cases reported in HPE since May 18. There are 182 probable cases in HPE, with deaths remaining at five. There have been 7,050 tests administered. “We are continuing to work closely with local hospitals, long-term care homes, health care providers and assessment centres to ensure that testing is available to those who need it,” said Dr. Oglaza.

ASSESSMENT CENTRES
HPEPH issued a media release this week on the recent expansion of the COVID-19 testing referral process. “Testing criteria has been expanded locally in accordance with the provincial directive aimed at supporting all individuals, concerned about potential exposure, accessing testing,” said Dr. Toumishey. Individuals who are concerned they may have or may have been exposed to COVID-19, but do not have symptoms, are requested to contact a local assessment centre to book an appointment for testing. Assessment centres are located in Picton, Belleville, Trenton and Bancroft. “Residents are reminded that receiving a negative test result offers no further protection against contracting COVID-19, and should not be a cause to reduce vigilance,” said Toumishey. “Regardless of test results, all residents are reminded to continue to self-monitor for new symptoms, practice physical distancing, maintain good hand hygiene and avoid social gatherings of more than five people. The province of Ontario also recommends individuals wear a face covering when physical distancing is difficult or not possible.”

NON-MEDICAL FACE COVERINGS
Non-medical face coverings are not intended to replace the need for physical distancing, said Dr. Oglaza. “If someone is able to stay outside of the two-metre radius from one another, there is no need for a non-medical face covering,” he said. If you choose to wear a face covering, it is important that you ensure it is appropriately cleaned or changed frequently. “It should be covering the face safely and snugly, covering both nose and mouth without any gaps, and it should be made of at least two layers of tightly-woven material, otherwise it reduces the effectiveness of that mask,” he said. Dr. Oglaza also noted it was important the type of material used must be able to withstand multiple washings and/or cleanings without the mask losing its shape. “Anyone using a non-medical face covering should also practice the same infection prevention control measures with hand hygiene before and after putting it on,” he said.

“It is also critical that people wearing non-medical face coverings refrain from touching or adjusting often because that’s how the secretions get on your hands.” He reiterated again that the whole purpose of the mask is to protect others from our own secretions, adding that sharing a mask is something that should never occur. “Masks are the last resort for individuals who say they cannot maintain the two-metre distance; if people can be further than two-metres apart from one another, there is no need for that mask.” Dr. Oglaza noted that he has seen a number of people wearing face coverings when they are driving by themselves in their car. “From the risk perspective, they don’t really need to be wearing a non-medical face covering because there is nobody else around them that they would need to protect from their own secretions,” he said.

Dr. Toumishey also noted that mask wearing is not recommended for children under the age of two years.

GLOVES
Dr. Oglaza said he also sees a number of people wearing gloves. “It’s important to make it clear that the virus does not transmit via skin, so it is not something we need to wear a glove to protect ourselves from getting the virus,” said Oglaza. “Wearing a glove when we are doing our errands could actually put us at more risk because with gloves we are likely not conducting hand hygiene; we are touching various objects and then touching things, such as car keys, a backpack or a purse, and we do that with contaminated gloves potentially, touching many other surfaces.” He said gloves make sense in health care, but not for normal day-to-day activities in the community. “There is absolutely no reason to be wearing gloves; you are much better served if you use hand hygiene. It’s a false sense of protection that might be putting people at more risk potentially.”

HAND SANITIZER
Another question asked whether hand sanitizer should be left in cars in hot weather due to it catching fire as has been reported in the US. “Containers of hand sanitizer left in vehicles should be kept out of direct sunlight to avoid leakage from over-pressurization from that container,” said Oglaza, who added it should be kept in an upright position, appropriately sealed to avoid spillage.

He said alcohol-based hand sanitizer is inflammable and may give off flammable vapours that could ignite if exposed to open flame or source of ignition. “When using hand sanitizer, hands should be rubbed together for at least 15 seconds until they are completely dry and for sufficient contact to be fully effective,” he said. “People should be especially careful when they are smoking, lighting candles or using a gas stove immediately after using hand sanitizer, and should make sure hands are fully dry.”

VACCINE
A question came up again this week asking if a vaccine is any closer. “It normally take years, not months, for any vaccine to develop; these are the safest and most tightly-controlled interventions, so it’s not something that gets to the market quickly, it needs to go through proper research and safety studies,” said Oglaza. “Vaccine development takes time, it cannot be rushed.”

“The timeline and availability of COVID-19 antibody testing is not known at this time,” added Toumishey. He said it has been approved by Health Canada and it is currently before provincial bodies for validation.

HAIR SALONS
The cutting question of when hair salons will be allowed to open came up, with Dr. Toumishey saying they do have not have any new information at this time. “If we continually lower cases of COVID-19 in Ontario in the coming weeks, it is possible that hair salons maybe permitted to open in stage two or three; we are currently at stage one,” he said.

RE-OPENING OF BUSINESSES
Dr. Oglaza said HPEPH are collaborating with municipalities and other community departments to determine how best to work together to ensure that local workplaces are able to re-open safely. “We have also created guidance documents (available on the HPEPH website) for places like community gardens and farmers’ markets, and businesses like grocery stores and restaurants, that detail specific requirements for safe operations.”

COVID-19 STATISTICS (AT JUNE 2):
Lab-confirmed cases: 92,140 (Canada); 28,709 (ONT); 43 (HPE)* ** ***; 5-9 (PEC)+

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

** 12/43: Long-term care residents; 8/43: health care workers

*** Age 60 and over: 30% female/19% male; Age 40- 59: 23% female/7% male; Age 20-39: 9% female/9% male; Age 19 and under: 2% female/0% female

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

Probable cases: 183 (HPE); 40 (PEC)

Tests completed: 1,721,511 (Canada); 723,506 (ONT); 7,564 (HPE) [In HPE: 4.5% of population tested, with 0.6% positivity]

Hospitalized (HPE): 0

Facility outbreaks (HPE): 0

Deceased: 7,344 (Canada); 2,293 (ONT); 5 (HPE) [3 long-term care]

Recovered: 33 (HPE)

Resources: hpepublichealth.ca, ontario.ca and canada.ca.

HPEPH COVID-19 Information Line: 613-966- 5500/1-800-267-2803 (5 days a week).

thecounty.ca/county-residents/covid-19/

County COVID-19 Help Line: 1-833-676-2148 (5 days a week).