The pending provincial shutdown is a necessary step, though it would be all the more effective it was declared immediately instead of scheduled for Boxing Day, according to the region’s medical officer of health.
“Every day you delay has some impact on transmission,” said Dr. Charles Gardner, top doctor at the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. “From a public health point of view, earlier would be better.”
Gardner noted the region is experiencing a “steep rise” in not only cases, but in the geographical spread of the disease to the northern parts of the region, and in the number of active cases in the community.
“I believe it’s necessary to take this step if they really want to bring this under control,” said Gardner, noting he and others observed regional travel continued to rise despite lockdown and red zone restrictions in hot spots. “Cases did continue to rise, and many of us feel it was related to people moving from high transmission areas to low transmission areas.”
The region, like the province, has also seen an increase in hospitalizations with at least 17 Simcoe County residents ranging in age from 10 to 90 are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and seven are in intensive care units.
“Right now, our health-care system is intact, it’s not overwhelmed, but we’re seeing more growth and we need to take note of what could happen by looking at municipalities to the south of us where hospitals are very heavily burdened by COVID-19 cases,” said Gardner.
According to the doctor, it will take between two and four weeks to see a difference in case numbers once the shutdown gets underway. He predicts a continued rise within the first two weeks.
While the local health-care system is managing to keep up with COVID patients, the public health system is still struggling to manage the increased caseload.
Gardner announced the health unit is about three or four days behind sometimes in notifying people when they test positive and they are not always reaching close contacts but are asking cases to reach out to their contacts on their own.
“We very much regret this and we’re doing all we can to deal with this situation,” said Gardner.
He said those who are awaiting test results need to continue to self-isolate until they receive a negative test result or they hear from the health unit.
In the meantime, Gardner is reminding people not to gather at Christmas time and to “double-down” on infection prevention and control measures such as handwashing, wearing a face covering, limiting trips outside the home to essential reasons only, and not having any close contact with individuals outside of your household.
“It’s not going to be a normal holiday season. I regret it, but it is essential that we take this very seriously,” he said. “While the vaccine is a light at the end of the tunnel, and a cause for hope, it’s going to be months before we get to everybody.”
Simcoe County Outbreaks
The health unit is currently tracking 22 outbreaks, all of which are in Simcoe County.
They include two long-term care homes, three retirement homes, one hospital, one correctional centre, six congregate settings, six schools, one workplace, and one church.
The largest outbreak in the region is at Georgian Bay General Hospital in Midland, which has now reported 26 staff cases and 23 patient cases. Four people who contracted COVID-19 in the hospital outbreak have died since the outbreak was declared Dec. 4.
Dr. Gardner confirmed there has been a Public Health Ontario investigation into infection control at the hospital and the province identified no “major gaps.”
“It’s a very challenging situation,” said Gardner during yesterday’s briefing. “Once you get an outbreak at a facility of this size, it’s very challenging to bring it under control.”
The health unit is also tracking an outbreak at a Simcoe County group home where there have been 32 staff and 19 resident cases reported since Nov. 30. Four of the cases were reported in the last seven days.
At Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, 19 inmates and three staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since an outbreak was declared on Dec. 14.
Among the other outbreaks currently being tracked by the health unit are
- Coleman Care Centre (long-term care home) in Barrie, declared Dec. 10: one staff case
- Kingsmere Retirement Living in Alliston, declared Dec. 11: four residents and three staff
- Raglan Square at Raglan Village in Collingwood, declared Dec. 12: one resident case
- Trillium Manor long term care home in Orillia, declared Dec. 14, operated by Simcoe County: nine staff, six residents
- Six Simcoe County group homes with the largest declared Nov. 30 and involving 32 staff and 19 resident cases. Three group homes are in outbreak with a single case, one has three resident and two staff cases, and another has two staff cases.
- One church in Barrie, outbreak declared Dec. 18: seven cases
Outbreaks at a Barrie Canada Post sorting facility, Collingwood Loblaws, and Barrie Fire station have all been declared over by the health unit.
The health unit also declared outbreaks over at Mill Creek Care Centre (Barrie), Waterford Retirement Community (Barrie) Bradford Valley Care Community, and Villa Retirement Lodge (Midland).
