A C T U A L I T É S • N E W S
STEPHEN JEFFERY stephen.jeffery@eap.on.ca SLIGHT DROP OF CASES ON FIRST STAY-AT-HOME WEEKEND “It could be in a workplace, it could be in a friend’s house, wherever. If you do not take the precautions, you or somebody else will get infected, and that individual or yourself will go home and infect others,” he said. “That’s what’s happening. The gap is there when people get close with people who are outside their household.”
The region’s seven-day average of new COVID cases has started to fall after a record high at the start of the month, but remains well above lockdown thresholds. The Eastern Ontario Health Unit recorded 98 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend, less than the 166 recorded on the previous Saturday and Sunday. The highest number of cases were recorded in Cornwall, which accounted for 268 of the region’s 638 active cases on Monday. Prescott and Russell, which for much of 2020 had the highest number and rate of cases in the EOHU area, recorded 20 new cases over the weekend. Its seven-day rolling average of cases was 56.4 people per 100,000, the lowest rate in the region. Cornwall’s rolling average was 209.4 people per 100,000, while the EOHU as a whole had a rolling average of 98.2. EOHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said the numbers were headed in the right direction, but noted that the number of active cases remained high. “It’s reassuring that we’re seeing a trend here that’s levelling off, and we’re seeing an overall trend downward for all [regions in the EOHU],” he said. “Let’s hope we can move forward in that direction.” Outside long-term-care outbreaks, Dr. Roumeliotis said most of the local cases had been acquired from members of the same household, who had in turn picked up the virus from workplaces or close community contacts. He asked people to remember to follow the public health guidelines to avoid the spread.
COVID-19 outbreaks continued at several long-term care and retirement facilities over the weekend, but most cases were confi- ned to staff members. Affected facilities in Prescott-Russell included Foyer St-Viateur Nursing Home in Limoges, Villa Saint-Albert, Caressant Care Nursing Home in Bourget, Heritage Lodge in Vankleek Hill, and Foyer St Jacques Nursing Home in Embrun. Stay-at-home order Ontario’s stay-at-home order came into effect last Thursday, and would continue for at least 28 days. Under the order, resi- dents were asked to stay home, except for essential purposes such as work, exercise, and to pick up groceries or medication. The government issued a warning about the changes via smartphones using the Alert Ready program. The announcement of the order, as well as a list of exemptions under which people could leave their houses, raised questions about enforcement. Border communities such as Hawkesbury were also affected by differences between the stay-at-home order and Quebec’s 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. Glengarry-Prescott-Russell MPP Amanda Simard said she had received questions from constituents confused about the new rules. The Liberal MPP said more clarity about the order was needed, and questioned whether the measures would be enough to curb the spread of the virus.
Le Bureau de santé de l’est de l’Ontario a répertorié 98 nouveaux cas au cours du weekend, dont 20 en provenance de Prescott-Russell. — photo fournie
“If you’re going to enforce this order, we need to be able to say what is and isn’t essential,” she said. “I’ve been getting tonnes of messages from members of the community asking for clarification. We’ve received mixed messages.” In response to questions about the order’s exemptions, Premier Doug Ford said the message was simple. “There’s no confusion, it’s very simple: Stay home,”
he said. “If you’re questioning, ‘should I go out?’ you’ve got the answer: stay home.” The region Of the 638 active cases in the EOHU area on Monday, 182 were in Prescott- Russell. Local case numbers included 54 in Clarence-Rockland, 37 in Russell, 35 in Alfred-Plantagenet, 16 in Champlain, 15 in The Nation, 13 in Casselman, 11 in Hawkes- bury, and one in East Hawkesbury.
ROUMELIOTIS CONDUCTS COUNCIL ROUNDS
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Eastern Ontario’s chief medical officer is making the virtual rounds of local councils to bring community leaders up to date on the pandemic and plans to begin vaccination against COVID-19. Dr. Paul Roumeliotis is doing virtual “house calls” with members of all the mu- nicipal and regional councils in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU). The focus of the EOHU’s chief medical health officer is to update community leaders on the status of COVID-19 cases within the Eastern Ontario region after the first year of the pandemic, provide up-to-date information on the status of vaccination plans for the region, and also deliver a simple message for residents in all communities during Ontario’s second lockdown. “Stay home. Stay safe. Save lives,” said Dr. Roumeliotis. The chief medical officer began his virtual “house calls” with a presentation January 13 to the United Counties of Prescott-Russell council (UCPR). He also made a presentation to Hawkesbury town council during a special session January 15. During his talks, Dr. Roumeliotis pre- sented line and bar graphs on COVID-19 cases for the EOHU region. He noted that the line graph for new cases of COVID-19 for Prescott-Russell shows signs of “reaching a plateau” when compared to graph for the City
of Cornwall where the line continues at an almost vertical angle, indicating a continue rapid increase in numbers of new cases. Dr. Roumeliotis expressed optimism about the chance of case numbers start- ing to decline overall for the EOHU region later in the year as the vaccination program takes effect. But he also repeated past warnings about some residents getting “too complacent” about the pandemic and ignoring guidelines for social distancing, wearing a mask, practising proper handwash- ing hygiene, and also avoiding unnecessary travel or large gatherings. He emphasized that the pandemic still exists and while the vaccination program is starting, new cases of COVID-19 can still develop if people do not take precautions. Le Dr Paul Roumeliotis, médecin-chef du Bureau de santé de l’est de l’Ontario (BSEO), effectue des «visites à domicile» virtuelles des conseils municipaux. —archives
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