Peterborough Public Health is reporting three new cases of COVID 19 in its catchment area, including a resident of the Riverview Manor long-term care residence who is now in self-isolation at the Water Street facility.
During a media briefing on Friday (April 3), Peterborough Medical Officer of Health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra noted there have now been 41 positive cases in Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake and Hiawatha. Six of those cases have since been resolved, including that of a member of the Peterborough Police Service who tested positive on March 27 after returning home from a trip abroad.
According to the Peterborough Police Service, the member completed the self-assessment questionnaire on returning home and immediately self-isolated before contacting Peterborough Public Health for testing followed by continued self-isolation. The member, who has had no interaction with work colleagues or the public, is now awaiting clearance to return to work.
To date, 842 COVID-19 tests have been conducted locally with results awaited on 267 of those tested. Another 534 cases have been confirmed negative.
Regarding the Riverview Manor situation, Dr. Salvaterra said COVID-19 tests on three other residents have come back negative with test results on five more residents pending. In addition, five employees have been tested with a negative result reported for one.
“There’s a great deal of activity and interaction (involving long-term care and seniors’ residences),” said Dr. Salvaterra when asked if lessons are being learned from tragedies occurring at other Ontario homes, most notably Pinecrest in Bobcaygeon where 15 residents have now died from COVID-19 related illness.
“We established a community of practice with all of our long-term care facilities and retirement homes weeks ago. We have been engaging with them. We’ve been meeting with them virtually. We’ve been sharing the guidance. We actually had an inspector out doing a checklist with all of our long-term care homes to make sure they are in full compliance with infection prevention and control measures. It is very much an active area of our work and we have dedicated some our best staff to work with these partners.”
Dr. Salvaterra also spoke to the blunt message delivered from Queen’s Park Friday afternoon (April 3) that was as clear as it is alarming: if Ontarians continue to follow physical distancing and other measures in place to lessen the effects of COVID-19, 3,000 to 15,000 will die from the virus.
However, warned Dr. Adalsteinn Brown of the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, if Ontarians let their guard down and stop following public health measures, that figure could rise to 100,000 before the pandemic has run its course which, according to Dr. Peter Donnelly, head of Public Health Ontario, could take as long as 18 months to two years.
“This data paints a picture of the value of what we’re doing, the importance of what we’re doing, and the impact of what we’re doing … we are saving lives,” she says.
“We’re also trying to protect our health care system so we do have enough capacity to take care of those who will get sick.”
Dr. Brown, Dr. Donnelly, and Dr. Matthew Anderson, head of Ontario Health addressed the media, based their forecasts on modelling and projection data compiled to date, and extensively analyzed as per Premier Doug Ford’s direction that the Province be as transparent as possible as to the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic and its anticipated toll.
As for the area served by the other health unit in the Kawarthas (Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, which includes Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton), the latest numbers from Friday (April 3) indicate there have been 65 positive cases reported and 17 deaths (with 15 deaths associated with the outbreak at Pinecrest Nursing Home). Of the total positive cases, 50 are in the City of Kawartha Lakes, 14 are in Northumberland County, and one is in Haliburton County.
For the most recent information on COVID-19 in Ontario and the Peterborough area, visit ontario.ca/coronavirus or peterboroughpublichealth.ca.
Peterborough Regional Health Centre is also providing news, updates, information and resources on its website at prhc.on.ca/cms/covid-19-novel-coronavirus.
