While the Peterborough region’s advancement to stage two of the province’s COVID-19 recovery plan is an encouraging development, Peterborough medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra says maintaining that status depends on continued adherence to health and safety protocols.
“We’re still in a pandemic, we’re still in a state of emergency,” Dr. Salvaterra said during a weekly briefing on Wednesday (June 10).
“The provincial directives that have been put in place limit what we can and cannot do, but we have to remember we are all still susceptible and we all can still transmit this infection to others. We should all be making careful decisions about what we do or don’t do, avoiding close contact with anyone outside of our household bubble.”
Dr. Salvaterra said a return of Peterborough Public Health’s catchment area — which includes Peterborough city and county and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations — to stage one status is possible, if non-compliance with ongoing protocols by both businesses and resident result in a spike in positive cases.
The reason the Peterborough Public Health catchment area is being allowed to proceed with stage two can be found in the numbers. Locally, there have been 61 positive cases detected per 100,000 people, compared to Ontario’s rate of 210 positive cases per 100,000 people.
Meanwhile, the local incidence rate over the past week is 1.4 positive cases per 100,000 people, again much lower than the provincial incidence rate of 16 cases per 100,000 people.
As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday (June 9), the total number of positive cases in the region was 91, with only two new cases reported so far in June. Of the positive cases, 85 have been resolved while four cases remain active — a decrease of seven over the past week — with two COVID-19 related deaths reported. There are no institutional outbreaks reported in the region.
Meanwhile, an estimated 11,100 people have been tested — close to 2,000 over the past week. One of every 13 residents in Peterborough Public Health’s catchment area has now been tested.
One major component of the stage two allowances is the reopening of day cares. Dr. Salvaterra notes that does come with a restriction of up to 10 people per group, including both children and staff.
Also now permitted is the opening of restaurant, pub, and café patios in conjunction with a provincial directive that groups of up to 10 are now permitted — but with physical distancing and other measures still required.
“The number 10 does not imply that we can all socialize in groups of up to 10 people,” Dr. Salvaterra clarified.
“The number 10 applies to groups and meetings where physical distancing is still practised. With patios opening, we expect that it will be household groups that will be eating together, not a birthday party with 10 guests. And with personal service settings (barber and hairdressing shops) opening, all customers and staff are required to wear a mask.”
Monitoring of patio spaces, says Dr. Salvaterra, will be done as part of routine food safety inspections and/or in response to any complaints lodged.
As for existing patios requiring more space to operate, or establishments moving ahead with a new patio space, Mayor Diane Therrien said the city is reviewing what can be done, noting lane reductions and temporary one-way restrictions are on the table.
Also participating in Wednesday’s media briefing was Selwyn Mayor and Peterborough Board of Health chair Andy Mitchell.
