Almost two years after the first positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the Peterborough area and as incidences of infection decrease and restrictions continue to be lifted, Peterborough’s medical officer of health advises that thinking the virus is at or near the endemic stage “isn’t the best place to focus.”
“Endemic doesn’t mean not dangerous — it means stable,” said Dr. Thomas Piggott during a Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Thursday (March 3).
“There are stable infections such as tuberculosis that, after COVID-19, is the second leading killer of people worldwide. Endemic diseases can still be dangerous, and they can still require us to have a significant public health response and measures to prevent and treat them.”
“It’s tough when we’ve been through these roller-coaster waves of the pandemic to say anything about stabilization. I’m very encouraged and we are in a good position, but I’m remaining vigilant and understanding that, even if COVID-19 does continue to transmit, being stable can still pose a significant burden on people, on families, and on our communities.”
As of late Wednesday afternoon, there were 175 confirmed active cases in the Peterborough region — a decrease of 19 since the previous media briefing on February 17. This week to date, 40 new cases have been reported. While that’s well down from last week’s new case total of 162, four days’ reporting for the current week are still to come.
As encouraging as the trajectory is, of note is the number of cases locally per 100,000 residents, which is now at 115. With the provincial rate at 83 cases per 100,000, this marks the first time the local rate of infection has been higher than the provincial rate.
“I continue to be concerned by the high level of transmission that we’re seeing,” said Dr. Piggott.
“With a more mild omicron (variant) and all of the benefits we’ve had from vaccination, we’re in a good position but what two years of this pandemic has taught me is to stay humble, and be attuned to the changing evidence and context. Things can change and more than likely will continue to change. I’m optimistic but I think we need to remain vigilant.”
This past Tuesday, a wide range of pandemic-related restrictions were lifted or eased.
While the face masking requirement remains in place for the time being, the proof of vaccination requirement for indoor non-essential settings has been lifted. In addition, the capacity limit for all indoor public settings has also been lifted but the limit for indoor social gatherings remains in place, albeit it has been increased to 50, while the gathering limit for outdoor social gatherings has been removed altogether.
“Masks have been a great lifesaving strategy during the pandemic, probably the second most effective tool we’ve had after vaccination,” assessed Dr. Piggott.
“As recently as last week we heard from the Ontario (chief) medical officer of health that continued masking is part of their strategy on a go-forward basis. I hope that will continue to remain true and that masking will continue to be required in some settings where there’s a higher risk (of transmission).”
“Overall, all of this (declining local infection numbers) shows a hopeful and optimistic picture compared to where we were a little over a month ago. (But) the pandemic is still very much with us, and measures to protect ourselves and those around us continue to be quite important.”
Dr. Piggott acknowledged the lifting of public health measures “means different things to different people” and that one’s comfort level in terms of where they go and what activities they take part in comes to down to personal choice.
“Some people are very pleased and happy, others may be concerned, some other people may not really know what to think,” he said.
“We’re now being asked to think more about our own individual risk. There are three categories you should be thinking about: you, others around you, and the activity or space that you’re in. Thinking about these three things will help you to decrease your risk.”
On the outbreak front, there are just five ongoing but two major outbreaks involving staff and residents of Fairhaven Long-Term Care have pushed the number of total cases related to outbreaks to 107. Another outbreak at Pleasant Meadow Manor Long-Term Care in Norwood remains ongoing.
Meanwhile, the local vaccination picture is seeing a continued if unspectacular uptick.
To date, 83.8 per cent of residents aged five and up have received two doses while 54.4 per cent have received three doses. In the five to 11 age category, 55.7 per cent have received one dose while 35 per cent have received two doses. Since vaccinations began, 331,609 total doses have been administered in the Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake, and Hiawatha.
“(Vaccination) rates are increasing but have been increasing more slowly,” says Dr. Piggott, adding more than 2,400 vaccine doses have been administered over the past two weeks.
Of note, this was the last regularly scheduled Peterborough Public Health media briefing for the foreseeable future, with future briefings being held if or when a change in the local pandemic picture requires the mass communication of related information and guidance. To date, there have been 108 briefings held since the pandemic emerged in March 2020.
In addition, Dr. Piggott noted a new version of Peterborough Public Health’s COVID-19 status tracker at localcovidtracker.ca will be introduced in the coming weeks. The existing tracker will be updated five days a week until the new version is available.
As well, Dr. Piggott noted the number of local COVID-related deaths, now at 59, will soon be adjusted lower.
“The province has changed a reporting characteristic of how it counts deaths — there will be several deaths from our tracker that will be removed from very early in the pandemic,” he explained, adding “Those were deaths that weren’t related to COVID-19 upon further assessment.”
Also on Thursday’s briefing call was Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferreri.
This story has been updated to clarify Peterborough Public Health’s plans for the COVID-19 status tracker.
