A little bit of good news to report on Good Friday from the administrator of Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon.

There are no new deaths to report on Friday (April 10). The number of deaths of residents at the long-term care home remains at 29.

“Fortunately, there are no new deaths to report today,” administrator Mary Carr writes in an update to the community. “However, I still wanted to provide an update to members of the media in the spirit of open and transparent communication.”

“We continue to work closely with public health authorities to implement all ongoing and new care directives from the province as new information regarding the outbreak is provided to us.”

“I want to thank our staff again for working hard to ensure our residents receive the highest quality of care and comfort, especially over this Easter weekend as families and their loved ones are apart.”

To stop the spread of COVID-19, the Ontario government will be significantly expanding and enhancing testing, especially for priority groups, doubling the number of tests processed daily.

Premier Doug Ford, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott, and Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Wiliams made the announcement on Friday (April 10).

“We’re laser-focused on ramping up our testing capacity so we can protect the most vulnerable in our communities and those who protect them, like our frontline health care workers and first responders,” Ford said. “By expanding our testing capacity, we will be able to find cases faster, intervene earlier, reduce the spread, and save lives.”

VIDEO: Ontario Premier Doug Ford on expanded COVID-19 testing – April 10, 2020

In addition to the ongoing testing of the general public at any of the 100 COVID-19 assessment centres across Ontario, Ontario will be proactively testing:

• hospital inpatients
• residents of long-term care and retirement homes
• healthcare workers, caregivers, care providers, paramedics, and first responders, including police and firefighters
• remote, isolated, rural and Indigenous communities
• other congregate living centres, including homeless shelters, prisons, and group homes
• specific vulnerable populations, including patients undergoing chemotherapy or hemodialysis and requiring transplants, as well as pregnant persons, newborns and cross-border workers
• other essential workers, as defined by provincial orders.

The government has already provided testing guidelines to public health units, assessment centres, primary care settings, and long-term care homes, and will be providing guidelines for specific vulnerable populations and essential workers. The province will also provide guidelines to begin targeted surveillance by sampling populations within northern towns.

Through the expanded testing, Ontario expects to double the number of tests processed each day to 8,000 by April 15th and to 14,000 by April 29th, at which point overall lab capacity will have been further expanded.

“By significantly increasing the number of tests each day, we will identify cases early, contain them and prevent putting more people at risk,” Elliot said.

“Doing so is especially important for priority groups like hospital inpatients, long-term care home residents and our brave front-line healthcare workers and first responders, all of whom are more vulnerable to being exposed to this virus. Nothing is more important than protecting their health and well-being.”

Ontario has also updated the list of symptoms related to COVID-19. The existing symptoms are difficulty breathing, fever, cough, muscle aches, fatigue, headache, sore throat, and runny nose.

VIDEO: Minister of Health on expanding the list of COVID-19 symptoms – April 10, 2020

The new symptoms include:

• a hoarse voice
• difficulty swallowing
• loss of sense of smell or taste
• diarrhea
• nausea/vomiting.

For seniors, there are additional symptoms including:

• chills
• delirium with no other obvious reason
• falls
• acute functional decline
• increased heart rate
• decreased blood pressure.

The new symptoms expand the number of people who may qualify for COVID-19 testing. The COVID-19 self-assessment tool at covid-19.ontario.ca/self-assessment/ has been updated to include the new symptoms.

As George Monbiot of The Guardian recently observed, “The horror films got it wrong. Instead of turning us into flesh-eating zombies, the pandemic has turned millions of people into good neighbours.”

Individuals, businesses, and organizations around the world have stepped up in our collective fight against the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, particularly in support of front-line healthcare workers, and nowhere is that united effort more evident than right here in the Kawarthas.

Last Friday (April 3), Leslie Menagh — owner and operator of Madderhouse Textile Studios, a creative hub in downtown Peterborough for textile and fibre arts enthusiasts — put out a call to all sewing enthusiasts in the Peterborough area.

“I had a direct conversation today with a Peterborough Regional Health Centre emergency room staffer who confirms that there is a need for medical caps and headbands, to the tune of about 300 of each,” Leslie writes on Facebook.

“These are reusable/washable items (often disposable) that are now in short supply. So, Madderhouse is working with the help of the New Canadians Centre and Repair Cafe Peterborough to organize a fleet of volunteer sewists like yourselves to meet this demand as quickly as possible.”

Since putting out the call, and with the support of the New Canadians Centre and Repair Cafe Peterborough, more than 130 volunteers have signed up for the effort.

Madderhouse has been working with the New Canadians Centre — a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to supporting immigrants, refugees, and other newcomers in the Peterborough and Northumberland regions — for almost two years on a number of different sewing-related initiatives, so it was a no-brainer for the two to join forces, with the additional support of Repair Cafe Peterborough.

“The work of our sewing program has gained popularity in social media through our work with Madderhouse and more recently with Watson & Lou,” says Reem Ali, Workplace Integration Liaison with New Canadians Centre.

“We were introduced to Peterborough’s circle of makers, thereby instilling an increased sense of community and belonging in the participants of our sewing program. Coming together for a unified cause also sheds light on the importance of community aid during challenging times.”

For more information about the effort (including instructions and patterns) and to volunteer, visit www.madderhouse.com/volunteer.

Volunteers can drop off completed items at the side entrance to Madderhouse, down the alleyway at 383 Water Street, between 6 and 8 p.m. on weeknights.

Currently, the project is focused on creating caps and headbands for healthcare workers. People who can sew are needed to produce the caps and headbands, and donors are need to contribute woven and jersey knit fabrics, buttons, or thread.

So far, volunteers have created 284 caps and 121 headbands, with more coming.

Leslie tells kawarthaNOW that volunteers will turn their efforts next to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s 1,000 Mask Challenge.

This is only one example of the many efforts by local businesses and organizations to give back support communities in the Kawarthas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are a few of the other efforts in the region.

• Sherrie Le Masurier, founder and owner of Peterborough-based Simply Natural Canada, is distributing 500 unique handcrafted bars of vegan soap in clear compostable cellophane. The soap bars are especially designed for children to encourage hand washing. The soaps were originally going to be distributed through the Rotary Club of Peterborough’s 24 Little Library locations, but Rotary has now recommended that hosts empty and close the Little Library boxes due to COVID-19. The soaps will be distributed in other Little Library locations (see facebook.com/simplynaturalcanada for the locations) and outside Simply Natural Canada’s home office at 639 Pinewood Drive in Peterborough (near Fleming College) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Harco Enterprises (675 The Parkway, Peterborough) and Merit Precision (2035 Fisher Dr,, Peterborough) are working together to produce face shields for front-line healthcare workers and first responders.
• Fully Promoted Peterborough (774 Rye St., Peterborough) has sold more than 300 t-shirts, raising over $1,500 for the Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation’s Dedicated COVID-19 Response Fund.
• Ricart Promotions & Recognition (259 Lansdowne St. E., Peterborough) has donated 1,200 blank t-shirts for volunteers to make non-medical face masks for Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
• Chemong Family Dental (890 Chemong Rd., Peetrborough) has donated 6,000 gloves, 500 masks, 86 gowns, hand sanitizer, and face shields to Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
• La Mesita Restaurante and Catering (229 Hunter St. W., Peterborough) is collecting donated caps and headbands for Peterborough Regional Health Centre front-line healthcare workers.
• Hannamars Bridal (406 Mark St., Peterborough) has used scrap fabric to make more than 120 masks for Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Fairhaven Long Term Care, and St. Joseph at Fleming Long Term Care.
• LLF Lawyers (332 Aylmer St N, Peterborough) has donated $10,000 to the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough and United Way Peterborough & District’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund.
• Peterborough Utilities Group (1867 Ashburnham Dr., Peterborough) is donating a total of $125,000 to Kawartha Food Share and to the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough and United Way Peterborough & District’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund.
• Kawartha Dairy (89 Prince St. W., Bobcaygeon), Whitney Plastics (423 Verulam Rd. N., Lindsay), British Empire Fuels (Lindsay and Bobcaygeon), and Bigley Shoes and Clothing (39 Bolton St, Bobcaygeon) are among the businesses in the City of Kawartha Lakes that have pledged more than $70,000 to the Bobcaygeon and Area COVID-19 Relief Fund.
• WG Jackett & Sons Construction (5065 Highway 35, Fenelon Falls), Young’s Construction (34 West St. S., Fenelon Falls), and Rockwood Forest Nurseries (437 Mark Rd., Cameron) are planting between 100,000 and 200,000 containers with vegetables. They will be providing the container vegetables with zero contact and at no cost, to seniors and underprivileged households in the Kawartha Lakes and surrounding communities. They’ve started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the initiative.
• Fenelon Falls Brewing Co. (4 May St, Fenelon Falls) will donate $2 for every case sold from their online bottle shop to front-line staff and first responders at Ross Memorial Hospita in Lindsay.
• Dvine Laboratories (423 Kawartha Lakes County Rd, 36, Lindsay), which usually manufactures e-liquids for vaping products, has retooled to produce thousands of hand sanitizer for front-line healthcare workers.
• Whitney Plastics (423 Verulam Rd. N., Lindsay), which usually manufactures spray foam insulation and plastics packaging, has retooled to produce face masks and shields for front-line healthcare workers.

If you know of any others, please email us the details at newsroom@kawarthanow.com and we’ll add them to this list.

kawarthaNOW is providing a daily report of COVID-19 cases in the greater Kawarthas region.

This report is based on data supplied by the region’s three public health units, as retrieved by province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS). This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data.

We publish the daily report, usually by late afternoon, with the most current information released by health units. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.

Peterborough Public Health

Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

Confirmed positive: 50*
Confirmed negative: 757 (increase of 71 from April 8)
Under investigation: 312 (increase of 27 from April 8)
Deaths: 0
Resolved: 14 (increase of 4 from April 8)
Institutional Outbreaks: Peterborough Regional Health Centre (3 healthcare workers); St. Joseph’s at Fleming; Riverview Manor **

* A reduction of one case from April 8 due to referral to another health unit
**Number of cases not provided.

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.

Confirmed positive: 109, including 93* in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, 2 in Haliburton (increase of 10 from April 8)
Hospitalizations: 6 (increase of 2 from April 8)
Deaths: 32, including 28 in Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon** (increase of 4 from April 8)

*Provincial direction has changed so now all residents and staff in a long-term care home in an outbreak are to be tested for COVID-19.

**The administrator of Pinecrest Nursing Home has reported 29 deaths as of April 9.

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

Confirmed positive: 25 (no change from April 8)
Probable cases: 275 (increase of 1 from April 8)
Deaths: 0
Institutional Outbreaks: Hallowell House (Picton), Hastings Manor (Belleville), Quinte Healthcare (Belleville)*

*Number of cases not provided.

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 5,759 (up 483 from April 8)
Under investigation: 1,102 (up 411 from April 8)
Hospitalized: 632 (up 27 from April 8)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 264 (up 18 from April 8)
Hospitalized and in ICU with ventilator: 214 (up 19 from April 8)
Deaths: 200 (up 26 from April 8)
Resolved: 2,305 (up 231 from April 8)

For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.

Another resident of Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon passed away early on Thursday morning (April 9), according to the home’s administrator Mary Carr.

The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the home now stands at 29.

“We are working closely with public health authorities as new information regarding the outbreak is made available and we are committed to implementing all ongoing and new care directives,” Carr writes in an update to the community. “Pinecrest staff are working hard each and every day to fulfill the physical and emotional needs of our residents as their care and safety continues to be our number one priority.”

“Our staff have also received a number of thoughtful donations from the community ahead of the Easter weekend. The entire Bobcaygeon community has been so generous during this time and we are grateful for the ongoing support.”

Three healthcare workers at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) have tested positive for COVID-19, the hospital has announced.

During a media briefing held Thursday afternoon (April 9), Dr. Lynn Mikula, the hospital’s vice-president, chief medical executive, and chief of staff, said an inpatient unit was placed on outbreak precaution due to hospital-acquired transmission of COVID-19, due to staff-to-staff transmission.

All three of the workers who have tested positive have mild symptoms and are self-isolating at home.

“Evidence suggests that the index case was related to community transmission of COVID-19,” Dr. Mikula said. An “index case” is the first case in group of related cases.

She said the hospital has no information on where the index case worker was infected by the virus, but it could have been any time during their day-to-day routine.

“Any close contacts of these three individuals have been identified and have been instructed to take appropriate precautions. All patients on the unit are being closely monitored for symptoms.”

Dr. Mikula said all staff continue to adhere closely to appropriate guidelines for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

“We do not currently have evidence of staff-to-patient transmission, nor of patient-to-staff transmission,” Dr. Mikula said.

Dr. Mikula said PRHC is continuing to actively screen all staff for symptoms of COVID-19 daily as they come into work.

“I want to emphasize that all PRHC staff take infection control precautions very seriously,” Dr. Mikula added. The outbreak was detected because of the hospital’s intense and active system for testing healthcare workers, she said, with a low threshold for testing healthcare workers.

“PRHC remains a safe place to come for care, and I want to express my thanks for the hard work of all our front-line healthcare workers through this pandemic,” she said.

All three staff members who tested positive work in a patient-care role in the same inpatient unit. Dr. Makula stressed all three workers were wearing appropriate PPE during all patient-care interactions, and there is no evidence the virus was transmitted to any patient.

The entire unit has been placed on outbreak precaution, which includes closing the unit to new admissions as much as possible and implementing enhanced screening and surveillance for everyone on that unit, including anyone who had close contact with the affected workers.

While no other workers have exhibited any symptoms, 27 staff members who work on that unit have been tested “out of an abundance of caution”, Dr. Makula said.

Dr. Makula said that staff are closely screened for symptoms when they arrive at work and, if they show any symptoms, they are immediately sent home. In this case, one worker developed very mild symptoms while at work and went home. The other two staff developed symptoms later while at home and did not come into work.

Dr. Makula said there was a period of less than 48 hours between identifying the index case and other two cases.

Currently, three positive COVID-19 patients (not the healthcare workers) are being treated at PRHC in the intensive care unit while another 24 patients are awaiting the results of testing.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed Canadians on Thursday (April 9) about the best-case scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, which would see between one and two million Canadians infected by the novel coronavirus and between 11,000 to 22,000 deaths by the summer.

The modelling projections were released earlier on Thursday morning by the deputy minister of health for Canada Dr. Stephen Lucas, chief public health officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam, and deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo.

And the best-case scenario for “success” is only for the first wave of the pandemic, and assumes the strongest control measures are in place to contain the spread of the virus.

“We’re at a fork in the road, between the best and the worst possible outcomes,” Trudeau said. “The best possible outcome is no easy path for any of us. The initial peak — the top of the curve — maybe in late spring, with the end of the first wave in the summer.”

“As Dr. Tam explained, there will likely be smaller outbreaks for a number of months after that,” Trudeau added. “This will be the new normal — until a vaccine is developed. But as we saw, that is so much better than we could face if we do not rise to the challenge of this generation.”

“The path we take is up to us. It depends on what each of us does right now. It will take months of continued, determined effort.”

Trudeau urged Canadians to keep practising physical distancing, staying home, and washing our hands to reduce the number of possible deaths.

Earlier in the morning, public health officials had provided three scenarios — one with no controls, one with weaker controls (to delay and reduce the peak), and one with stronger controls — to estimate the range of the Canadian population infected and the potential duration of the pandemic.

According to these projections, strong control measures will result in between one and 10 per cent of the Canadian population being infected with the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

With 2.5 per cent of Canada’s population infected, there would be 934,000 cases of COVID-19, with 73,000 hospitalizations, 23,000 patients in intensive care units (ICUs), and 11,000 deaths. With five per cent of the population infected, cases would rise to 1,879,000, with 146,000 hospitalizations, 46,000 patients in ICUs, and 22,000 deaths.

In the short term, public health officials are projecting 22,580 to 31,850 cases by next Thursday (April 16), with between 500 and 700 deaths.

Strong control measures include a high degree of physical distancing, along with a high percentage of Canadians with COVID-19 been traced (as well as their contacts) and isolated or quarantined. With strong control measures, the first wave of the pandemic would peak in early summer 2020.

Weaker controls — with a low degree of physical distancing and a low percentage of case and contact tracing and isolation — would result in 25 to 50 per cent of Canadians being infected, with the first wave of the pandemic peaking in fall. With weaker controls, as many as 200,000 Canadians would die from COVID-19.

With no controls, 70 to 80 per cent of the Canadian population would be infected, with the first wave of the peaking in late summer or early fall. With no controls, as many as 300,000 Canadians would lose their lives due to COVID-19.

Even under the best-case scenario, where the first wave of the pandemic peaks in early summer, continued public health measures will be required over time to manage future waves.

This include physical distancing, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, restrictions on international and domestic travel, case detection and isolation, and quarantine of contacts and incoming travellers.

Public health officials pointed out that Canada is at an earlier stage of the COVID-19 pandemic than some other countries, and has an opportunity now to control the spread of the virus and prepare the health system, which includes equipping hospitals to provide care for the more severe cases of COVID-19, increasing bed and clinic capacity for all COVID-19 patients, and expanding the health workforce.

The federal models contain inherent limitations. As simulations, they do not predict what will happen, but what might happen. They use both forecasting models (using data to estimate how many new cases might be expected in the coming week) and dynamic models (showing how the pandemic might unfold over the coming months).