While the area's top doctor is urging people to continue to be COVID-wise, she said there is an end in sight.
After a surge of COVID-19 cases in the region over the past week, today Porcupine Health Unit medical officer of health Dr. Lianne Catton talked about the situation locally and the school closure in Cochrane.
In the Porcupine Health Unit region from Sunday, Nov. 29 to Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed. The positivity rate for that week, said Catton, was .5 per cent and the incidence rate was about 12 per 100,000.
The region is still in the provincial green (prevent) zone for pandemic restrictions. Catton said that is a call to action for residents to continue to take the measures necessary to keep the risk low and protect the must vulnerable community members.
“We are at a really important point in the pandemic in the north. We’re seeing very large increases in southern Ontario and now we’re seeing increases across Northern Ontario and the time to act is now. We know what makes a difference. We know what will help protect our community members and we need to continue to do this together,” she said.
Even though gatherings of up to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors are permitted, Catton said people are asked to reduce the number of people they're in close contact with outside of your household.
“Just because you know someone, just because they’re well today, doesn’t mean that there’s not a potential for exposure,” she said.
For travel, she said the health unit urges people to avoid "avoid non-essential travel out of Northern Ontario and to also avoid non-essential travel to areas with higher case counts and higher rates of transmission of COVID.”
People choosing to travel should consider isolating before and after, she said.
The measures to slow the spread of the virus remain the same. Wear a mask, stay physically-distanced, wash your hands with soap or hand sanitizer often, and stay home if you're unwell.
Catton noted the measures are not forever.
“There is an end in sight. Today we see the first vaccines being rolled out in the United Kingdom, planning in Ontario is underway. This does feel like forever, but it will not be,” she said.
PHU communications specialist Gary Schelling said the health unit is working on vaccine plans with various levels of government.
In the Porcupine Health Unit region, there have been 116 confirmed and one probable case of the virus so far. There are eight known active cases.
The probable case was reported over the weekend and is at École catholique Nouveau-Regard in Cochrane.
The school was closed yesterday. No outbreak has been declared.
Catton said the closure is "likely short term".
Closing the school, said Catton, was a collaborative decision and the health unit supported it.
She said public health needed "time to do a very careful and thoughtful investigation". Along with the probable case, she said there were "a couple of other individuals" that public health was "concerned were potentially going to be cases."
Because the Cochrane school case is defined as probable, it isn't added to the overall case count for the region or province.
Catton explained a probable case can be someone with symptoms who hasn't had a lab test, but may have travelled to an affected area or had close contact with a confirmed case. She said it could also be someone who lives or works in a facility experiencing an outbreak, or a person with COVID symptoms who has an inconclusive lab test result.
To access COVID-19 testing, call your health care provider or the health unit.
The COVID-19 information line is open today from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and can be reached at 705-267-1181 or 1-800-461-1818.
There are COVID-19 assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls, Hearst, and Hornepayne.
