As COVID-19 cases spike in neighbouring Northern Ontario health unit regions, it's a place medical officer of health Dr. Lianne Catton doesn't want to be again.
In an update on the local COVID-19 situation today, Catton said the Porcupine Health Unit is holding its own.
Across the province, cases are going up. While she said it's concerning, it also was expected as people move indoors with the colder weather and public health measures loosen.
Today in the Porcupine Health Unit region, one new case and four recoveries were reported.
To date, there have been 2,259 lab-confirmed cases of the virus in the region. Of those, 2,207 are recovered and 31 people have died. There are 21 known active cases — 18 in Timmins and 3 in the area of Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls and Smooth Rock Falls.
Last week, the first school outbreak of this school year was declared at École publique Lionel Gauthier. Four students are confirmed cases.
“At this point in time we are not seeing any evidence of widespread transmission in the school and that’s really important,” said Catton.
With a recent increase in cases, Catton said the reproduction rate (R-naught) of the cases has gone up.
“And that’s a sign that we’re heading in the wrong direction,” she said.
Right now, for each person identified as having COVID-19 in the region, it spreads to 1.67 people. The provincial average as of Nov. 12 was 1.2.
“Ideally we want it less than one. When it’s less than one then we know that the spread and the cases are decreasing. And so our numbers were so low that we couldn’t even calculate the R-naught up until the last week so we’re really starting to see an increase to where now not only can we calculate it, but unfortunately it’s over one,” she said.
In the Algoma and Sudbury areas, the respective health units have added restrictions again due to a surge of cases.
“This is a place we do not want to end up again. We were there at the end of the third wave while everyone else was improving and it was extremely, extremely challenging on all of us,” she said.
For people travelling to other areas, Catton urges them to follow the public health measures to reduce their risk.
“Wherever you are, especially if you’re in an area where you know there’s an increase in cases, to be mindful of wearing your mask properly, to wash your hands diligently, to be mindful of closed spaces where people are close together where potentially masks are removed,” she said.
“If you are travelling to an area that does have higher case counts, be mindful of that. Be mindful when you come home to also strictly monitor for symptoms. And even a mild runny nose may be COVID."
