Optimism and caution from Public Health, a call for state of emergency to end from Hillier

Jeff Green | Jun 24, 2020

Dr. Kieran Moore, the medical officer of health for Kingston Frontenac and Lennox and Addington, told the News on Tuesday that he is “not seeing the amount of people wearing masks in grocery and LCBO stores as I would like to see” as he reflected on the continued risk of COVID-9 infection in the region.

He is pleased, however, with how successful KFL&A has been the last two months in preventing the spread of COVID-19. With 64 cases for a population of 200,000, KFL&A has had an infection rate that is 14% of the provincial average and 11% of the national average. And will low hospitalisation rates and no deaths, KFL&A has been for the most part unscathed by a virus that has killed almost 8,500 Canadians thus far.

But as if to underline the fact that “we all need to remain vigilant”, in his words, Moore noted that there have been two unrelated new cases in the region over the last week and that he is sure there will be other confirmed cases arising from the two that have been confirmed.

Because there had been only one case over the last month before this week, he said these new cases technically constitute “a small second wave, which will be followed by a third and a fourth wave” as the pandemic carries on for the foreseeable future.

Given the low local case load, Moore pointed out in an interview with the Kingston Whig Standard last week, that as the Government of Ontario considers its staged of re-opening the province on a regional basis, some Eastern Ontario jurisdictions, including KFL&A, may be in position for stage 3, which would enable almost all businesses to re-open, including restaurant dining rooms, under certain restrictions.

But he remains concerned that, even though we are “all naturally fatigued after three months of lockdown and social distancing, we need only look at places like the southern US to see what can happen if we don’t keep up with hand washing, social distancing, and wearing masks when we are not in a position to maintain social distance.”

One of the benefits that has come with stage 2 of re-opening, is the 10 person social circle, with whom the two metre distance required for everyone else does not apply.

“You have to be able to trust the other people in your circle, you have to be confident that they are being careful when they are at work or out in the community,” Dr. Moore said.

The social circles are being promoted by the province as a way for family and friends to socially connect, a support for the mental health and well-being of Ontarians, and a way for families to get additional support for child and elder care.

From the point of view of Public Health, the bubbles also allow for more rapid contact tracing should a circle member test positive for the virus.

Details about how the new 10-person circle works are posted at Ontario.ca/pages/create-social-circle-during-covid-19.

Even though he remains concerned about the future and about the two recent cases, Moore feels that the track record of testing in the region has been strong, and the hospital and tracing capacity are high.

Recently, Public Health added a colour coded, four stage community status graphic element to the KFL&A regional dashboard on their website. The colours (red, orange, yellow, and green) make the status more or less self explanatory. KFL&A is in the green zone now, with full hospital capacity, quick case and contact follow, an ability to isolate and quarantine cases and contacts, full testing capacity, rare active cases and no active outbreaks.

“Unless we have 10 cases per week per 100,000 population, 20 cases in KFL&A, we will remain in the green,” said Moore.

Even with the low level of cases, testing remains a priority in KFL&A, and testing rates remain steady as long-term care workers are encouraged to be tested bi-weekly and other front line workers are also encouraged to take tests.

“We are looking at how we can provide more convenient testing locations in Frontenac County, because if it’s not fair to make people travel to Kingston for tests,” he said.

Frontenac Paramedic Services have been authorised to conduct tests ever since April and have been a very good partner to Public Health, he said, and the testing capacity Family Health Teams in Frontenac and L&A Counties are being looked at.