With a new list of businesses given the green light to re-open Monday, Porcupine Health Unit medical officer of health Dr. Lianne Catton cautions people it doesn’t mean a return to business as usual.
Tomorrow, garden centres and nurseries with curbside pick-up and delivery, lawn care and landscaping businesses, and automatic and self-serve car washes are permitted to re-open. Additional essential contruction projects are also allowed to go ahead, car dealers can open by appointment only, and golf courses and marinas can start prepping for the upcoming season.
“We want to recognize and remind everyone that this does not mean return to business as usual. In fact we will continue to work with all communities, business owners and community members to ensure that the precautions necessary are in place to reduce potential spread as we cautiously see some changes in return to certain activities,” said Catton in today’s health round table for local updates on the pandemic.
For the third-straight day, the Porcupine Health Unit reported no new cases in the area. It is currenty following 10 known active cases.
There have been 60 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region. Of those, 46 are resolved and four people have died.
A new COVID-related death was reported in Timmins this week. It was a man in his 80s who was identified in the outbreak investigation at Timmins and District Hospital.
This past week, only two new cases of the virus were confirmed locally. The week prior, there were nine positive tests, and in the weeks before that there were about 10 new local cases per week.
“Any day without having to announce a positive case or without having to announce a tragic outcome is definitely a positive sign and a positive day in our minds at the Porcupine Health Unit and I think for all of our community,” Catton said.
“However, we must always take these days with caution and so while it’s always positive news, and I think it’s always a good sign that we’re heading in the right direction and we’re seeing people doing the important measures necessary to reduce the spread, we also need to recognize that we will still see more cases.”
As provinces announce their re-opening strategies, New Brunswick is reporting all 118 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.
There, they created the notion of a double bubble, allowing two households to link to allow people to interact with others.
“I think it’s some time away from predicting exactly what changes we may see with respect with our abilities to visit with others at this point in time and likewise I think it will take a little more time to determine exactly where we are on the curve. It is cautiously optimistic, but at the same time I cannot caution enough that it doesn’t mean we can let our guard down. We have to absolutely stay the course at this point in time,” she said.
Timmins Mayor George Pirie said it’s an important week in the city for COVID-19.
“We are expecting the results of hundreds of tests as we make our way through this week, so we’ll be awaiting them anxiously,” he said.
He’s encouraged by New Brunswick with all the cases being resolved.
“And I know we can do that here. I know that we can do that here because we have a very motivated community, the community is on-board with this, they’re following all the rules and regulations associated with proper handling of COVID-19,” he said.
With some businesses re-opening, he’s likening it to a graduation day.
“We’ve been at school now with this disease for a couple of months and as we open up the economy it will be graduation day. Have we learned our lesson? Remember everyone out there now is the author of their own destiny, as they always have been, but as the economy opens then these are the test dates and I’m positive we can do it,” he said.
There are COVID-19 Assessment centres in Timmins, Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls, Hearst and Hornepayne. They are by appointment only and you must be referred by your primary healthcare provider or the health unit.
The PHU COVID-19 hotline is open weekends from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It can be reached at 705-267-1181 or 1-800-461-1818.
The health unit is doing expanded testing on people with milder symptoms for a limited time.
The expanded list of symptoms includes cough, fever, and difficulty breathing as well as sore throat/hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, loss of smell or taste, fatigue, muscle aches, runny nose, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and nausea or vomiting.
