The Grey Bruce Public Health Unit in Owen Sound. PHOTO PROVIDED BY GBPHU
An 11th confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in Grey-Bruce Monday. It’s the second local case that points to evidence of community transmission.
The woman in her 30s has been hospitalized, according to a daily situation report sent out by the Grey Bruce Health Unit.
Grey-Bruce’s Medical Officer or Health Dr. Ian Arra said the health unit is continuing with contact management and contact tracing in the area.
“We are doing it full blast, and this is time time to do it,” he said. “We want to trace it so we can contain it and nip it in the bud.”
People with the virus are asked by public health officials where they were and what they were doing the day their symptoms appeared and in the 24-hours beforehand.
From there, each potential contact is assessed for risk and followed up with if necessary by the public health team.
For example, if the contagious person went to the hairdresser, that’s a long exposure with the potential to touch many of the same surfaces, and a follow-up would be necessary, Arra said.
If the same person went to the coffee shop and used a credit card to pay with minimal interaction, then it’s a low-risk scenario and wouldn’t warrant an immediate follow-up.
Any interactions with healthcare workers or long-term health employees are given the highest priority.
In one case Arra related, a person had symptoms at the airport and drove straight to their cottage and called public health before self-isolating.
“With that case, transmission to other people is negligible. It’s zero. We don’t need to contact anybody,” he said.
Arra said public announcements about the whereabouts of a person who contracted the virus is “not realistic” for COVID-19. He stressed people should already be limiting contact by physical distancing and limiting risk by practising proper hygiene – washing their hands and trying not to touch their face.
“We already have a provincial declaration of emergency,” Arra said. “By definition, we know the risk is being contained. If we go over above and say there was a case at this grocery store, and have you been there? By definition, it’s already included with the bigger order.”
The medical officer of health for Grey-Bruce said the public health team has fielded several calls from people anxious about seemingly non-essential businesses remaining open, and people just generally out and about.
On Monday he urged the public to continue to follow orders issued under the provincial and local states of emergency, but also wanted people to “be considerate of other aspects and not let anxiety and fear dictate our decisions.”
“We need to have a vision for six months, a year, and two years from now. Some of our local businesses, small businesses, family businesses, might bankrupt if they’re closed for three months, five months,” he said. “The balance of closing businesses for proper social distancing and the balance of letting the economy flow is a delicate subject.”
There were 351 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Ontario Monday bringing the total to 1,709. It’s the largest single-day increase of confirmed cases in the province.
As of Monday afternoon, there were 7,288 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada with 71 deaths.
“I believe what’s going to flatten the curve is nothing but what our mothers and grandmothers taught us: hand wash, cough in your sleeve, stay home if you’re sick,” Arra said.
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Bruce County has extended the closure of all county buildings until further notice.
Bruce County previously announced on March 16 that buildings would be closed to the public until April 5.
The affected locations include the administration centre in Walkerton, all Bruce County public library branches and all Bruce County owned trails among other public facilities and offices.
“Health Canada has classified the COVID-19 virus as a high risk to Canadians,” Bruce County Warden Mitch Twolan said in a release Monday. “We are continuing to deliver services to the public while taking extra precautions to protect the health and well-being of all Bruce County clients, staff and the public.”
COVID-19 updates related to Bruce County, including an update on public service delivery in each department, can be found at https://brucecounty.on.ca/covid19.
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Owen Sound Police posted an update to entry and operational changes at the courthouse in Owen Sound Monday.
The notice instructed people to not enter the courthouse unless they’re there for urgent criminal or family proceedings, urgent or essential matters for the Criminal Intake Courts, or urgent filing of court documents (if unable to file by e-mail). Exceptions would be made for accredited members of the media.
Those with COVID-19 related symptoms, or who have travelled outside Canada within the last 14 days are asked to not enter the courthouse.
Additionally, the courthouse doors will be now monitored to ensure that people entering are there for essential or urgent reasons.
For the Ontario Court of Justice, courtroom attendance will be restricted to the judicial official, essential court staff, and those attending for urgent matters – with physical distancing measures enforced.
Court documents for urgent matters can now be filed by email.
“Obviously they don’t want people coming into court from outside from the general public unless it is an emergency,” Owen Sound Police Chief Craig Ambrose said. “They are trying to minimize the exposure for their staff. They are trying to get the message across that most everything is going to video or audio for court situations.”
Superior Court of Justice matters have been suspended until further notice, though that court continues to hear urgent matters, according to the bulletin.
More information is listed at www.ontariocourts.com/sci
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Hanover Mayor Sue Patterson officially declared a state of emergency Monday afternoon in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Town of Hanover continues to be proactive in our approach to COVID-19 to ensure that the impact of the situation does not affect necessary services for residents. It will provide a framework for redistribution of staff as well as access to decision-making power provided under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. The Town of Hanover is committed to ensuring the safety of both its residents and staff,” Patterson stated in a release.
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South Bruce Peninsula closed its two municipal dog parks, in Oliphant and Wiarton, Monday.
“As of 4:30 p.m., anyone who is found using the dog parks, playgrounds or skatepark is committing an offence and can be charged with trespassing. At this time, we have not closed the remainder of our municipal parks as we will continue to monitor them for compliance. We truly hope we won’t have a need to close all parks but will do so if social distancing is not observed,” a release stated.
The City of Owen Sound closed its dog park on 1st Avenue East Monday as well.
