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Public health to do 'everything they can' to avoid lockdowns – Woodstock Sentinel Review

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As COVID-19 numbers climb throughout the province and in the Southwestern Ontario region, the area’s top doctor emphasized it’s ultimately up to everyone to stop or slow new cases.

Southwestern Public Health building in Woodstock.

As COVID-19 numbers climb throughout the province and in the Southwestern Ontario region, the area’s top doctor emphasized it’s ultimately up to everyone to stop – or slow – new cases.

At its monthly board meeting, Dr. Joyce Lock, Southwestern public health’s medical officer of health, said the health unit is doing “everything (it) can” to avoid any further lockdowns.

However, it’s largely the responsibility of residents to follow public-health recommendations to stop and slow the virus from spreading in the community.

“Our concern, as much as possible, is to keep businesses open, to keep schools open and to keep other key organizations and activities in community going while keeping COVID under control,” she said.

“It’s what you do as a personal individual that influences whether we stay open or not.”

She noted the health unit has heard concerns from the business community and the public.

Lock said COVID cases are more “sporadic” in the Southwestern public health region, so officials are taking each new development as it comes.

While the Elgin and Oxford counties and St. Thomas area have been among the lowest in the province in case numbers, it hasn’t been immune.

An outbreak at Vienna Farms – also known as Martin’s Family Fruit Farms – north of Port Burwell saw 40 migrant and local workers test positive for COVID-19 last week. It was the largest outbreak in the health unit’s region since the pandemic began.

This past weekend also saw roughly 2,000 people attend an anti-mask rally in Aylmer, protesting public-health measures mandated to slow the spread of the virus.

Though the majority of Canadians have followed public-health recommendations, the virus can spread quickly and is indiscriminate.

“It all comes back to us as individuals,” Cynthia St. John, the health unit’s CEO, said.

There are 53 active cases as of Monday morning, but the majority of those are related to the farm outbreak in Bayham.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 380 confirmed cases. There have been 322 recoveries while five people have died from the disease.

Southwestern public health has averaged 178.5 cases, 12.8 hospitalizations and 2.4 deaths per 100,000 people, according to data from Public Health Ontario. The numbers are relatively low compared to other health units in southern Ontario.

The health unit’s call centre has been kept busy, having received 3,098 calls between Sept. 10 and Oct. 18, according to a report to the health board. St. John emphasized the number doesn’t capture the full picture, with calls taking anywhere from a few minutes to more than half an hour.

She also said all nine provincially funded public health nurses to help with schools in the Southwestern public health region have been hired.

While the cases have risen slightly in the region, Lock was “quite pleased” with the few positive tests there have been at schools in the region. There are more than 3,000 students and about 100 schools in the health authority’s coverage area.

As of Monday, the region had only had positive cases at Mitchell Hepburn public school in St. Thomas – which are now resolved – and South Ridge public school in Tillsonburg.

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Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

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The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.

It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.

Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”

Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.

Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.

On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.

Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”

But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”

“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.

Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.

Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.

Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.

“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.

“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

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HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.

The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.

Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.

“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”

The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.

A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.

Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.

“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.

Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.

The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.

“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

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Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.

Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.

The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.

“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.

Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.

A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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