Peterborough Public Health will be conducting “sentinel surveillance” by testing “everyone” at long-term care and retirement homes for coronavirus, the medical officer of health said Wednesday.
During Wednesday’s media conference, Dr. Rosana Salvaterra noted the health unit recently volunteered to conduct COVID-19 tests at long-term care and retirement homes.
Since last Saturday, health officials — including paramedics and Peterborough Regional Health Centre staff — have done “sweeps” at Centennial Place in Millbrook, Applewood Retirement Residence in Peterborough and returned to St. Joseph’s at Fleming (at the province’s request) where a recent outbreak remains active but is considered “stable,” Salvaterra said.
An outbreak declared on April 3 at Riverview Manor long-term care in Peterborough is now over, she added.
“We are swabbing everyone — every resident, every staff, volunteer, visitor — anyone who was in the home that day,” she said. “We stepped forward and volunteered to do that.”
Salvaterra noted on Tuesday night, the province has asked health units to conduct “sentinel surveillance” in every long-term care and retirement home based on risk.
More guidelines under the province’s new “COVID-19 Action Plan for Protecting Long-Term Care Homes” are expected from the province, she said.
She said the measure represents a more “enhanced and aggressive” approach to testing that the province is requesting.
“At that point, we will make a plan with our partners to begin to go in and swab everyone,” she said. “You’re essentially lifting up the rocks and looking for the virus.
“We’re not going to be content with the numbers as they are, we’re actually going to go hunting.”
“That does represent a different phase of the pandemic.”
CASES
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 59 confirmed cases in the health unit’s jurisdiction which includes the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation. There has been one death reported.
Salvaterra says of the 59 cases, 22 are still active and 36 have been resolved. Six of the 59 cases have required hospitalization with three requiring care in the intensive care unit. Earlier Wednesday, the hospital said one of the two remaining patients in the ICU has been transferred out and that an inpatient outbreak was declared over.
The average age of cases is between ages 20 and 70. She noted 10.2 per cent of the 59 cases are related to community spread, meaning that the virus was not spread by travel or contact with another case and cannot be attributed to a specific source.
“It’s much lower than what we are seeing from the rest of the province,” she noted.
Travel remains the main link for the majority of the health unit’s cases.
More than 41 per cent of the cases are connected to close contact of a confirmed case, Salvaterra added.
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More than 2,000 people have been tested in the health unit’s jurisdiction.
Of the 59 cases, 79 per cent have been confirmed negative and 18 per cent (360) of all tests are still pending.
Since April 2, there have been many dates of no new cases, she noted and that since the end of March, the region’s “case curve” is flattening.
“That really is a demonstration of how well we’ve been able to contain the virus,” she said.
The case rate is 40 per 100,000 versus the provincial average of 82 per 100,000, according to new data from the province, Salvaterra said.
CLASS SECTION 22
On Monday, Salvaterra enacted the Class Section 22 order under the province’s Health Protection and Promotion Act as a means to ensure people who required to self-isolate do so. The order enables fines of up to $5,000 a day to anyone who fails to self-isolate during the coronavirus pandemic.
She said Peterborough and area has had “strong compliance” and enacting the order was more of an educative approach rather than concern about compliance.
“My motivation is not to fine people but to ensure they self-isolate for 14 days,” she said. “Self-isolation is expected and legally required. It is not voluntary. Peterborough Public Health is prepared to take measures to enforce it.”
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