COVID-19: Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit surveys impacts of pandemic

A new survey from the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit seeks input on how people are being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The new confidential online survey available at www.hkpr.on.ca/covid-19/ seeks feedback on how COVID-19 is affecting you and your family’s physical, emotional and mental well-being. There are also questions about physical distancing, hand hygiene and mask-wearing and if people agree with the preventive measures. The survey also asks about overall attitudes towards the pandemic.

The survey, which will run until early December, is open to anyone 18 years or older who lives in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County and Northumberland County.

Since the pandemic was declared in March, the health unit as of Wednesday afternoon has reported 252 cases of COVID-19 in its jurisdiction, including 33 deaths (32 in the City of Kawartha Lakes and one in Northumberland County).

“We know COVID-19 is having an impact on people in the tri-county area, but how much of an impact, where, and who is being particularly affected is harder to gauge,” states Andrew Harris, a health unit epidemiologist.

“This survey is designed to paint a clearer picture of how COVID-19 is affecting our communities so that the health unit can be better informed and able to more effectively respond to pandemic challenges and concerns.”

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The survey takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete and must be done in one session.

“We encourage everyone, whether young adult or older adults, urban or rural, single or parents with children, to complete the survey,” said Fiona Kelly, the health unit’s chief nursing officer and director of foundational services.

“This type of local data gathering is essential to develop evidence-based programs and services that can assist the health unit and other organizations respond effectively to the current and lasting effects of COVID-19 on our community.”

The online survey is part of the Rapid Risk Factor Surveillance survey (RRFSS) conducted by the Institute for Social Research at York University in Toronto on behalf of the health unit.

The health unit for more than two decades has used RRFSS results to plan programs and improve its services. Due to the pandemic, the RRFSS has been on hold since March, the health unit says.