Public health officials remind people in northwestern Ont., to 'stay vigilant' as some businesses reopen

As some businesses start to reopen in Ontario, public health officials are reminding people to "stay vigilant" when it comes to preventing the spread of COVID-19 across the northwestern part of the province.

On Friday, the Ontario government released a list of businesses that would be permitted to reopen under the assumption that they are able to operate safely and can "adapt to the current environment."

In an interview  Monday on  CBC Superior Morning, Dr. Janet DeMille, the medical officer of health with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU), said she is apprehensive about the reopening of businesses.

"I have a sense of nervousness about the whole reopening," she said. "We have to do it very cautiously...everything that we've held back with these very significant measures that we've had in place for the last month, or month and a half, as we start backing off on it...we could very easily see broader community spread."

Businesses that are permitted to reopen in some capacity include garden centres, landscaping companies, some construction projects, and auto dealerships. Marinas and golf courses have also been granted permission to prepare for the upcoming season.

DeMille said the risk of broadening community spread is that it could once again "burden" the healthcare system, and put vulnerable people at greater risk, such as those in long-term care facilities.  She added that it's important for health care facilities to have the resources to be able to manage a possible uptick in community spread.

"We have to see it as a bit of a new normal. We can't do things even the way we've always done them in the past. We still have to be very mindful of that physical distancing, staying home, staying away from others... we have to maintain that vigilance," said DeMille.

Community surveillance 'paints a good picture'

Despite the risk of reopening some businesses, DeMille said the "overall picture" when it comes to the COVID-19 in the TBDHU catchment area is a positive one.

"The community surveillance work that we did over the last two weekends paints a good picture for us that we have just a very low level of community spread," she said. "We have held this virus at bay even though it's here. It's clearly here."

The number of cases in the hospital, the number of deaths and the amount of testing and follow up completed by the public health area are all used as indicators of the progress being made, said DeMille. She added that the number of cases caused by community spread in the district area has been "fairly low."

Drive-thru testing for the virus was conducted by the TBDHU for two weekends in a row, as a way of carrying out "community surveillance."

Drive-thru testing results

In the first weekend of the drive-thru testing, April 18 to 19, none of the over 200 people participating tested positive for the virus. However, DeMille stated one person did test positive over that weekend, but had not been part of the community surveillance project.

In the second weekend of the drive-thru testing, April 25 to 26, DeMille said around 205 tests were completed, with one person testing positive for the virus. She added that since individual had not been in close contact with anyone with the virus, it indicated they had contracted the virus through community spread.

DeMille said Monday, the health unit is still waiting on results of about 40 tests were administered over the second weekend.

"I find it's another concern about why it's taken so long and we haven't had those results," she noted.

As of Monday evening, the TBDHU has reported 75 cases of COVID-19, with only 16 of those cases still active. To date, 4925 tests have been completed in the district.