KENORA— Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kit Young Hoon shared her COVID-19 update this week. In the update she reported that case numbers in the region continue to decrease and are now more similar to the provincial rate.
“Our current positivity rate is now 16.5 per cent compared to the provinces’ 16.2 per cent., said Dr. Kit Young Hoon. As such, we are aligning our recommendations regarding physical distancing and capacity limits with provincial recommendations.”
She offered some other important recommendations, asking that individuals asses personal risks and the risks of those they gather with to determine if they should wear a mask. “Masking in indoor spaces is an effective way of protecting yourself and others from getting and spreading COVID-19.” added Young Hoon. As masking will become a personal choice, she asked that the public to show kindness to one another and respect individual choice.
The Medical Officer of Health, continued her update, and encouraged caution, by sharing that across the province, there has been an increase in the positivity rates due to the lifting of restrictions and that, “Although we have not yet seen an increase locally, there is a possibility that this will occur in our region as well.”
She spoke about the fact that there are some communities across the region that are seeing many cases, and that more information regarding this can be found on their website: www.nwhu.on.ca
Young Hoon also spoke about how due to the decrease in new cases, the eligibility to PCR testing and access to rapid testing, information is becoming less accurate to assess risks using short-term data. Therefore, she indicated that to ensure that they share valuable data, “We are moving to updating our website weekly, on Wednesdays.” In her opinion, this change in reporting frequency, will show a trend and short-term fluctuations that we are seeing due to smaller numbers. It is her hope that this shift in how reporting is done, “will provide what she describes as more meaningful information to residents in Northwestern Ontario.”
She assured residents that should the risk to local residents change rapidly, that they will inform the public immediately, through their website, the media and social media, and thus will not wait for newly planned weekly updates.
Finally, Young Hoon spoke about the process one should follow should they test positive for COVID-19. She asked that should someone show symptoms or test positive for the virus, that they should visit: www.ontario.ca/exposed for information on what to do. She encouraged those individuals to read the questions on that website very carefully, as answers will be determined by such factors as, one’s vaccine status and previous infections.
