Board of Health seeks to have gardens opened

Ottawa’s Board of Health will push the province to relax its emergency measures to allow community gardens and allotment plots to open this spring during the COVID-19 pandemic and is also looking to develop an app to allow the tracking of infectious people.

The motions were passed Monday night by members of Ottawa’s Board of Health, who also voted to explore ways to source large volumes of non-medical masks that Dr. Vera Etches, the city’s medical officer of health, said play an important role in controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In her lengthy briefing to the board, Etches hinted that some of the most restrictive measures could be eased. But she warned that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, with the majority of Ottawa’s population still at risk.

“The question on everyone’s minds is, how much longer will this current situation continue?” Etches said.

“It must be clear that the current epidemic here in Ottawa still has lots of room to grow if current measures aren’t continued . ... We don’t really know how many people in Ottawa are infected. There are estimates that somewhere around one per cent of the population have been infected. That leaves 99 per cent of our population not yet immune to COVID-19.

“Any illness could quickly multiply if interventions like physical distancing and masking are not in place.”

Etches said Ottawa Public Health is also supporting the use of homemade or non-medical masks.

“The use of masks when outside the home and close to others in indoor settings can play an important role in reducing transmission of COVID-19.”

Masks are especially important for those who may be asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, since the virus can be spread in the 48 hours before symptoms of the disease appear, she said.

“We do see that masks can play an important role in slowing the pace of infection.”

But with those measures likely needed until a vaccine is available, Etches said “reasonableness” is needed in some of the most restrictive measures. Allowing gardeners to tend their plots and community gardens, for example, gives much needed exercise and outdoor time, while also improving food security for those who rely on them.

The sheer volume of the COVID-19 cases — Ottawa Public Health has exceeded its budget this month by $750,000 — means OPH is looking at using an app to automatically track cases. The board approved its partnering with a developer to develop a product to help track and trace contacts. Its use would be voluntary and could include using cellphone data to track movements and send information to potential contacts.

But Etches also said she’s heard “loud and clear” from people desperate for some relief from the extreme isolation measures.

“One of the things that will help people the most is being active outside. People have said to me, ‘Can you just let me play on a field with my family again?’ These things are extremely important to people.”

Though she doesn’t have the power to lift the restrictions, she has been sending feedback to the province’s medical officer of health

“There are some really creative ideas that people are sending me. We want to maintain physical distancing, but there’s a middle ground,” she said, floating the idea of a “pandemic buddy.”

“An older adult who is isolated on her own said to me, ‘I just want one person who I can meet with.’ That sounds reasonable. That could increase the number of contacts people have without opening it up entirely.

“Maybe somebody wants go running with a friend. Maybe you just choose that one friend. You have a little bit more contact but you don’t give a group of 30 like you did before. I’m open to all of these things, but I’m not the sole decision-maker here. I have to work with others ... what happens in one part of the province affects what happens in other parts.” bcrawford@postmedia.com