Protesters urged to watch for COVID-19 symptoms
Nine new cases reported during weekend in Niagara
Niagara’s acting medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji says he is impressed with the show of support at recent Black Lives Matter rallies, despite concerns about potentially increasing the spread of COVID-19.
But as cases of COVID-19 continue to increase in the region — with three new cases reported on Sunday, and six on Saturday for a total of nine new confirmed cases over the weekend — Hirji is urging the thousands of people who attended protests in Niagara-on-the-lake and Niagara Falls to keep an eye on their own health, while tak
ing extra precautions to ensure they don’t spread the virus to others.
“Obviously the flip side of having so many people standing up for this important cause is that there were fairly large crowds, and it looks like if there were best intentions to try to keep distance, it was probably very difficult or impossible to do.”
Although numerous videos and photographs showed a clear lack of social distancing among participants, he said “virtually everybody was wearing a face covering … and I think that’s very good.”
“People did take the risk of infection seriously and took the precautions they could.”
While the majority of participants brought their own face masks, participants also handed out masks to people who needed them, as well as hand sanitizer.
Still, Hirji said protest participants should continue wearing masks, washing their hands and social distance for the weeks to come, “and watch really closely for the next couple of weeks if they develop any symptoms.”
“If they do, they really should get tested to make sure we can get on top of any new cases that arise. Hopefully, we’ll be lucky and there won’t be very many.”
Hirji said five of the new COVID-19 cases reported Saturday were linked to outbreaks at Pioneer Flower Farms and Garden City Manor long-term care home in St. Catharines. Two of the cases reported during the weekend were community acquired, while two were the result of close contact with an individual had been previously diagnosed.
The new cases bring Niagara’s total confirmed cases to 716 since the crisis began, with 87 active cases, 568 resolved and at least 61 deaths.