Increase in COVID-19 cases across Niagara Region still in the single digits

Acting medical officer of health says safety protocols still necessary

Niagara is rapidly reducing its historic number of COVID-19 cases, as those sickened by the novel coronavirus recover and the emergence of new cases has — at least for now — slowed to a crawl.

With only one new confirmed case Tuesday — the ninth consecutive day of fewer than five confirmed cases — and 16 more people recovered, Niagara’s acting medical officer of health says the region is “washing out its historic cases.”

“You can expect to see a few more significant drops (in active cases) in the next few days,” said Dr. Mustafa Hirji. “While we are continuing to see some community spread, hopefully that number will remain in the low single digits.”

Tuesday’s only case appears to be connected to another infected person, but Hirji said public health contact tracing in the case is not completed.

The number of daily infections began to settle into the single digits in early May and, save for a few spikes related to health-care outbreaks, has stayed there.

At the same time, the number of local health-care outbreaks has declined. Facilities with long-standing outbreaks are reporting few new cases, and the public health department is currently investigating whether more recent outbreaks in four long-term-care homes are the result of false-positive test results.

The trend does not mean the virus has abandoned Niagara.

New cases are not appearing in outbreaks, but rather as community cases often with unknown sources of infection. While the numbers are low, they still show virus activity in Niagara.

That is why Hirji repeated Tuesday the same message he has trumpeting for weeks — people with even a single mild symptom related to COVID-19 should come forward and get tested for the virus.

This week, the provincial government changed some of the rules around COVID-19 to take advantage of expanded testing capacity, eliminating the need for a referral from public health or a family doctor. People can now self-refer for a test.

In Niagara, most tests are done at Niagara Health hospital sites in Niagara Falls and St. Catharines, with the St. Catharines site also having a drivethru testing centre.

Niagara Health is asking anyone seeking a test to call ahead of time for an appointment at 905-378-4647, ext. 42819 (4-CV19). The caller will be given an appointment and instructions for a test.

Those who want to walk in will not be allowed to do so at the hospitals or testing centre buildings. They will be directed to park their cars and will have to call the number. They will be registered for a test, and be asked to wait until called upon.

Public health is also asking people who suspect they have been exposed to self-isolate, to reduce the risk of contagion and call for a test appointment.

Hirji said based on what data shows about the virus in Niagara, he is not expecting new rounds of testing to show a marked increase in COVID-19 cases. However, he said, he is not going to predict the future and urged residents to maintain physical distancing, hand hygiene and masking protocols.

“The way we are going to keep the case count low is by people sticking to physical distancing, even though the weather is much nicer.”