Mild COVID-19 symptoms can’t be ignored, Hirji says
Niagara posts zero new coronavirus cases for third time in 11 days
If Niagara’s slumbering economy is to awaken from its pandemic sleep, residents are going to have to embrace a new reality to help keep the number of COVID-19 cases down.
As economic and business activity continues, residents will no longer have the luxury of ignoring minor symptoms connected to the potentially deadly infection, says Niagara’s acting medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji.
The only way to prevent surges of cases, serious outbreaks and, ultimately, a step backwards into a renewed lockdown, is for those with mild symptoms to come forward and get tested, he said.
“If we identify a case, we can isolate that person, determine who they have been in contact with, and hopefully stop that train of transmission at that point,” Hirji said Friday. “But to do that as we move forward really is going to require a new normal and people with mild symptoms have to get tested.”
Niagara posted zero new cases again Friday, the third such occurrence in the last 11 days. On four of those days, Niagara posted only one new daily COVID-19 case, and one day six cases.
Two days saw a large increase — 23 and 40 respectively — that were linked to the Pioneer Flower Farms outbreak that has sickened some 60 people.
This radical shift in new confirmed case counts — with numbers in the low single digits one day to be followed by large spikes the next — is likely to happen as outbreaks emerge with increased activity in the community, said Hirji.
However, he said surges in cases can be limited if public health can identify cases early, before they have an opportunity to become a vector for spread of the virus.
To do that, Hirji said it will be important for those with mild symptoms to come forward and get tested.
“I don’t think, provincially, we have had great messaging on this front,” said Hirji. “We had a lot of strong messaging around physical distancing and hand hygiene early, but on the issue of getting mild cases tested it has not been as good.”
Hirji said the political debate has been so focused on testing numbers, the messages about who should get themselves tested has been overshadowed.
“We know testing numbers have increased thanks to the addition of asymptomatic testing and self-referrals, but when we look at that zero, is it a true zero, or a zero that does not include someone who has only very mild symptoms?”
Hirji said getting people with mild symptoms tested will be vital to any economic reopening effort because the economic shutdown is a core reason why the spread of the virus slowed down.
Hirji said someone with mild symptoms might not think they need to get tested because they are not that sick. But if they are carrying the coronavirus, they can easily infect other people.
Those with mild symptoms can call public health, the Niagara Health COVID-19 assessment centres or their family doctor to schedule a test.
Since the start of the pandemic, Niagara has seen 707 COVID-19 cases, with 83 of them remaining active.
At least 63 people with the virus in Niagara have died.