Rate of new COVID-19 cases slowing
Health official asks that people with mild symptoms call hotline
The rate of new COVID-19 cases in Niagara appears to be slowing, but the region’s acting medical officer of health said the crisis isn’t over.
In fact, Dr. Mustafa Hirji is urging Niagara residents who are exhibiting mild symptoms associated with a COVID-19 infection to call the public health hotline for screening and possible testing.
“There are always an unknown number cases in circulation out there,” he said Tuesday. “And unless we can track down every last case we can, the risk of the virus continuing to spread is still there.”
The hotline can be reached at 1-888-505-6074.
Hirji has expected social distancing and hygiene measures to start showing an impact on the confirmed infection rate this week. He said the past three days show a reduction in the number of new cases.
He also said the number of calls coming into the public health hotline have fallen by half, suggesting fewer people who have returned from foreign travel or exhibiting more serious symptoms are in the community.
But that progress is delicate and can be quickly undone, he said.
“We know the virus is circulating in the community, and people may be spreading the virus without showing symptoms or only have mild symptoms.”
He said more testing will help
identify new cases and the followup investigations by public health staff can catch related infections before they spread further.
In addition to those with mild COVID-19 like symptoms — they include a fever, a cough, or difficulty breathing — Hirji said residents should continue to follow physical distancing and hand hygiene measures. If the decline in the new cases is indeed the start of a trend, he said it will only last if residents continue to fight the spread of the virus.
Hirji’s comments came as public health confirmed 13 new cases in Niagara, bringing the historical total to 162.
Many of the new cases are in six long-term care homes where public health has declared outbreaks. The hardest hit is Lundy Manor in Niagara Falls, where 16 residents and four staff have contracted the virus. Four other infected residents have died.
Niagara Health has reported nine deaths of Niagara residents at St. Catharines hospital for COVID-19, and the management of Lundy Manor in Niagara Falls said one resident with the virus died there this week.
In total, 10 Niagara residents who had the virus have died since the first case was discovered locally March 13.
To date, the health department has not disclosed the total number of Niagara residents with COVID-19 who have died.
That lack of information has drawn the ire of the public and some politicians.
During a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said “nothing less than complete transparency” from public health units should be the norm during the pandemic.
“Of course, you have to protect people’s personal information, but total transparency is the only way we are going to get through this,” said Horwath, who was calling on the province to boost pay and benefits for personal support workers to get more people on the front line to help residents in long-term care homes.
Hirji said Niagara’s health department is to begin releasing more local data this week. Barring any technical issues, he said, the plan is to start publishing that data on the department website starting today.
That new data will include the number of COVID-19 deaths in Niagara, the severity of cases and demographic information.
In the past, Hirji said he has been reluctant to release more than a total case count because the numbers were small enough that patients could be easily identified.