Classroom outbreaks possible this fall as Delta spreads
Residents urged to get vaccinated to prevent another wave of virus
New COVID-19 cases are continuing to decrease in the region while restrictions are being lifted, “but lurking beneath is the Delta variant,” Niagara’s acting medical officer of health is warning.
“We can see all around us in the world it’s causing cases to spike,” Dr. Mustafa Hirji said.
In the U.S, the number of new cases more than doubled in the past 10 days, while England now has the most cases it has seen since January as the Delta variant continues to spread.
If Niagara is hit by another wave of virus this fall, Hirji said it will be unvaccinated children who are at highest risk of illness.
“If cases go up, (children) are going to be particularly vulnerable because there are going to be a lot of people in schools who can’t get vaccinated,” he said. “They will be at risk of getting sick and, of course, if the infection is now circulating in schools even those who are vaccinated, a small percentage of them for whom the vaccine doesn’t give them full protection, they are also going to be at risk.”
Niagara Region Public Health reported the Delta variant has been identified in 20 per cent of the region’s positive cases in the past two weeks and is likely responsible for 60 per cent of cases, while an unknown variant accounts for the remaining 20 per cent of cases. Two new cases of the COVID-19 were reported in Niagara Wednesday, as there are 44 active infections.
Niagara Health also reported a fourth patient has been admitted to hospital with the virus on Wednesday, although none of the patients are currently in intensive care.
While past waves of the virus led to massive outbreaks in long-term-care homes, Hirji said “schools are where we will probably see the most outbreaks in the fall.”
There is, however, still opportunity to vaccinate enough people to keep that from happening, Hirji said.
“The Public Health Agency of Canada shows that once we get to 75 per cent of people having their first or second dose we get to the point where we won’t see
huge surges that are going to overwhelm our health-care system.”
With 68.9 per cent of Niagara residents having received their first dose and 54.7 fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, Hirji said reaching that 75 per cent is feasible.
However, he said the region has reached a point where the number of doses being administered has begun to slow down considerably. As fewer people are getting vaccinated, public health and Niagara Health hospitals are planning to close their mass vaccination clinics in the weeks to come, and focus instead on “pop-up clinics,” while also relying on pharmacies and primary care providers to inoculate residents.
“We aren’t making the big gains that we were even as of last week,” Hirji said. “It’s going to be a lot more work and a lot more effort to get those last seven or eight per cent of people in to get vaccinated.”
He said the best thing parents can do to protect their children from the virus is to get vaccinated, to help ensure they don’t pass the virus on to their children and others.
Parents who are fully vaccinated also won’t need to isolate if an outbreak occurs at their child’s school, Hirji added.