Seven new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Niagara
Calls for people with mild symptoms to get tested continue
Dr. Mustafa Hirji understands a common reaction to the news Niagara has only one new positive COVID-19 tests on a given day is “Woo hoo, we are in the clear.”
While gratified at the low number, one thing Niagara’s acting medical officer of health isn’t doing is celebrating.
“One thing I’m always thinking of when we have low numbers is, are we missing cases out there?” Hirji said.
“I know I’ve talked about this a lot, but we want people with mild symptoms to get tested. That way, when we see the number one or zero, we can feel confident. We worry about under-counting because there are people with mild symptoms who aren’t getting tested.”
Niagara Region Public Health reported one new case Sunday in Niagara after six Saturday.
The Niagara Health hospital system is reporting it has 11 patients in hospital for COVID-19.
Public health is counting Niagara as having had 643 cases to date, with 555 cases resolved.
One of the critical statistics public health officials use to measure the pandemic is the number of days it takes to double the number of cases. On April 11, Niagara was doubling its number of cases every eight days.
At that early point, Hirji was saying we were on the right
track. The United States, in early April, was doubling its cases every two days.
“We are fortunate that our government took early action before our hospitals were overrun, and we avoided that,” Hirji said. “The usage of hospital ICUs is definitely on the downward trend.
“As we lift the restrictions, there is the possibility that the virus could build back up, and we could get into that kind of situation.
“That’s why we are always reminding people to keep social distancing, keep hand washing, wearing masks when they can’t keep their distance from others. Maybe limit when we head outside the home and make sure it isn’t for frivolous reasons.”
Hirji said the more we can keep the infection from spreading, the more we can continue to open up businesses and get people back to work. That will lessen the economic pain we have been experiencing the last couple of months while ensuring we have the hospital capacity for anybody that needs it due to the illness.
Hirji said the end game the province has chosen is having a vaccine or an effective medication. Until then, we will have to continue living in what he called an “altered normal.”
“It may not be with the same level of restrictions we have now,” he said. “It may be we can open more things in society than we have now. The bestcase scenario is a vaccine that is 18 months away. Hopefully, we can get to the point where most businesses are open, but we aren’t having big gatherings and keep our social distance in stores and services so they can continue to run.