DRYDEN, Ont. - As cases continue to climb in Northwestern Ontario, the medical officer of health is welcoming the extended lockdown for Northern Ontario.
“I think those decisions are reasonable,” said Dr. Kit Young Hoon. “Our numbers have been increasing. Other northern health units are seeing increases, so it is reasonable to continue the shutdown. Keeping the schools open is reasonable because we are not seeing a high number of cases.”
There are 38 active cases in the Northwestern Health Unit catchment area, including 22 in the Kenora region and 16 in the District of Rainy River. The region has seen a total of 206 cases since the start of the pandemic and one death.
The provincial government announced on Thursday that Northern Ontario will remain in a lockdown until at least Jan. 23, though students will return to in-person learning on Monday.
“The province sought information from each health unit,” Young Hoon said. “I described our numbers are increasing and not coming down at this point and we have not seen the full effect of the Christmas season, so it is likely to show up in our region.”
Young Hoon said there are increasing rates of cases in the region but school transmission remains low. However, parents and school staff are reminded to continue to practice daily self-screening to prevent infections from entering schools.
Young Hoon said the majority of cases are the result of close contact with a previous case.
“If it’s a new case with no known exposure it is something we have to look at more closely,” she said. “We do try to see if there is a setting where there needs to be more information, such as an event or public setting, we may release more information.”
With the majority of cases in communities near the Manitoba border, Young Hoon said there is no evidence that the cases are related to travel to the adjoining province.
“That is not showing up in our investigation of a strong determining factor in our cases,” she said. “Manitoba border travel affects our entire region. When we look at potential linkages to other regions, it’s not just Manitoba or Winnipeg. It’s not a predominate determination of cases in our region.”
The first doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine have also arrived in the region and immunization for vulnerable segments of the population began in Sioux Lookout.
There are no details available at this time on how many doses have arrived or how many people have been vaccinated, but Young Hoon said discussions are underway to bring more vaccines to the region.
“It is very important for us to get the vaccine as soon as we can,” she said. “This is a new vaccine, it needs to be produced in a way that’s safe, and needs to be distributed across very large geographies. All that is quite complicated. There is a rush to move as quickly as we can. I understand all stakeholders are moving as fast as they can.”
There are concerns that an extended lockdown will impact businesses in the north, many of which rely on tourism.
The lockdown includes the closure of outdoor recreational activities such as skiing and fishing lodges. Premier Doug Ford the shutdowns are necessary in order to deter people from COVID-19 hot zones travelling to other parts of the province and potentially spreading the virus.
“We have to take the advice from the health table,” Ford said. “I can’t stress this enough, even for the people in the northern regions, this is serious. What I wouldn’t want to see are people in hot zones travel up there to get away. We need to avoid travelling.”
