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more people becoming 'careless' with covid-19 precautions, health unit warns

in an effort to combat a growing “false sense of securi...

by windsor star

jul 28 2020
read time 6 minute read
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more people becoming covid-19 'careless', health unit warns
medical officer of health dr. wajid ahmed explains case and contact management during the windsor-essex county health unit's daily covid-19 online news conference on tuesday, july 28, 2020. taylor campbell / windsor star
in an effort to combat a growing “false sense of security” residents appear to have about the threat of covid-19, local public health officials reiterated at length on tuesday the basics of virus transmission and containment.
the best way to prevent the spread of covid-19 continues to be following basic public health measures, said theresa marentette, ceo of the windsor-essex county health unit. to kick off the health unit’s daily news conference, she repeated the same recommendations she’s outlined every weekday for months.
“stay home if you are sick, maintain a two-metre distance from others, wash your hands often with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, use proper respiratory etiquette by coughing into a tissue or your sleeve, and wear a mask when attending commercial establishments,” marentette said.
medical officer of health dr. wajid ahmed said he sees a sense of carelessness among residents who may be getting tired of following public health recommendations months into the global pandemic.
“until we follow (the guidelines), we will be at risk of spreading and contracting the virus,” ahmed said.
“that’s the only way we can make it through. that’s the only way we can get back to some kind of normalcy in our lives and start to enjoy some of the things we used to.”
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covid-19 can spread in two ways, ahmed said. the virus that spreads the disease requires a human body to survive and multiply, so it “desperately tries to find a portal of exit” from a person who is developing antibodies and recovering from the illness. since the virus lives behind the nose and throat area, it can latch on to the tiny water droplets expelled during a cough or sneeze.
“these droplets do not travel that far and tend to fall down immediately, not more than two metres,” ahmed said. “that’s where the physical distancing of two metres came from.”
if the droplets make direct contact with someone else’s mouth, nose, or eyes, they can be infected, ahmed said. if a sick person is wearing a mask, that droplet either gets stuck in the mask or barely makes it through.
the second form of transmission happens when an infected person touches his or her nose or mouth, then touches a surface or another person. the exposed person would need to touch the contaminated surface and then touch his or her own eyes, mouth, or nose to contract the virus.
“if the person is washing their hands frequently with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer, any wild remnants on their hands can be eliminated,” ahmed said.
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“aggressive” case and contact management performed by health unit staff helps identify the people who are sick and the people they may have exposed to the virus. the health unit’s goal is to identify the cases early, before they spread covid-19 to others.
“the most important public health strategy, especially in the absence of a vaccine or treatment, is controlling the virus spread, and containment,” ahmed said.
as regions in ontario move ahead into stage 3 of the province’s plan to re-start the economy, individuals must still try to limit the number of people they come in close contact with, ahmed said, even though they have more opportunity to interact in larger groups.
each person who currently tests positive for covid-19 in windsor-essex has an average of six or seven close contacts, each of whom the health unit needs to contact multiple times during contact investigation — first, to advise them to self-isolate for 14 days while monitoring their own symptoms, and then several times during the following two weeks to check in on them and provide further treatment, or to send them for testing if they do develop symptoms.
the health unit defines close contacts as anyone who shares living accommodations with a positive case of covid-19, including individuals in bunkhouses, shelters, jail cells, and long-term care homes, who would have been exposed to the virus. friends and co-workers and anyone else who came within two metres of the positive case for 15 minutes or more without a face covering while the person was infectious are also considered close contacts, as are individuals who had direct contact with “infectious bodily fluid,” like a sneeze or a cough.

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a person is considered infectious for at least 48 hours prior to the onset of covid-19 symptoms, ahmed said. they remain infectious for 14 days.
on days like last friday with more than 50 new confirmed cases of covid-19, public health nurses and other health unit staff have roughly 300 additional phone calls to make to close contacts because individuals are coming in contact with more people than they did earlier in the pandemic.
the health unit contacts nearly all positive cases within 24 hours of receiving the lab results, ahmed said. those phone interviews can last an hour as staff provide instructions to the infected individual and perform contact tracing. staff contact close contacts of each new case within 48 hours.
“what i worry (about) the most is the false sense of security that many of us want to feel,” ahmed said. “i want us to be realistic on what is happening, what these public health measures mean, and how it will break the chain of transmission for covid-19.”
the virtual lesson on infection prevention and control was accompanied by the report of an additional death relating to covid-19 in windsor-essex.
a man in his 70s who tested positive for the virus in mid-july has passed away. he was admitted to hospital for treatment and spent time in the intensive care unit, ahmed said. the man had multiple underlying health conditions and ultimately died from respiratory failure. he was not a resident of a long-term care or retirement home.

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as of tuesday morning, roughly 60 per cent of all positive cases in windsor and essex county were contracted by individuals in close contact with people who previously tested positive. a much lower 20 per cent of cases possibly acquired covid-19 through community spread, meaning they have no known close contacts who may have infected them.
about five per cent of local cases became sick while out of the country, while the cause or causes of how nearly 15 per cent of people were exposed to covid-19 is unknown.
marentette reported on tuesday an additional 24 cases of covid-19 in the region. eleven of those are among workers in the agri-farm sector, and nine are members of the general community. the remaining four cases are still under investigation by public health staff.
since the pandemic began, 2,245 residents of windsor-essex have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. to date, 1,434 individuals have recovered, and 678 positive cases are still self-isolating. seventy people have lost their lives due to complications of covid-19.
fifteen people with the virus are currently in hospital, with four of them in intensive care. the health status of 48 confirmed cases is still under investigation by the health unit.

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three long-term care and retirement homes are experiencing covid-19 outbreaks: chartwell leamington, augustine villas in kingsville, and village of aspen lake in windsor. at each facility, two staff members recently tested positive.
the health unit continues to monitor active outbreaks at 11 additional workplaces in the region. six of them are businesses in the agricultural sector in kingsville and leamington, and five are manufacturing facilities in kingsville, tecumseh, leamington and windsor. the health unit has said it will not name workplaces with covid-19 outbreaks unless they pose a risk to the general public. 
tcampbell@postmedia.com
twitter.com/wstarcampbell

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