Cottage Country Reflections: 😷COVID-19

💉COVID & BA.2 OMICRON data📈

JANUARY

Locally: As for outbreaks, there are now seven, all in congregate care facilities, accounting for 112 cases. That’s up by one from the last report.

December

November

October 2022

September 2022

Now we go to once weekly updates...

AUGUST

Ottawa's Health Unit has more information.

They keep updating August with more data.

JULY

July brought an increase in Omicron BA.5.

July 14 and July 18th.

Who is eligible for PCR or rapid molecular testing in Ontario?

Charting by local health unit cases by month: since 2020

Then there are staff absences. There are shortages in hospitals, where staff there are able to access a more costly PCR test. Our dippy premier thinks that we will be fine, since hospitals now have more space, and COVID is treatable. 🤦

Leeds, Grenville, Lanark Health Unit

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MAY

May 27

May 24

They've changed it, yet again.

APRIL 2022

Interview with Mark Fisher, trustee at Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB). In the 6th wave: OCDSB votes to reinstate masking for all. They have the authority according to the Education Act, occupational health & safety act.

The antibody surveillance study “Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from unvaccinated asymptomatic and symptomatic household members with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection ” published in CMAJ Open (Canadian Medical Association Journal) included 695 participants from 180 households in Ottawa between September 2020 and March 2021. The study included households with at least one member having had a confirmed COVID-19 infection, and each participating household enrolled had at least one child within their household.

People with SARS-CoV-2 infection transmitted extensively within their households, with a secondary attack rate of about 50%. Although children transmitted at a lower rate than adults, they still infected one-third of household members; this finding should inform public health policy. Asymptomatic spread occurred and should be accounted for in the formulation of public health and travel policies. Our findings have implications for in-person school or activities because the risk of transmission may be high when masks are not worn continuously or consistently in poorly ventilated settings. Nonpharmacologic interventions should continue to be considered for congregate settings.

April 8 – OCDSB: Bell H.S. with 20% absences; Lakeview 13%.

April has been gruesome. School absences have been increasing. The rapid test doesn't work well in identifying positive BA.2 cases. We aren't testing many with the PCR test.

Once more, for anyone who thinks they can’t possibly have #COVID19 because their RAT was -ve: Assume if you had a +ve contact and are symptomatic that you are infected and contagious. This morning’s RAT was faintly +ve. PCR confirmed +ve. Tonight, feel horrid, RAT is false -ve pic.twitter.com/TRhcj54JEc
— Nili Kaplan-Myrth MD PhD (@nilikm) April 4, 2022

Ottawa school absences

Bell H.S. April 2nd, 11.5 % absent. (Most kids in her classes are masking.)

Lakeview 12.7% absent.

Cambridge 20 %

St. Monica 34%

MARCH 2022

COVID–19 numbers in the hospital are continuing to rise. We're not testing, except for extreme cases or hospitalizations. Wastewater tests are rising. The news I read, from reputable sources, told me that the new variant, BA.2/BA.2.2, can present as norovirus, with gastrointestinal symptoms.

↑Positivity in wastewater tests

Ontario hospitals seeing rise in numbers

of staff testing positive for COVID

Our big March 9th announcement is that March 21st, face masks are no longer mandatory in most settings. This is ridiculous. March Break is from March 12 => March 20. Kids who travel have to wear masks according to federal rules and regulations. Why couldn't they just delay this two weeks? A lot of families travel.

FEBRUARY 2022

JANUARY 2022

Our health unit is only posting data on Mon./Wed/Fri. these days.

Jan 31st – another death

Jan. 28 – another death

Jan. 26 – 118 new cases.

Jan. 24 – 21 in hospital, another death.

Later, 15:30, they changed the data from 21 in hospital, 7 in ICU and 74 deaths:

to 22 in hospital, 6 in ICU and 73 deaths...

The province opened up a reporting system for student absences. It disappeared at 15:30.

Jan. 21

I finally realized, reading the fine print, they are only reporting Monday/Wednesday/Fridays.

After two years of data, our health unit has decided not to report cases by location, since they are only testing people with symptoms, and in hospital. It was a trend, knowing which regions have more COVID than others. I am most discouraged.

People are really ticked off that the Ontario government won't provide enough tests and COVID counts in schools. They are not going to report a school with COVID until there is a 30% absentee rate.

June 14th they stopped reporting totals.
We've no idea how many are recovered.

Jan. 14th ↗ 24 in hospital, 16 outbreaks, 26 active cases

Jan. 13th –↗ 18 in hospital

Long-Term Care

This information is up to date as of the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 12.

COVID-19 OUTBREAKS

• Kemptville Retirement Living — declared Jan. 10

• Carleton Place Terrace — declared Jan. 10

• Fairview Manor (Almonte) — declared Jan. 6

• Rosebridge Manor (Jasper) — declared Jan. 3

• Perth Community Care — declared Dec. 30

• Lanark Lodge (Perth) in the Evergreen unit — declared Dec. 27

• Rideau Ferry Country Home has a declared a respiratory syncytial virus outbreak — declared Dec. 29, 2021.

Long-Term Care Homes Ontario

Jan. 11 – ↗ 1719

Jan. 10 – ↗ 1698

Jan. 7, 2022

Leeds, Grenville, Lanark Health Unit JAN. totals: reported by some media.

Jan. 6 – ↗ 1558

Jan. 5 – ↗1526

Jan. 4th – ↗ 1479

Jan. 3rd – back to work

Last week, Thursday, Dec. 30th, Dr. Moore (Chief Medical Officer), announced that kids weren't going back to school Jan. 3rd. The Education Minister was AWOL, as well as the Premier. A shock to parents.

The Premier has come back from the cottage, for a planned 10 a.m. presser, changed to 11 a.m. at 9 a.m.

Jan. 1st –
Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 251 new cases

"On December 31, 2021 testing for COVID-19 was limited to the most vulnerable individuals and individuals associated with high risk exposure settings. This means that confirmed cases will significantly underestimate the true number of people currently infected with COVID-19 in the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit region. From this point forward, information from the daily COVID-19 Surveillance Dashboard should not be compared to dates before these testing criteria changes.

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🎄DECEMBER 2021 – ended at 1008 cases

Dec. 2012

Dec. 31 – ↗ no local official reports today... This is what I gleaned from Ottawa CTV news:

From CTV Ottawa:

Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 248 new cases

Omicron is now hitting Ontario seniors around the rate we were seeing in the general population last week. By sample date, the 528 Ontarians 70+ positive on Monday were most of any day of the pandemic. (The 7-day avg. isn't yet a record & 80s and 90+ are lagged more than 70s.) pic.twitter.com/WgDpORblWk
— Ed Tubb (@EdTubb) December 31, 2021

Dec. 30 – ↗  760 

Dec. 29 – ↗ 635 

We had 65 cases from previous 24 hours; 50 cases added to the day before. They cannot keep up.

Ottawa Paramedic Outbreak – The outbreak is linked to a large party at a restaurant in Ottawa on Dec. 15. To date, 53 members of the Ottawa Paramedic Service have tested positive for COVID-19, including paramedics and support staff. Eight new positive cases were reported in a memo on Tuesday. There are also 139 close contacts of the 53 people who tested positive.

Dec. 28 –  ↗ 556 

Home is still safer. Our COVID numbers are shocking here in Leeds, Grenville, Lanark Health Unit. We had 253 total cases last Thursday: 542; on Monday, 556 cases Tuesday. (They don't post on holidays or weekends.) The last time it was this high was Dec., 2020, when it was at a peak of 314 cases. 

Dec. 27 – ↗ 542 the health unit did not report over Christmas Eve to Boxing day. Dec. 2020 our totals were 314.

Forty-five new cases added in past 24-hours and 330 cases added to previous days for a total of 375 cases added since the last report.

Dec. 24 – they don't update on weekends, I did read online:

Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit: 106 new cases

Dec. 23 – Active cases today: 253 – 78 new and 44 recovered since yesterday

Dec. 22

Dec. 21

Article on rapid covid tests:

“With a rapid test, a positive is a positive,” said Dr. Eric Arts, a virologist and immunology professor at Western University. “A negative is not a definitive negative. You may still be infected, regardless of what the rapid test shows you.”

Dec., 2021 – Again COVID–19 numbers are rising, with Kingston being the hotbed of infections. They have the highest case rate in Canada. Ottawa has some cases linked with visits to the National Arts Centre, and such. 

Dec. 20

"The health unit is reporting 142 new cases over the weekend (126 recoveries), including 38 cases in the past 24 hours."

Dec. 17th

Yesterday health officials went on air, at the news conference, they said we need a circuit breaker to reset and get a handle on this. The politicians are not doing what is in our best interests, more keen on re-election.

Dec. 16

Dec. 14

Dec. 13th

Stittsville's St. John Paul II Catholic Elementary School closed due to COVID, possibly Omicron. 
South Crosby PS (Elgin, ON) as of Dec. 12 they had over 25 cases and is closed.
Our health unit does not report on weekends.

Our Health Unit, as well as KFL&A, are asking people to cut back on contacts. 

Dec. 11

COVID–19 cases continue to rise. It is worrisome. There are 10 new breakouts of cases in nearby Kingston, three of these are in three residences at uQueens. Public Health for Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox are checking out 105/131 possible cases of Omicron. They have 618 active cases.

Dec. 10 – big jump ↗81

London has largest probable Omicron cluster in country

He said there are now 50 people involved in a cluster that began with two people who traveled from Nigeria late last month.

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Ontario cases by ages group

Dec. 9 – big jump ↗60

Kingston has reached ICU capacity. Having taken in overflo cases previously this year, they are now shipping people out.

Dec. 7 – up to 39

Dec. 6 – up to 37

Sadly 87% of recent school cases are in elementary school kids.

Dec. 5 – CTV

Kingston has another 40, we have another 10 cases. PEC has 22, Cornwall 17. Ottawa 55 new cases, 20 are under age 9.

Dec. 3 – I tried to get my booster, it didn't not work out well.

Dec. 1 – 26

November 2021

November 30 – Omicron was identified. South AFrica, and other countries nearby, have been reluctant and deeply suspicious of governments. It's not just the cost and supply issues.

Nov. 26 – down to 28

Nov. 26, they identified Omicron as a new variant. It is in several places, including Germany.

COVID: Omicron variant 'likely' already in Germany, says minister

Canada said that there are 500 people here from South African countries.

Nov. 1

October 2021

Latest vaxx numbers from Leeds/Grenville/Lanark are 97.5 % of residents have first dose, and 93.5 per cent have had second.

Oct. 1

September 2021

Where we are at in September

Here in Canada (population 38 million), our Prime Minister Trudeau has mandated vaccines for federal employees. Healthcare, in Canada, is a provincial mandate and he cannot force this on Ontario (pop. 15 million), where I live. Here, 85% of eligible citizens have had one dose, 77% are fully vaxxed. In our local health unit, in southeast Ontario, we've the highest vaccination rates of all of Ontario at 92% first dose for eligible people (age 12+), 86% are fully vaxxed as of Aug. 30th.

September 2

The Science Table released a projection (PDF) of the fourth wave.

August

Our new chief medical officer had some difficult messages. This thing isn't like a cold virus. We worry about our kids in school.

As children acquire this infection at a low level, they'll build natural immunity like any cold virus and it will become seasonal. How long that takes could be several years." -- Dr. Kieran Moore, CMOH, Aug 10.

August 1

Here we are in August, cases were going down, with only three in our health unit. The numbers are beginning to rise in Ontario. School begins in a few weeks. Child care centres are having issues.