While most wait for vaccination to solve the COVID-19 problem, the coalition's Northern Ontario members are concerned about the rise in COVID-19 cases, including the UK variant of the virus, urging Ontarians not to travel outside their regions, especially as March Break approaches.
As far as provincial government officials are concerned, one of them - Education Minister Stephen Lecce - is expected to announce details later this week of the government’s plans for March Break as it pertains to schools and students.
Natalie Mehra, OHC executive director, was joined by several Northern Ontario OHC representatives, including Marie Della Vedova, Algoma Health Coalition member, at Wednesday’s meeting.
“The virus doesn’t move. People move it. What follows then is that if we stop moving, the virus stops moving,” Della Vedova said, pointing to the spike in COVID cases, including two deaths, in the Algoma district since Christmas.
“Now we know that variants of COVID-19 have made their way through Northern Ontario due of course to people travelling. The variants are highly contagious and while there have been no known cases of COVID-19 variants in the Algoma Public Health (APH) area, we know that those variants are on our doorstep. Once these variants are here it would not take long for our case numbers to shoot up.”
Other variants from South Africa and Brazil have now been reported spreading across Ontario.
“March Break is particularly worrisome...just one visit (from people outside the region) with family and friends can have devastating impacts on local residents, including our most vulnerable in long term care and retirement homes,” Della Vedova said.
“Those people who do not need to travel north should not do it. Those of us in the north who do not need to travel out of our area and back in should not. Those who must travel for medical reasons or other essential travel are advised to be extremely cautious,” said Della Vedova, underscoring the need to obey public health guidelines.
“We do not want a third wave and we do not want a third lockdown. We have a shared responsibility to keep one another safe, especially the most vulnerable among us.”
Della Vedova and Mehra were joined at Wednesday’s meeting by Albert Dupuis, Blind River OHC member, Dorothy (Dot) Klein, Sudbury Health Coalition co-chair, Ben Lefebvre, Iroquois Falls OHC member and Jules Tupker, Thunder Bay Health Coalition co-chair.
“It is scary...we simply can’t afford to have people coming up from southern Ontario and of course we have the same issue with people from the north visiting family down south and then possibly bringing it back,” Lefebvre said from Iroquois Falls, requesting Ontarians in all regions stay home for March Break (if it does occur).
It is thought by some observers Education Minister Lecce may move March Break forward to April or May, or wrap up the school year five days earlier in June.
“We’re very concerned about the travel and about people moving around in the Thunder Bay district...we found out that a lot of the cases, when the second wave came, were the result of people going to Winnipeg for a pickleball tournament and when they came back, they had some problems, they started to spread COVID-19,” Tupker said.
“We know that some folks in the community can see these (public health measures) maybe with a bit of skepticism given the inconsistency in public policy that’s been coming from the provincial government,” said Dupuis from Blind River.
“In many respects people say ‘well, I don’t need to take this seriously, we see Ministers are saying one thing and they’re doing another, they’re travelling,’” Dupuis said.
“We really need to support those public health measures even if we see reasons for skepticism from some of our public officials not stepping up as they should have,” Dupuis said, crediting Blind River residents and business owners for complying, for the most part, with COVID-19 restrictions.
“We are really the entry into Northern Ontario and we have just learned that the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit region has got the B117 (UK) variant…my concern, and the north’s concern, is ‘stay in your own region,’” said Klein, speaking from Sudbury.
“The message that is given to Ontarians (by the provincial government) by opening up, we feel, is very confusing to people so we wanted to counter with a very clear public interest message that just because the provincial government has announced the reopening of the province does not mean the public should start to travel freely (and risk further transmission of COVID-19),” Mehra said.
As for setting up a Northern Ontario bubble to stop the spread of COVID-19 from southern Ontario, Tupker, of Thunder Bay, said “we just think that’s a difficult situation to police.”
“There are some major highways going into the north and we think we’re better off just basically to avoid the bubble at this point...at this point I think we’re happy just to continue what we’re saying today. People should stay at home and not travel unless it’s absolutely necessary. We’re not looking for a bubble,” Tupker said.
Like most of society, Mehra and the OHC are anticipating a vaccinated post-COVID world (though it remains unclear when that will be).
“There is hope here. The vaccine is rolling out,” Mehra said.
In the Sault and Algoma area, long-term care home residents have been the first to receive the vaccine (as is the case throughout Ontario), though it remains unclear as to when more doses will arrive for use within the broader Sault and Algoma population.