Medical officer urges extended restrictions

Variant cases ‘more challenging to control,’ Salvaterra warns

Ontario’s stay-at-home orders in place until May 20 should be extended longer, says the local medical officer of health — perhaps into June, to tame the fierce third wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“I do think we need to see those numbers (of cases) come down, before we open up,” Dr. Rosana Salvaterra said at a virtual press briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic held Friday by Peterborough Public Health.

“I don’t want to see a repeat of what happened in February, especially now with the variants of concern . ... What we don’t want is a fourth wave. We want to come out of it, and we want to stay out.”

Eight new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday by PPH in Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation.

Five cases were also resolved and one case from a previous day was deleted from the tally, resulting in 70 active cases, up from 68 on Thursday.

No new deaths or outbreaks were reported.

The jurisdiction has now had 1,281 cases with 1,196 resolved and 15 earlier deaths.

Outbreaks continue at Sunshine Daycare on Bensfort Road in Peterborough, a home child-care centre in Peterborough County, an unnamed workplace and an unnamed congregate living facility.

The number of people at high risk due to close contact with a confirmed case being monitored by the health unit jumped to 239, from 216 on Thursday.

“We certainly aren’t seeing the steep decline that we saw in the past, with wave one and wave two — I think it just reflects the variants of concern,” Salvaterra said, adding that most local cases of COVID-19 now are the variant first detected in the U.K.

“It is more transmissible — and it’s going to be more challenging to control it,” she said.

Meanwhile Peterborough Regional Health Centre reported taking in three new critical-care patients from eastern Greater Toronto Area hospitals that have reached their capacity, for a cumulative total of 70 since January.

PRHC had 14 admitted patients with COVID-19 as of Friday, down from 15 on Thursday.

Mayor Diane Therrien also attended the press briefing on Friday and discouraged socializing this weekend.

“I know this weekend is Mother’s Day and a lot of people are missing seeing their moms — but we have to be safe and vigilant and hang in there a little longer,” she said.

Selwyn Township Mayor and board of health chair Andy Mitchell was also there and said politicians should stop blaming one another for the failing to curb the pandemic.

“Governments need to use their energies to fight COVID-19 — not each other,” he said.