October 14 Board of Health Meeting Summary
Written by kerri, October 19, 2020
Board of Health Membership
The Board of Health bid farewell to four of members who have completed or will be completing their terms of service. This includes four provincial appointees, Greg Connolley, Kerri Davies, Cathy Praamsma, and Michael Williams. Each was recognized for their important contributions and leadership steering public health governance over the past several years. These positions remain vacant while Peterborough Public Health (PPH) awaits further notice from the provincial government on the modernization of local public health.
COVID-19 Situational Update
Dr. Salvaterra reported that as of October 14, the overall local COVID-19 case incidence rate is 89 per 100,000. This is less than a quarter of the provincial case incidence rate of 408 per 100,000. For the week of October 6 to 12, the local case incidence rate was zero cases per 100,000, compared to 35.9 for Ontario. The source of exposure is largely from close contact with other cases, with some travel exposures, mostly resulting from travel to Ontario hotspots. COVID-19 testing continues at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, the drive-through Assessment Centre at Eastgate Park by appointment only, which can be booked online. Testing is also available by appointment at the Shoppers Drug Mart on Lansdowne and High Streets. Dr. Salvaterra shared that 25.5 FTE staff are currently assigned to the COVID-19 response. On October 7, PPH launched its new COVID-19 data tracker at www.localcovidtracker.ca which provides daily updates of case and outbreak information. Dr. Salvaterra noted that new provincial regulations came into effect October 3 that have reduced gathering limits across the province and introduced the requirement to wear a mask indoors. She has rescinded the local Mandatory Face Covering Directive issued on August 1 having reviewed the provincial regulation and found the requirements for face coverings to be equivalent or stronger. All establishments are advised to comply with the masking requirements that are outlined in the provincial legislation.
Peterborough Public Health COVID-19 Response Evaluation Framework
Staff are in the midst of evaluating Peterborough Public Health’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic using various data collection activities. To date they have completed a staff survey and external stakeholder survey. Overall, PPH staff indicated that they were satisfied to extremely satisfied with PPH’s response, noting specific strengths such as the COVID-19 hotline service, external communications, and case and contact management. Highlights of the stakeholder survey included 91% of respondents agreeing (26%) or strongly agreeing (65%) that PPH is a trusted source for accurate COVID-19 information. Also, 82% of respondents agreed (31%) or strongly agreed (51%) that PPH provided valuable support and/or assistance to their business/organization during the initial COVID-19 response. This pandemic will be an extended experience requiring ongoing adaptation of PPH interventions. In the same vein, the evaluation framework will also need to be “evergreen” so that relevant and timely information continues to be collected and used for decision-making or planning.
Health Care Worker Influenza Immunization Rates 2019-2020
Peterborough Public Health’s annual report on health care worker (HCW) flu shot rates shows more health care workers are taking advantage of the annual immunization as a way to protect themselves and their patients. The 2019-2020 rates of staff immunization were collected on January 15, 2020. The median rate of flu shot uptake by staff at Long Term
Care Facilities (LTCF) increased 3.1% over the previous year. The staff immunization rate at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) also showed a gain, growing by 8.8% last influenza season, bringing their cumulative increase over the past two influenza seasons to 18.5%. This impressive jump is credited to PRHC’s effective coordination of several internal programs plus incentivizing staff to get their flu shot. Three influenza outbreaks were reported in LTCFs, retirement residences, and the local hospital for the 2019-2020 season, compared to 10 influenza outbreaks the previous season. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) considers the provision of influenza vaccination to be an essential component of the standard of care for all HCWs for the protection of their patients.
Next meeting:
The Board of Health meets next on Wednesday, November 11, 2019 at 5:30 p.m. in the Anstruther Lake, Buckhorn Lake and Chemong Lake Rooms, second floor, Peterborough Public Health, 185 King St., Peterborough, Ontario.
A list of Board of Health meeting dates and locations can be found here.