Renfrew County’s acting medical officer of health is urging area residents to wear a mask in public places as case numbers begin to rise in a “sixth wave” of Covid-19.
In a video message Friday, Dr. Robert Cushman says the province was “a little carefree, frankly” through March by dropping requirements for proof of vaccination and the lifting of mandatory masking, “and it looks like we’re going to pay for it.”
“The question is how badly we’re going to pay for it. Hopefully it’s not going to be too bad,” he said.
Covid case numbers have been rising in Ontario, hitting 3,519 new daily cases and a seven-day average of 2,542 on April 1, up from lows of 1,076 daily cases and an average of 1,720 on March 15.
Cushman said the increase seems to be at least partly due to the spread of a new variant of the omicron virus, known as BA.2.
“It’s hard to say whether it spreads more readily (or) whether it’s more serious. We don’t know,” he said.
But Cushman noted the new variant already makes up half the new cases of Covid-19 in the United States and will soon “if not already” account for half of all new cases in Ontario.
Dr. Cushman noted that as of April 1, Renfrew County has 18 Covid patients in hospital, two children at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and eight outbreaks.
One in eight people being tested is now testing positive “but as you know, we’re not testing enough people” so “we figure for every one (person) we find, there’s probably another 10 to 15 out there with the disease.”
“If you’re well vaccinated, sometimes this disease is like a cold,” he added, “but on the other hand, we need to take this seriously.”
Cushman said it continues to be “very important” to get vaccinated and stay up to date with the number of vaccine doses recommended.
For most people in Renfrew County, that means getting their third shot, he said, but for those over 65, “I think we’ll be hearing shortly about a fourth vaccine.”
Cushman said that if you had told him from the beginning that people would need three or four vaccine shots over 18 months, “it is disappointing.”
“These vaccines aren’t magic bullets but this is what we have to do,” and people who are fully vaccinated, “if they do get this disease, it’s much more mild,” he said.
Cushman said that unfortunately, “we’re going to be at this for months and years.”
“So vaccines work and they’re our best protection and we need to keep thinking about them,” he said. “So vaccines, vaccines, vaccines – we’re in this for the long haul.”
In the short term, he said, to get through April, “I would suggest masking in public places.”
“When you’re out shopping, certainly if you’re at the barber shop, for example, or a beauty salon, it’s very important to mask.”
“The kids have been able to mask, they had no problem with it, and if you’re not masking, please be tolerant of those who are,” he added.
“It’s certainly our right and it can protect us.”
Equally important, Dr. Cushman said, is to “think a lot about how big a group you’re going to be in.”
“Keep your social setting small for the next month at least until we really get into outdoor activities.”
And most important, if you have any symptoms, “please don’t go to work or to school.”
“What we see now is that people are bringing Covid into hospitals, into long-term care homes, into retirement homes, into schools and into businesses,” he said.
“We all talk about keeping the economy going. Well, it’s one thing to have a restaurant that’s fully open but it you’re only half-staffed…”
It’s the same in other businesses, hospitals and long-term care, he said, “if you can’t provide the services you need.”
“So be careful and as I said, I think we’ve got another month of this,” Cushman concluded.
“We can see if we can successfully ride out this second variant of (the omicron virus) and bring on the good weather and hopefully we’ll have all this in the rearview mirror.”
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