Adam Prudhomme
Editor
KFLA Public Health’s acting medical officer of health Dr. Hugh Guan held his first community update with local media on Thursday, covering a range of topics from vaccine eligibility to current COVID-19 case counts.
“I want to thank the community for everything everyone has done,” said Guan. “I am cautiously optimistic. My staff is probably sick and tired of me saying cautiously optimistic but I am really am cautiously optimistic of the path we’re treading. In terms of cases, cases have dramatically dropped over the past few weeks.”
As of Thursday there are three active cases in the KFLA region after one new case was reported alongside two recoveries. One previous case requiring hospitalization was also discharged.
Guan said testing remains high with about one per cent of the KFLA population getting swabbed per week with 0.04 per cent returning as positive. The number of active cases per 100,000 people is at 0.05 per cent, well within the province’s former ‘green’ community status rating.
“We’ve reached a milestone I believe a day or two ago with 75 per cent adults age 18 and over having received at least one dose of vaccination and I’m also happy to report we’re at 18.6 per cent of adults receiving two doses of vaccination,” said Guan. “We’re soon hitting that 70/20 indicator.”
Vaccination rates are expected to hold steady over the coming weeks as the KFLA region will benefit from an influx of three million Moderna doses that have been pledged to Canada from the U.S.
“That is also translating locally whereby we are getting also additional Moderna through all our different channels, primary care, pharmacies as well as the Public Health Unit across Ontario,” said Guan. “Estimated over this week and probably the same as next week we’re receiving locally 30,000 combined Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.”
During Guan’s call with local media, the province announced as of June 28 all adults in Ontario would be eligible to start booking their second shot. Guan told residents to check KFLA Public Health’s social media pages for updates for pop up clinics as well as daily standby lists. He also reminded people to cancel any appointments if they book one for sooner than originally scheduled.
When asked about the Delta variant, Guan said though it hasn’t made its way into the KFLA region as of yet, it did cause some concern on his part.
“When I first heard about the Delta variant I was concerned,” he said. “Anytime you hear about a new variant of concern we are always concerned about it. The provincial strategy is to kind of contain the Delta variant. Right now it seems to be mostly in the GTA as well as some other Public Health Units. That is the provincial strategy of doing mass immunizations in that area to try and cocoon the rest of the province away from further spread to the rest of the province. With more research about the Delta variant I’m becoming, again using the words, cautiously optimistic. Some of the recent research about the Delta variant, even with one dose, although it may not prevent symptomatic illness, so people may still get sick from it, it still seems to be quite effective against hospitalization and death.”
Guan went on to say he recommends getting two doses to become just that much more protected.
As the province continues to open in steps, Guan said there could be slight increases in cases with each stage.
“Things are still looking good,” Guan said of the KFLA region so far during stage one of the province’s re-opening strategy. “We’re kind of in that monitoring stage over the next few days. I hope, knock on wood, that we won’t see any additional surge in cases however that is at the back of our minds. I just wanted to emphasize all the great Public Health measures folks have been following including staying home if you’re sick, getting tested if you have symptoms, washing your hands, wearing a mask and staying distanced if you have to be around others. Doing all the great work that people have already been doing will make sure that our cases continue to be low and that we won’t have a sudden surge in cases.”
He added KFLA is in a ‘great spot’ right now.
Guan assumed the role as acting medical officer of health following the promotion of Dr. Kieran Moore to Ontario’s medical officer of health. KFLA Public Health has indicated it intends to name Moore’s permanent replacement by the end of the summer. In the meantime, Guan said he’s eager to continue the success the region has seen as they’ve posted some of the lowest active case counts across the province.
“I’m just looking forward to working with the community and recovering,” said Guan. “Recovering from COVID, moving towards that future where we can loosen some restrictions and we do have everyone covered with vaccinations and just getting back to maybe not the old normal but a new normal.”