The region’s Acting Medical Officer of Health is renewing his call for the province to reintroduce its masking mandate as COVID-19 indicators head in the wrong direction.
Every indicator in this week’s epidemiological summary suggests more people have COVID-19, and the virus is spreading rapidly.
Keeping in mind the health unit only tracks cases in high-risk settings, the summary shows a 22.7 per cent increase in the case rate to 187.6 for every 100,000 residents. Test positivity is up 2.4 percentage points to 20.8 per cent. Hospitalizations climbed, and wastewater data shows the current viral load is similar to what it was at the peak of the Omicron wave.
“It’s on track to potentially be the highest [since the health unit began using wastewater data as an indicator],” said Manager of Epidemiology Ramsey D’Souza. “With the lack of testing across our population, this is one indicator that gives us some insight in terms of what we might be seeing across our community.”
At the same time, Doctor Shanker Nesathurai and CEO Nicole Dupuis confessed they were worried about the absentee rate in schools and hospitals.
Absenteeism prompted a call for a return to masking in Hamilton public schools. In Ottawa, trustees voted to reintroduce a masking policy in public schools. Nesathurai is aware his colleagues in Niagara and Peterborough also support a return to masks.
The local public health unit has the power to implement policies at the local level, but so far, Nesathurai has resisted a mandatory masking policy for Windsor-Essex. He told reporters the spread is across Ontario, so a local directive would not be as effective.
“There may be a time when the health district has to act at a local level, but my preference would be to see a province-wide approach,” he said.
On Thursday, Premier Doug Ford gave no indication he would re-instate a mask mandate saying there was enough capacity in Ontario hospitals to handle any surge.
The health unit reported 121 new cases and 362 active ones in high-risk settings on Thursday. A total of 57 people are in local hospitals with the virus, and two are in intensive care.
The region’s vaccination rates have not changed significantly. Those five to 11 still have the lowest rate of inoculation at just 11 per cent, while only 31.1 per cent have had a second dose.