Kawartha Lakes’ top medical officer shares positive news on COVID-19

DAN CEARNS, The Standard

KAWARTHA LAKES: Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s (HKPR) Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Natalie Bocking, shared some promising results, recently, about the current COVID-19 situation in the area.

“We certainly have had a decrease in COVID-19 activity in the last couple of weeks. I would say we are on the tail end of the sixth wave of COVID-19, or the second wave of Omicron; however, you’d like to define it,” she said, during a virtual press conference, on Wednesday, June 1st.

Dr. Bocking stated, the health unit has been seeing between 10 to 20 “new lab-confirmed cases per day.” “This is a decrease from around 60 or around 100 new cases per day, which we were seeing at the height or the peak of the wave,” she added.

Dr. Bocking also explained the health unit’s wastewater surveillance initiative is “also indicating a significant decrease in COVID-19 activity.”

The local medical officer forecasted the future of Omicron variant spread in the community.

“I anticipate because Omicron is so infectious, it’s not going to disappear completely. We’re going to continue to likely see an ongoing trickle of cases. We may see little bumps in our wastewater surveillance data. But hopefully, now we’re at a period of time where we’re not seeing a significant increase or another surge or wave,” Dr. Bocking said.

But she stressed the importance of continuing to wear masks in certain settings.

“I do think it’s prudent to continue to wear masks in indoor settings, [at] large crowded events, where it’s much less likely you’d be able to keep a distance from other folks in the room or in the vicinity. This is not just to protect one’s self but also for protecting those other community members who are at higher risk of illness.”

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