Dr. Lock Delivers Last Media Update as SWPH Medical Officer of Health

Wednesday, 23 March 2022 14:35

Dr. Joyce Lock is retiring at the end of the month and today she provided her last media update as the local Medical Officer of Health.

The Medical Officer of Health for Southwestern Public Health has delivered her last COVID-19 update to the media.

Dr. Joyce Jock is retiring at the end of this month. She will be replaced by Dr. Ninh Tran. Dr. Lock opened her remarks by stating that the pandemic is not over.

"There are hundreds of active cases in our communities, some we know of through PCR testing and some we know of anecdotally . Our weekly percent positivity rate is 15.2 percent, which is lower than our peak in January but is much higher than at any other point during the pandemic."

The good news is the number of outbreaks are down to just 1 and the amount of people in the hospital and ICU is dropping. March had fewer deaths than at any other time this year. Dr. Lock says this is due to our high vaccination rates. The rate of hospitalization is more than 2 times higher for people who are vaccinated compared to unvaccinated. The rate of death is also higher in unvaccinated people, with the rate 5.9 per 100,000 vs no deaths in the SWPH regions vaccinated group.

Dr. Lock served as the Medical Officer of Health for the past 8 years, including these last two during the pandemic. She says she is looking forward to retirement.

"I consider retirement to be the dessert of our working career, we all have to earn our dessert and we have to wait until we have done the main and now I get to have dessert and I look forward to just playing. I look forward to playing tennis, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, reading good books, cooking and spending time with friends, lot's of play I hope, god willing with good health."

CEO of Southwestern Public Health Cynthia St. John wanted to thank Dr. Lock for her work over the past 8 years.

"Dr. Lock has been involved in so many different elements of our public health work, she has further developed our relationships with primary care in the region, she has developed meaningful relationships with our clients in our sexual health area. Joyce has been a strong advocate for health in all policies approach and she has been a driver for the importance of system wide change, regardless of the public health matter."

St. John says that Dr. Lock has been a calm and steady voice, providing us with practical information and guidance during the pandemic.

Dr. Lock concluded her remarks today, thanking citizens and the media for doing their part to stop the spread of COVID-19.