Tips From Huron Perth Public Health

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Monday, 15 June 2020 16:45

Everyone is reminded to keep your distance, wear a mask, wash your hands and stay home if you're sick. Testing is available to anyone with even just one mild symptom of COVID-19.

HURON/PERTH COUNTY - The Huron Perth Public Health unit is asking residents to be patient and courteous as we continue to see more things opening around the region.

Stage 2 means that the province is allowing businesses, services and public spaces to re-open, it does not mean they have to do so immediately. Operators need time to make sure they have public health measures in place to protect themselves, their employees and their customers.

Public health measures everyone should be taking include:

- keep your physical distance from people outside of your household/social circle and do not share food or drinks

- Wear a cloth mask if you are not able to physically distance

- Wash hands frequently with soap and water

- Stay home if you are sick.

HPPH has received calls from people wanting to be tested so that they can visit long-term care facilities and retirement homes. Please contact your healthcare provider with these inquiries. If you do not have a health care provider, you may contact Huron Perth Public Health.

A reminder that testing continues to be available for:

- All people with at least one symptom of COVID-19, even for mild symptoms.

- People who are concerned that they have been exposed to COVID-19. This includes people who are contacts of or may have been exposed to a confirmed or suspected case.

- People who are at risk of exposure to COVID-19 through their employment, including essential workers (e.g., health care workers, grocery store employees, food processing plants).

There are testing sites operating every day of the week across Huron and Perth.Testing is available by appointment so that the staff at the testing centre can be prepared for your visit and to also reduce potential wait times.

How to Get Tested in Huron-Perth:

- Complete the online assessment tool or call your local healthcare provider.

- If you do not have a family doctor, contact Huron Perth Public Health (1-888-221-2133 ext. 3267) and have your Health Card number ready.

- Once you have been assessed, an appointment will be made at a testing centre convenient for you.

- After hours: If you are calling your local health care provider after hours, please follow their instructions. If you have called HPPH after 4 p.m., we will call you back the next day, even on weekends, to help arrange testing. If you are experiencing worsening illness or symptoms, call your local ER.

Recently, Huron Perth Public Health has received questions from people unsure if they have been exposed to COVID-19. When Huron Perth Public Health receives a report of a confirmed positive case of COVID-19, public health staff immediately begin to conduct thorough contact tracing related to the case, which is a priority for stopping the spread of COVID-19.

Upon receiving a report of a confirmed case, public health staff:

- Immediately follows up to ensure the person diagnosed is self-isolating, and identifies the period in which they would have been infectious.

- Retraces the person’s actions from 48 hours prior to testing (for asymptomatic people) or 48 hours prior to symptom onset to assess who may have come in contact with the individual while they were capable of transmitting illness. Then public health asks what type of interaction took place in order to identify everyone who may be at risk of infection.

- Follows up with each person identified as being at risk. For those at higher risk, direction is provided including whether they need to isolate and for how long. For many, the risk is not high and those individuals will need to monitor their symptoms for up to two weeks to ensure they do not become infected. High-risk contacts typically have had face-to-face contact with the case within 2 metres (6 feet) for a prolonged period of time (greater than 15 minutes).

- HPPH connects with both high- and medium-risk contacts of a case to complete teaching and continues to monitor them until they are no longer infectious (approximately 14 days).