The Temiskaming Speaker
DISTRICT – Limit your close contacts to your household. Don’t travel outside the district unless you must. Inquire about COVID-19 testing even if you’ve just got a runny nose.
That was the message from Temiskaming’s acting medical officer of health this afternoon (December 23) as case numbers reached 48. Twenty have been reported in the past week alone.
Dr. Glenn Corneil urged the public to adopt the mindset that Temiskaming is under a lockdown now.
That it was only the second press conference called since mid-March and the declaration of a pandemic indicates the significance of rising case numbers, said Corneil, the district’s acting medical officer of health and CEO of the Timiskaming Health Unit.
Posted: Dec 21, 2020 8:21 AM ET | Last Updated: December 21, 2020
There are reports that northern Ontario will go back into lockdown on Christmas Eve. Premier Doug Ford is expected to make the announcement Monday afternoon. (Erik White/CBC)
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The Timiskaming Health Unit (THU) is declaring a school outbreak of COVID-19. The outbreak is situated at Ecole Secondaire Catholique Sainte-Marie (ESCSM).
An outbreak in a school is defined as two or more lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in students and/or staff (or other visitors) in a school with an epidemiological link, within a 14-day period, where at least one case could have reasonably acquired their infection in the school (including transportation and before/after school care).
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Extensive work continues between THU and ESCSM. Contact tracing efforts have been amplified and if you are identified as a close contact you already have, or are in the process of being contacted.
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COVID-19 continues to sink its teeth into Timiskaming, with three new cases in the north end of the district including a hospital worker at Kirkland and District Hospital.
The three new cases are all self isolating, the Timiskaming Health Unit said Saturday, adding it is working closely with the hospital and all Infection prevention and control measures are being followed.
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“We realize there are community concerns when COVID-19 directly affects our hospitals like this,” said Blanche River Health President and CEO, Sean Conroy. “But I want to reassure people that we have implemented many infection control protocols that are designed to provide for safe patient and visitor interactions with our health care team, while also aiming to protect our own staff and inpatients to the greatest extent possible.”
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