Catégorie : Tribune-Express (Hawkesbury)

Dr. Paul Roumeliotis will remain in his position as the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) medical officer of health, a title he has held since 2007. ALPHA is the peak body for Ontario’s boards of health and public health units. The organization advises governments and other health organizations “to advocate for a strong, effective and efficient public health system across the province”. 

Dr. Roumeliotis said he was honoured to be appointed as the association’s president, and said COVID-19 had made the association’s role even more important. “During our current COVID-19 pandemic, alPHa’s role in advocating for and protecting the health of Ontarians is more important than ever,” he said. “I am looking forward to working with our multiple government and community partners and stakeholders as we plan for and enter the recovery phase of this pandemic.” 

Dr. Roumeliotis came to prominence early in the pandemic, when he coordinated the local response to the federal quarantining of cruise ship passengers at the Nav Centre in Cornwall. His role at the EOHU continued to involve overseeing and coordinating local case, testing and contact management, data collection and reporting, outbreak management, emergency measures and a mass immunization strategy for the region. 

In addition to his roles at the EOHU, Dr. Roumeliotis also sits on the Provincial Public Health Measures Table, the Provincial Health System (R5) Table, the Education Sector Preparedness and COVID-19 Outbreak Planning Tables, and Ontario’s Provincial Council of Maternal and Child Health. He also holds regular briefings with the media and the public about the current state of the pandemic in the region. 

A Mobile Crisis Response Team has operated in Prescott County since February with involvement of the Hawkesbury Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detachment and Hawkesbury General Hospital (HGH). A similar team from the hospital and the Russell County OPP detachment is expected to begin next month. 

The crisis response teams are designed to provide early intervention and options for people in mental-health related crises.  When a 911 call for mental health was received, an OPP officer and mental health professional would provide the affected person and their family with “immediate and appropriate care” with a reduction in “traumatic mental health apprehensions”, a statement from the Hawkesbury OPP said. Issues could include loss of shelter or basic needs, risk of self-harm to others, intoxication and not knowing where to turn.  

Provincial Constable Mario Gratton and mental health counsellor Frantz Neveu from HGH have patrolled Hawkesbury and the surrounding area three days a week since February. Neveu is able to screen for serious mental health situations or substance abuse, complete a mental health assessment, advocate for client care with various partners in the community, and assist people needing emergency hospitalization, while Constable Gratton provides a secure environment and assists with emergency hospitalization. 

Hawkesbury OPP detachment commander, Inspector Chris McGillis said the partnership would help provide access to critical mental health services. Some 110 mental health-related calls for service have been dealt with in the Hawkesbury detachment’s patrol area so far this year, compared to 194 for the whole of 2020. 

« The collaboration between the OPP and the Hawkesbury General Hospital will greatly enhance the access to vital services for clients in critical need of care, as well as, increasing efficiencies in providing these services,” Inspector McGillis said. 

Russell County’s mobile crisis response team will begin on July 5 with Provincial Constable Melissa Bouchard and mental health social worker Bruce Denis from HGH. Constable Bouchard said the hours of operation in Russell County had not yet been determined, but said the program would help find residents with the right support provider and prevent repeat calls for mental health crises. 

“We are right now responding to a lot of mental health related calls,” she said. “It’s also to lower the number of people with mental health issues entering the criminal justice system. We intervene before they get into criminal justice or enter a court process.” 

Constable Bouchard said the program could also help create more positive interactions between police and the community. “We want it to be a positive outcome,” she said. “Sometimes when you have a civilian paired with a police officer, sometimes the outsider sees it as less intimidating and more approachable.” 

HGH chief of staff Dr. Julie Maranda said the partnership would help people in need. “’This new partnership will provide persons, facing difficult circumstances, personalized and adapted care in a private and secure environment,” she said. “By working with the OPP, we’re focusing on the client’s need and offering access to the right care, at the right time in the right place.” 

À partir de mercredi, les rassemblements intérieurs de cinq personnes au maximum seront autorisés, de même que les rassemblements extérieurs de 25 personnes au maximum. Les services de soins personnels, tels que les salons de coiffure, seront également autorisés à rouvrir à 25% de leur capacité et à condition que des masques faciaux soient portés en permanence.  

D’autres lieux en plein air, les hippodromes et les pistes de vitesse, les installations sportives, les foires, les expositions rurales et les festivals, ainsi que les salles de concert, les théâtres et les cinémas, seront également autorisés à accueillir 25% de leur capacité de visiteurs. Les sports d’équipe en plein air sans contact, ou modifiés pour éviter les contacts, seraient autorisés avec des restrictions, mais aucune limite supérieure n’a été fixée pour le nombre de participants. Les services religieux à l’intérieur, ainsi que les mariages et les funérailles, seraient autorisés à une capacité de 25% de la salle d’accueil.  

La deuxième étape du plan de réouverture de la province devait initialement commencer le 2 juillet, mais elle a été avancée en raison du «taux de vaccination à l’échelle de la province qui dépasse maintenant les objectifs» fixés dans le plan, selon une déclaration du gouvernement. L’Ontario devait avoir vacciné 70% de la population avec une première dose et 20% avec une deuxième dose pendant au moins deux semaines.  

Dans le Bureau de santé de l’est de l’Ontario (BSEO), plus de 167 515 vaccins ont été administrés jusqu’à présent. Plus de 50% de tous les groupes d’âge, à l’exception des moins de 20 ans, ont reçu au moins leur première dose de vaccin.   

La troisième étape du plan de réouverture devrait commencer au moins trois semaines après le début de la deuxième étape. Pour que la troisième étape puisse commencer, entre 70 et 80% des adultes doivent avoir reçu leur première dose de vaccin, 25% ayant reçu les deux doses.  

La troisième étape permettra d’augmenter la capacité de personnes pouvant se rassembler en plein air et d’élargir le nombre de lieux intérieurs autorisés à rouvrir.

La ville de Hawkesbury recevra une subvention de 175 000 $, du programme Investir dans le Canada, pour l’aider à payer les coûts des modifications apportées à l’entrée principale du complexe sportif Robert Hartley. Les modifications comprennent l’installation de portes coulissantes automatiques qui ne nécessitent aucune intervention humaine pour s’ouvrir et se fermer. 

«C’est le coup de pouce que nous attendions, a déclaré la maire Paula Assaly. Cette subvention va permettre un saut significatif dans l’avancement du projet.» 

D’autres ajouts à l’entrée principale rénovée du complexe comprennent des compteurs de personnes automatisés, le déplacement du bureau d’information plus près de l’entrée et la mise à jour du système de ventilation du bâtiment. 

Ces rénovations permettront au centre de loisirs public de répondre aux nouvelles mesures de sécurité en matière de santé publique contre le COVID-19. Les travaux de rénovation commenceront à la fin de la saison estivale et devraient s’achever à la fin du mois de décembre. 

As of Monday, every adult in the province could book an earlier date, if available, for their second shot of the vaccine through the online booking portal. Such changes needed to be made manually, and the previous appointment would be deleted from the system once a new date was set. 

Meanwhile, the EOHU has allowed those aged between 12 and 17 to receive a Pfizer vaccine at mass immunization clinics without an appointment. The initiative is limited to residents of Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry, Prescott-Russell, Cornwall or Akwesasne. Second doses would only be administered without an appointment to those whose first dose happened between eight and 16 weeks prior. 

EOHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said the walk-in vaccines were intended to boost the percentage of teenagers who had received at least one dose before school begins in the fall. “We’re only at about 52 percent of those individuals, we’d like to be at the 70 to 75 percent range,” he said. “Right now, we want to get good first dose coverage.” 

As of Monday, 179,164 doses had been administered across the EOHU. About 78 percent of adults in the area had received at least one dose, while about 27 percent had received both doses. The health unit will add another 22,000 appointments from July 18 to 25, which will become available later this week. 

Active cases drop 

A correction in the EOHU’s calculation of cases pushed the active case count lower over the past week. As of Monday, just four cases were active in the region, three of which were in Prescott-Russell. Two new deaths were also recorded over the past week. Dr. Roumeliotis said the two residents were elderly, but did not have information on their vaccination status. 

Two of the active cases in Prescott-Russell were in Clarence-Rockland, while the other was in The Nation. No other municipalities had recorded active cases at the time of publication. None of those with COVID-19 had been hospitalized or admitted to intensive care.