Renfrew County and District’s acting medical officer of health has put some teeth into orders for people to self-isolate if they are a confirmed case of COVID-19 or have been in close contact with someone who is.
Dr. Robert Cushman issued a formal “Section 22 order” Friday afternoon under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
The order requires all residents of Renfrew County and District (RCD), to “immediately begin self-isolation” if they:
- are a confirmed case or probable case of COVID-19;
- have signs and symptoms of COVID-19, have been tested for COVID-19 and are awaiting the results of their test;
- believe they now have one or more symptoms (even mild symptoms) of COVID-19; or
- are a close contact of a person diagnosed with COVID-19 or are a close contact of a person identified as a probable case of COVID-19.
The Section 22 order comes into effect today, Friday, October 30, and is being issued “to ensure that community transmission of COVID-19 is minimized or eliminated,” the health unit said in a statement.
“It is clear, that COVID-19 is present in RCD, and as cases of COVID-19 continue to increase, there continues to be increased risk of outbreaks in settings such as schools, workplaces and long-term care and retirement homes, which impacts all residents living within RCD,” said Dr. Cushman.
“We cannot stress enough, how important it is, that everyone do their part to stay home if they are sick, avoid contact with people who are ill, limit their social activities, practice physical distancing (2 metres), wear a mask/face covering when physical distancing cannot be maintained, wash their hands, use the COVID Alert App, and complete the COVID19 self-assessment tool or COVID-19 school and child care self-assessment tool daily if you go to work, school or daycare, to monitor for symptoms and proper guidance.”
Anyone who fails to comply with a Section 22 order can be charged under the Health Protection and Promotion Act and could face fines of up to $5,000 a day.
The order also gives the health unit the power to apply for a court order to “require a
person to be taken into custody and be admitted or detained in a hospital for a medical
examination.”
Under the order, “self-isolation” means that residents must remain in their home or “isolation facility.”
“Do not go outside, unless on to a private balcony or enclosed yard where you can avoid close contact with others. You must not have any visitors into your home except as permitted by RCDHU.”
“During the self-isolation period” of 14 days, residents must also “conduct yourself in such a manner as not to expose another person to infection of COVID-19 by following infection control instructions on www.rcdhu.com or given to you by RCDHU or any other staff of a health care facility to which you may seek or receive treatment.”
Residents must also provide the health unit with contact tracing information “immediately upon request” and “follow any further instructions provided by RCDHU pertaining to COVID-19 and the terms and conditions of this order.”
Renfrew County has seen a sharp spike in cases of COVID-19 in the past two weeks.
Figures released by the Renfrew County and District Health Unit on Friday showed the area with 99 confirmed cases, up 24 from Monday of the week before.
In all, 83 of the county’s cases are considered “resolved” and there were 15 active cases, with all of those individuals self-isolating at home.
There were no COVID patients in hospital, and the county has had one death, a 90-year-old resident of a Pembroke nursing home who died in the early days of the pandemic last spring.
Renfrew and area have seen the highest number of confirmed cases with 45 (up from 33 the previous week), followed by Pembroke and area at 22, Arnprior and area with 15, and Petawawa with 12.
Deep River has now had three confirmed cases, while Barry’s Bay and area has had two.
As of October 27, the county has had 32 positive cases of COVID this month, the highest single monthly total since March. September had been the previous high, with 27 cases.
Twenty-eight of the county’s cases in October are considered to have been passed by “close contact” with a positive individual, with four are cases of unconfirmed “community spread.”
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