By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—Following over a year’s worth of weekly roundtables with the local Medical Officer of Health and Haldimand Norfolk Health Unit (HNHU) staff with the media, the health unit has announced a rollback.
Updates will now only take place biweekly as new information related to the pandemic and vaccine rollout slows down.
“The impetus is less about the ‘improvement’ in the status of the pandemic and more about the ‘pace of change’ of the pandemic,” said Jarah Stefek, Supervisor of Corporate Communications for HNHU.
She added, “It’s important for the community to know that the pandemic is not over – and we certainly do not want to give the impression that public health measures can be lessened, as we are not out of the woods yet. Rather, the vaccination numbers are growing slowly now and there are limited programmatic changes in both cases and vaccines, which means less information to report for our media calls.”
HNHU will continue to send weekly vaccine updates to the media. The Haldimand Press will continue to provide weekly statistical updates related to county, provincial, and national vaccine, hospitalization, and new case rates for the foreseeable future.
Outbreak at MPSS
An outbreak was declared at McKinnon Park Secondary School on October 18, 2021. The initial positive case was identified October 10, and a subsequent positive case was identified on October 15. The epidemiological link was discovered on October 18, which is required for the declaration of an outbreak. For privacy reasons, the identity of the COVID-19 cases will not be disclosed.
Grand Erie has provided the health unit with class lists, transportation records and childcare information to support case management and contact tracing.
McKinnon Park Secondary School remains open for those students and staff not required to self-isolate.
