As students return to the classroom this week, the area’s top doctor says he is confident in the Grey Bruce Health Unit’s (GBHU) school reopening plan.
“We have invested sufficient effort in these opening plans,” said Dr. Ian Arra, medical officer of health for GBHU, as he addressed Grey County Council at today’s council meeting.
“There is communication with different stakeholders and we will continue to monitor the situation, whether it's the epidemiology or the compliance. I feel confident we are well-positioned.”
According to Arra, through provincial funding, there will be new public health nurses added to the staffing makeup of various schools in Grey and Bruce counties.
“We have received an announcement that we will have funding for nine public health nurses in schools,” Arra said, adding that recruitment of the nurses has already begun.
“We have to be very conservative when it comes to the health of children, when it comes to the health of the community at large. Any outbreak in a school would spill out into the community and vice-versa,” he said.
Arra explains that there are three options for the school system in a pandemic situation - complete return to the classroom, complete closure, and a modified 50-50 approach.
In the case of an outbreak in a local school, according to Arra, a complete shutdown is unlikely.
“I don't see a complete shutdown, similar to March and April. We have enough evidence, and it's accumulated from different jurisdictions and countries, that if we implement five measures, it will be sufficient to control the outbreak,” Arra explained.
Those five measures are maintaining social distance, frequent hand washing, wearing masks in indoor spaces, avoiding crowds and trying to use the outdoors more than the indoors.
“All in all, yes, we would have to be conservative and use any metric to ensure safety,” he said.
In an effort to keep everyone informed, Bluewater School District School Board (BWDSB) recently developed a new webpage that will provide ongoing updates regarding any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in BWDSB schools and facilities.
At today’s council meeting, Arra also took time to address the upcoming holidays, saying it is just too early to make a definitive answer on Halloween and Christmas plans.
“It is a better practice to wait until two or three weeks before the event because the epidemiology can change within weeks. It is difficult to try to predict the different scenarios that could happen around the time,” Arra said.
“However, outdoor activity and family bubbles would be the best approach,” he added.
The GBHU will be providing COVID-safety recommendations for the public closer to the Halloween and Christmas holiday seasons.
Yesterday, Arra also renewed the order requiring face coverings to be worn in public, indoor spaces. The renewed order comes into effect Sept. 11 and will be in place for 28 days.
In today’s situation report, GBHU reports there are no new cases of COVID in the region in the past 24 hours.
GBHU has seen a total of 129 COVID-19 cases. There have been no COVID-related deaths in GBHU and only two cases requiring hospitalization.
The region currently has two active cases.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Grey County included - Owen Sound (54); Southgate (16); West Grey (8); Blue Mountains (7); Grey Highlands (6); Meaford (6); Georgian Bluffs (2); Hanover (2); Chatsworth (1). Bruce County has had 27 confirmed cases.
