THUNDER BAY - With cases of COVID-19 appearing in more countries, including the first presumptive case in Quebec, city and health care officials say the specific actions are limited to prepare for the inevitable likelihood of the virus arriving in the north.
“Specific actions taken by the corporation now are not a lot,” said Thunder Bay city manager, Norm Gale. “We do have some changes to emergency services response, meaning questions from dispatch that would advise paramedics, firefighters, or police officers whether someone potentially has COVID-19.”
To date, more than 78,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 around the world, with more than 2,800 deaths attributed to the virus. More countries are seeing an increase in the number of cases reported and there are 12 confirmed cases in Canada.
Gale said to the city’s knowledge there are no cases in Thunder Bay, but he added it is probably an inevitability that it will be here.
“But for us it’s about influenza. Influenza is the more paramount threat,” he said. “We do have a pandemic influenza plan that we are dusting off that we are taking a look at.”
Following other flu outbreaks in the early and mid-2000s, the city updated its pandemic planning and still has a stockpile of personal protective equipment for emergency and health care workers.
Tanelle Rabachuk, director of health protection with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, agrees that given what is happening around the world, it is not impossible for COVID-19 to show up in the city.
“You can’t really say for sure, but we definitely could be in a position where we diagnose someone with COVID-19, but if that did happen, we are prepared to respond to that as a community,” she said.
Rabachuk added that the response is a national one based on discussions at the federal, provincial, and municipal level.
“At a local level, we are receiving daily communication from our provincial ministry and they are giving us advice and direction on how to respond,” she said. “Thunder Bay is a tightknit community, especially with regards to health care, so these conversations between health care providers have been happening for many weeks. I think that we are taking a look at our resources and how we can work together so we are prepared if there is a case of COVID-19 in the city.”
In the event the virus does arrive in the city and infection spreads, Gale said city services would most likely be impacted, but there are plans in place in that event.
“We will take a look at the services we provide,” he said. “We will look at what the vital and essential services are and protect those the most we can and other services that are enjoyable but not vital or essential will be the first to mitigate.”
But Rabachuk said the risk to Canadians remains low and people should remain calm and continue to practice infection prevention methods such as hand washing, staying home when sick, and coughing and sneezing into your arm.
“I think something that is really important to consider is to stay abreast of what is happening and using credible sources of information to get that,” Rabachuk added. “Websites such as Ontario.ca or the World Health Organization are credible sources to get that information.”
