THUNDER BAY – Minister of Health Patty Hajdu says while COVID-19 hasn’t swept into Northwestern Ontario in great numbers to date, it’s not the time to get complacent.
Hajdu, also the Liberal MP in Thunder Bay-Superior North, said despite being front-and-centre in the country’s pandemic efforts, she’s been paying close attention to what’s going on in the region and her riding.
Only one confirmed case has been diagnosed in Thunder Bay, a 60-year-old man who returned to Canada after a week in Florida. His wife is also suspected to have the virus.The small numbers to date are great, but nothing to celebrate, Hajdu said.
“It is good news, but it is also early,” Hajdu said. “We know that since the spread of COVID-19, it does often hit the larger centres, where there is more international travel and more dense populations and denser living conditions that increase the likelihood of spread.
“But I don’t think that means we can let down our guard in Northwestern Ontario. This is an extremely sneaky little virus and we know that as people start to make plans to maybe get away to their cottages, etc., there’s an even stronger risk in these more remote areas of Northwestern Ontario.”
Hajdu added she’s encouraged Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre will soon be able to administer and analyze its own COVID-19 tests.
“That’s going to make a huge difference in terms of our capacity to react quickly in the North, to be able to have testing validation locally and close to home as part of our national strategy around testing. The fact that labs are getting up and running across the country in smaller communities like Thunder Bay is very, very important.”
While some politicians south of the border, notably President Donald Trump, have been suggesting it will be business as usual in a couple of weeks, downplaying the seriousness of the virus, the Health Minister said Canada doesn’t see it that way and she is worried about cross-border rhetoric suggesting otherwise.
“We are concerned about any country that’s not taking this seriously, and of course with the United States, and their cases rising so rapidly and the messaging that we know their approach is different than ours or potentially different than ours,” Hajdu said, adding it played a major factor in the joint decision with the U.S. to close the border last Friday to all non-essential traffic.
“We’re following our own scientists and our own public health leaders who are giving us the science as it unfolds, not just in Canada, but internationally. And we’re part of a number of international research projects as well.
“So while we do this social distancing, we’re not resting and just hoping for a good outcome. We’re actually combining our research and science efforts with the world.”
To help ease worried business owners and employees, on Friday the Trudeau Liberals announced they plan to increase the wage subsidy to qualifying small- and medium-sized businesses from an initial offer of 10 per cent, to 75 per cent.
The move should allow more Canadian businesses to survive the pandemic and hopefully emerge in a healthy fashion.
Hajdu urged Canadians to stay the course.
“We have to rely on the science here. I understand the desire and the tension, by the way , to maybe wish this away and think that it’s not serious. But we’ve got enough examples around the world, of significant negative outcomes, that I don’t think we can rest on our laurels and hope that this isn’t happening and the science is wrong,” Hajdu said.
As for the stress of the job, the second-term cabinet minister said it’s been a whirlwind couple of months, but the sacrifice must be made.
“I think the hardest part for me now is with all the travel disruptions in my own schedule, I haven’t been home now for two weeks. So I haven’t seen my partner and it’s looking like this weekend is more and more likely that I’ll be in Ottawa again,” she said.
“So that uncertainty of being able to go home and connect with my family is the hardest part.”
