THUNDER BAY — The Medical Officer of Health for the Thunder Bay district believes the region is in a good position to maintain its low incidence of COVID-19 even after schools reopen next month.
Since the pandemic was declared, the district has seen 104 confirmed cases, and there are currently only two active cases.
Dr. Janet DeMille says the COVID-19 rate here is very low, and describes the pandemic as "very well-controlled" for now across the district.
"Really, we couldn't be doing better in the context of this global pandemic," DeMille said in an interview.
She attributed this to the commitment of area residents, institutions and businesses to following protocols for reducing the spread of the virus.
DeMille called the reopening of schools "rather complicated" and "a big thing," but said she doesn't believe it will necessarily cause the number of COVID-19 cases to increase.
She said the main factor keeping the incidence low is the community spread of the virus, which has been minimal to this point.
"If the community spread continues to be low as schools reopen, and after, then that should maintain any spread of the virus in schools at a low level as well," DeMille explained.
At the same time, however, she cautioned that no one should let their guard down on the basis of what's happened locally during the first wave of the pandemic.
"There's a framework for reopening schools that includes all the measures that I would expect to see that schools have to implement. There's a lot of work happening. There's a lot of work that's going to happen even after schools reopen. And of course we'll have to monitor the situation." DeMille added.
She also expressed some concern about the approach of autumn, which will bring conditions that support the proliferation of viruses.
"Respiratory virus season usually begins in October and November, and that's going to promote the spread of this virus. We'll have to watch that very carefully, and that will certainly have implications for schools."
DeMille noted that more testing for the virus may accompany the start of classes, so it's possible this will reveal additional COVID-19 cases in the community.
