While stopping short of a regional mandate, the medical officer of health for St. Thomas and Oxford and Elgin counties is strongly urging residents to mask up again when indoors.
Faced with a triple threat of circulating respiratory viruses, including a resurgence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is Ontario children, area residents should “recommit” to take steps to stop their spread, Dr. Ninh Tran said Nov. 14 in a news release .
With COVID-19 still a threat, influenza cases mounting and RSV particularly dangerous to younger children, Tran said it’s critical for area residents to begin “thinking differently” about the wider impact of respiratory illnesses.
“A cold that presents as mild in an adult can cause serious illness in young child. That’s why I ask that everyone in this community to recommit to using the layers of protection that we know guard our community, particularly the most vulnerable, against respiratory illnesses,” Tran said.
Tran’s plea comes in the wake of a similar message from Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, who “strongly recommended” that Ontarians return to wearing masks in all indoor public settings.
Unveiling the province’s Managing Pediatric Respiratory Virus Season plan, Moore advised Ontarians to “get back” to the basics, including masking, vaccinations, daily screening for respiratory symptoms, hand hygiene and staying home if sick. Southwestern public health officials called on area residents to embrace the same approach.
“I strongly recommend that everyone wear a mask in indoor settings if you work with, care for, or socialize with the very young, the elderly, or those who are immune compromised. More broadly, I recommend that everyone return to wearing a mask while indoors to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses in this season of holiday gathering,” Tran said.
These pleas from public health officials echo physician warnings of a worsening respiratory illness season that’s hitting children—and the pediatric health system—particularly hard.
Physicians at a news conference hosted by the Ontario Medical Association last week said influenza arrived early in the province and more than half of Canadian cases of the illness had so far been in children and teenagers.
The early arrival of the flu, RSV’s resurgence and the continued spread of COVID-19 has made for a “triple threat” respiratory season that’s sending many children to the hospital and the situation is expected to get worse in the coming months, doctors said.
The pediatric health-care system is under significant strain due to staffing challenges, medication supply chain issues and early circulation of viruses that typically peak in January, February and March, said Rod Lim, emergency medical director of the ER at the Children’s Hospital in nearby London.
In the Southwestern public health region, flu vaccines are readily available to residents six months of age and older at local pharmacies and through primary-care practitioners. COVID-19 vaccines, including the new bivalent boosters for residents 12 and older, are available from Southwestern public health by booking an appointment online at www.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/ or by calling 1-833-943-3900.
Flu and COVID vaccines can be administered during the same appointment for anyone five and older. During the month of November, anyone five and older coming to the Woodstock or St. Thomas COVID vaccination clinics will also be offered a flu jab at the same time.
For more information about the dates, times and locations of COVID-19 vaccination clinics in the region, visit www.swpublichealth.ca/covid19vaccine.
– with files from The Canadian Press