The Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit
458 Laurier blvd K6V 7A3 Brockville, ON, Canada

Weekly Vaccine Update: 21, 932 LGL residents have now received at least 1 dose! This week brings lots of news including adults age 60+ being eligible to book through the Provincial system as of 8am tomorrow (Apr 7). Working with primary care partners to get vulnerable adults with the Highest and High Risk health conditions and their primary care-givers the vaccine. Full update here: https://bit.ly/35XUxm2

Another month of this will be tough, BUT we can still get outside and enjoy the sunshine and spring weather! *If others are around, be sure to wear a mask, stay 2m away from anyone you don’t live with and abide by outdoor gathering limits of 5 people. #SpringHasSprung #WorldPhysicalActivityDay

Here is the information from our surveillance dashboard: Active cases today: 74 16 new cases added since yesterday for a total of 1322 cases to date and 1194 recovered. 2 cases in Long Term Care. Geographically: 72 cases in the community: Lanark West 10; Lanark East 20; United Counties of Leeds and Grenville (UCLG) East 31; UCLG West 9 and UCLG Central 1. 6 Hospitalizations; 3 in ICU and 2 on a ventilator. For more information visit: https://bit.ly/3w1Dpap

Here is the information from our surveillance dashboard: Active cases today: 68 32 new cases added since Friday for a total of 1306 cases to date and 1184 recovered. 6 cases in Long Term Care. Geographically: 62 cases in the community: Lanark West 9; Lanark East 17; United Counties of Leeds and Grenville (UCLG) East 22; UCLG West 10 and UCLG Central 3. 4 Hospitalizations; 3 in ICU and 1 on a ventilator. ... For more information visit: https://bit.ly/3w1Dpap See more

Have COVID-19 symptoms or been alerted by public health or the COVID Alert app? Don’t wait get tested! Assessment Centres are open this weekend for testing - click here for long weekend hours and how to book: https://bit.ly/2ZpjKBR

Have COVID-19 symptoms or been alerted by public health or the COVID-19 app? Click here for Assessment Centre weekend hours and how to book: https://bit.ly/2ZpjKBR

Our School/Parent phone-line is open this weekend from 8:30am to 4:30pm. If you have children in school or childcare and have questions about screening or symptoms call us: 1-866-236-0123.

Our phone lines are open from 8:30am to 4:30pm today. Call 1-800-660-5853. For general COVID-19 enquiries ext. 2499. For healthcare providers and residents reporting symptoms ext. 2222. Social media & webmail will not be monitored on weekends.

October 17 is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. To help decrease poverty, the Health Unit is supportive of a Basic Living Wage for all Ontarians. Key determinants of health, including lack of income (wages below a local living wage), food (in)security, unsafe housing , and limited access to health care contribute greatly to poverty. Check out the United Nations website for ideas on how you can help #EndPoverty: https://www.un.org//observances/day-for-eradicating-poverty

Looking for kid-approved and #COVIDSmart ways to celebrate Halloween? Instead of trick-or-treating, try another fun activity instead. An online costume contest with family and friends, a neighbourhood house decorating tour, a haunted trick-or-treat hunt with your household, a family or online pumpkin carving contest, Halloween Tik Tok or Instagram video of you and your household all dressed up, an online haunted house game with family and friends. How are you planning to celebrate?

Recent provincial restrictions that have moved some communities back into Stage 2 could have a spillover effect in our communities. It’s important that local businesses including restaurants, gyms, theatres, recreation facilities, etc., have strong public health measures in place to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. Let’s all consider what we can do to #stopthespread.

It’s #WorldFoodDay 2020 and the theme is Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together. Have you thought about how your local food system can be strengthened for today and for the future? Check out foodcoreLGL’s website for valuable local food information and the Food Charter implementation toolkit for municipalities: http://www.foodcorelgl.ca/

More pop-up COVID-19 testing next week in Carleton Place and Perth! The Carleton Place pop-up is happening on Thursday, October 22 from 9am to noon at the Carleton Place Aquatic Centre and in Perth on Friday, October 23 from 9am to noon at the Conlon Farm Recreation Complex. Testing is booked online and by appointment only. Testing is drive-thru, so please stay in your car at all times. See the booking links on our website: https://bit.ly/2ZpjKBR Lanark County Paramedic Service North Lanark Community Health Centre Almonte General Hospital Fairview Manor Foundation Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital Foundation Perth & Smiths Falls District Hospital - Corporate Carleton Place Town Hall Mississippi Mills

Health Unit staff members were delighted to find this beautiful bouquet and thoughtful message delivered outside our Smiths Falls office yesterday. Thank you to the anonymous resident who made our day extra special with this random act of kindness!

Did you know that you can meet the physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week but still be sedentary if you spend the rest of your day sitting? For health benefits, adults aged 18-64 years should be physically active each day, minimize sedentary time, and get enough sleep. Improving any one of these will benefit your health. The Participaction website has information on how you can become more active, less sedentary and get enough sleep! https://www.participaction.com//benefits-a/adults-18-to-64

Today is #GlobalHandwashingDay, an important reminder that washing our hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer is one of the best tools we have to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses, including the virus that causes COVID-19. #HandHygieneforAll

Dr. Stewart discusses local cases; self-isolation; hot spot regions; and precautions for Halloween!

Are you isolating because you are a close contact of/or a person who has test positive for COVID-19? Isolating at home means within your house and on your property at all times. It’s time to call in to family and friends for favours like picking up groceries or prescriptions and dropping them off at your door, or taking care of your dog who needs long walks every day.

The Health Unit will be offering the Meningitis, Hepatitis B and HPV9 vaccines for Grade 7 students, and those Grade 8 students who did not complete their series last year at school-based clinics. The school-based clinics will be held at host schools throughout LGL on weekends beginning Saturday, October 24. For more information, please see our latest media release: https://bit.ly/2SQXs9o

Did you know that masks with exhalation valves or vents are not recommended to be worn by the general public when out shopping, or in the community? These masks don’t help reduce the spread of COVID-19 to others. Make sure your cloth face mask fits properly over your nose mouth and chin. If it matches your outfit, that is a bonus! See the Things to Consider when Making or Obtaining a Cloth Face Covering tab for more information: https://bit.ly/3cL3Hon

Listen to this short interview with Dr. Stewart about testing, COVID-19 cases in our region, masks, and social gatherings.

If you have tested positive for COVID-19, isolate from members of your household and the community. Keep your distance and wear a mask if you may be in the same room as other household members. Stay home until Public Health says you are no longer at risk of passing COVID along to your family and friends.