Bracing Ourselves for the New Normal

Tuesday, 26 May 2020 11:26

Southwestern Public Health is cautioning residents that COVID-19 is not going anywhere anytime soon and social distancing and other precautions are the new normal we will be living with for some time.

OXFORD COUNTY - Social distancing and other precautions are the new normal we will be living with for some time.

Southwestern Public Health officials are warning that COVID-19 will be an indefinite threat. Based on global epidemiology models and known attributes of coronaviruses, it is probable the COVID-19 virus will continue to spread. The World Health Organization issued a warning on May 13 that novel-coronavirus will likely become embedded in populations, just as other infectious diseases and viruses have.

Southwestern Public Health expects public health practices, physical distancing, wearing a cloth mask, staying home when sick, and washing your hands frequently will be critical to controlling the spread of the virus until medical treatments or vaccines are widely available. Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock says COVID-19 is not going anywhere for awhile.

"The possibility of spreading or catching COVID-19 will be here for a while. Until we develop a vaccine or have significant levels of immunity, these measures will be our new normal."

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, initial provincial modelling scaled to local population size projected the Southwestern Public Health region to see up to 2,000 daily cases at the peak of the outbreak. As of May 26, there have been 73 total cases and 4 deaths in the region.

Health experts attribute public health interventions, such as physical distancing, as a contributing factor to the reduced number of positive COVID-19 cases.

Southwestern Public Health epidemiologists are reviewing international, national and provincial research to determine what the impact of public health measures has been. A recent epidemiology model predicts a spike in deaths from COVID-19, up to a total of 1,500 deaths provincially by late-June if all physical distancing measures are eliminated in May.