COVID is still 'out there' warns public health official for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph

With COVID-19 making headlines south of the border, the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Associate Medical Officer is doing a check-up of his own.

Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum said the good news is that summertime provides a slight reprieve from COVID concerns, knocking case numbers below what might be expected from fall and winter months.

"But certainly not zero," he said. "It's still one of the things out there in the environment."

Tenenbaum said that summer typically sees more people spending time outdoors, which he said makes it "a lot harder for COVID to spread."

Recently, Tenenbaum's agency, as well as Waterloo region public health, temporarily halted their COVID case tracking systems.

The region said changes to the provincial reporting process has caused updates to their Integrated Respiratory Disease Surveillance Dashboard to be paused as of June 1. However, their website said tracking will resume in the fall.

Tenenbaum said the main way his agency kept track of COVID-19 cases was through wastewater surveillance, but funding cuts are causing that program to close at the end of July.

Tenenbaum said they'll still be using other indicators at their disposal.

Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum said that summer months typically see fewer cases of COVID-19, but not zero. (Copyright Trina Koster Photography)

"Things like looking at hospital admissions, looking at numbers of cases among those who go to lab testing, as well as the numbers of outbreaks.

"Those aren't going to be giving us all of the picture, but they're still things we rely upon to get the overall trend of things going up, things coming down, things looking worse, things looking better."

Tenenbaum said despite ever-changing COVID strains, testing has remained steady and accurate, especially lab tests, which he says are now restricted to those with the highest risk.

For those who don't qualify for the high-risk designation, at-home rapid testing is still available.

"The key thing is to use that combined nose-mouth testing technique and to make sure you follow all the instructions in the kit," said Tenenbaum.

Symptoms are practically unchanged, Tenenbaum said "fevers, muscle aches, runny nose, cough, and difficulty breathing are all still staples of COVID-19 infection."

But what's getting harder to tell is whether or not those symptoms are a result of the flu or a common cold. However, Tenenbaum said the recommendations are the same either way:

"Staying home when you're feeling unwell or wearing a mask are just the basic things that are valid anytime of the year," he said.

"If you're feeling unwell, take that seriously."