Chatham-Kent Public Health has scaled back some programs and initiatives during the COVID-19 crisis but continues with other priorities.
Director of Public Health Teresa Bendo said at the monthly board meeting held via conference call on Wednesday that some non-COVID-19 programs continue such as syringe programs and complaint-driven work but others, like school-based programs, have been put on hold. Bendo added school nutrition funding has been shifted to continue providing meals for children in need.
She said some clinics, like immunization clinics, have decreased in frequency but public health staff has been redeployed to support efforts by the social services department to house and isolate the homeless population with proper shelter if they become infected with the virus. Bendo said her staff will help with screening and infection control when the shelter is up and running and added they are also helping in long term care facilities, pharmacies, the assessment centre, funeral homes, and group homes. She said public health inspectors are still on the job enforcing orders.
"This is a real example of how public health units can turn on a dime and reprioritize when it needs to," Bendo said.
Public health officials have also been very busy handling calls and questions from the public since the pandemic began. Bendo said her staff has received roughly 3,500 calls and 940 emails about COVID-19 since mid-March when a state of emergency was declared by the local medical officer of health. The health unit web site has seen a 1,300 per cent increase in traffic.
She said work continues to examine trends to get a better idea about what's going on in the community to better protect the public and various communities throughout Ontario are already sharing information about what they're dealing with and about what they're doing to prevent spreading the virus.
Bendo also doesn't believe the COVID-19 crisis will hurt existing public health programs once everything is back to normal.
Board Chair Joe Fass said he hopes the province will have a different attitude after this pandemic about the importance of public health.
Board member Sharon Pfaff hopes the community realizes how much public health does now that some of the interventions are on hold and missed.
