CK Public Health has confirmed Chatham-Kent’s first “community outbreak” of COVID-19.
The outbreak was included in Wednesday’s report, which included five new cases and 12 active cases.
CK Public Health Public Relations Officer Stephanie Egelton says the declaration is not a cause for panic, but reminds residents to remain vigilant.
“We have successfully identified the contacts of this specific setting, and have isolated them,” says Egelton.
Four of Chatham-Kent’s active cases are linked to this “community outbreak.” Public Health is defining community outbreaks as those that occur in a group setting that is not an institution, workplace, or school. Workplaces and community settings will only be named if public notification will help to identify additional close contacts that cannot be determined through contact tracing.
Public Health says residents of Chatham-Kent with COVID-19 can be exposed to outbreaks outside of Chatham-Kent, and people will be categorized according to these exposures, whether or not the setting is in Chatham-Kent or another public health jurisdiction.
An “outbreak” can be declared after two cases of the coronavirus in a given setting.
Public Health is also advising residents that “community transmission” and “community outbreak” are sometimes mixed up.
“Community outbreak is in a specific setting, whereas transmission is a loss of control to the spread of the virus in the community,” says Egelton. “We have this under control with contact tracing, isolating confirmed cases and close contacts and of course, the community doing their part to stop large scale spread of COVID-19 in CK.”
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