TORONTO – Ontario Officer of Health Kieran Moore to eliminate the five-day isolation obligation for people who test positive for Covid, has sparked controversy to no end.
Although people, tired of the restrictions caused by the pandemic, have resumed traveling, going out and enjoying the summer, Canada’s head of public health Theresa Tam and numerous virologists and epidemiologists predict an autumn of galloping infections. A full-blown eighth wave, to be clear.
With isolation becoming light — only sick people should isolate themselves while symptomatic and return to work or school 24 hours after their symptoms end — boys’ return to school and spend more time indoors, Dr. Moore’s decision was not welcomed. “I don’t think this is a good move at all,” Dr Dick Zoutman, former chief of staff at Scarborough Health Network and a lecturer at Queen’s University and the University of Toronto, told CTV News.
Taking Covid lightly, underestimating its contagiousness and the severity of the infection it causes, according to Zoutman, is unconscious. The doctor then urged people to continue wearing masks indoors and reiterated that Covid is a serious disease that “affects every organ of the body”.
According to Zoutman, eliminating the five-day quarantine obligation is completely wrong: “People affected by Covid – he said – remain infectious for at least ten days after experiencing the symptoms of the disease”.
It’s still too early to sing victory, the virus is among us, and its spread could, Zoutman says, have profound implications on critical services like the health care system and first responders. “This policy only makes us ignore reality, all we can do is hope that everything will be fine,” concludes the doctor.
Meanwhile, starting yesterday in Ontario, parents can book booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for their children who are five to 11 years of age.
Appointments to have children administer the booster can be made through the portal on the province’s website or through local public health units, as well as some pharmacies and health workers.
Earlier this month, Health Canada said it had approved Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine as a booster for children in this age group to provide continued protection against the disease. The agency said the third dose should be given at least six months after the second.
Third doses, according to Moore, are important now that students will return to school for the first time without Covid-19 restrictions.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health said that better ventilation and environmental cleanliness in schools, combined with the level of immunization across Ontario, indicate that “we can now have a more permissive approach to returning to the classroom.”