As COVID-19 cases rise in the Emo area, the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) is warning residents of an increased risk of COVID-19.
In a Q&A with the NWHU, Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kit Young Hoon said that many of the current positive cases can be tied back to informal social gatherings.
“I think we are seeing it more in unvaccinated individuals mostly because they are not yet old enough to be eligible. There is some association with informal social gatherings, so we have often noted that in the past, it’s been one of the key ways of transmission in our catchment area,” said Dr. Young Hoon.
She later noted that they have not been able to link the increase in cases to one specific social gathering, but rather multiple smaller informal social gatherings.
Dr. Young Hoon also explained that Emo's case and contact management has been rather difficult “We are worried that there are cases that are not being found through the case and contact management.”
“We have noted a few situations where some people have chosen not to get tested and so that makes it more challenging to do case and contact management and a number of situations where we receive their information relatively late and so, therefore, case and contact management,” she explained.
It's unclear how many cases are currently in the Emo area, as the health unit is reporting cases by region and not specific communities. Emo is located in the District of Rainy River, which as of Monday, October 4 has 12 active cases.
The health unit is advising that residents in the Emo area avoid larger gatherings, especially indoors, until the risk is reduced and encourages residents to get vaccinated.
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