Editorial – Health Unit’s Numbers Just Don’t Add Up

Pete Fisher
4 years ago
• Categories: Editorial

Editorial – A week ago Today’s Northumberland did an editorial concerning how the Haliburton, Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit releases cases of COVID-19.

It’s been a concern people have asked since the start of the pandemic several months ago.

Since that editorial, numerous people have contacted us agreeing the way the local health unit releases information on cases just doesn’t add up.

HKPR Health Unit releases cases of COVID-19 by each County, but nothing is broken down further.

Even though its safe to say each municipality or township has thousands of people.

HKPR District Health Unit Communications Officer Bill Eekhof stated, “this is done because the Health Unit has the legal responsibility to protect personal health information it has collected under various pieces of legislation such as the Health Protection and Promotion Act.”

There would be no one that would argue that personal health information has to be protected – that’s a given.

But when he adds that, “it could be very easy to identify someone who tests positive” is a bit of a stretch.

This is where it gets interesting with information we were provided after our first editorial.

Eekhof adds that other health units in the province provide a more detailed breakdown because they have larger population.

Not so say readers.

“We deserve to know the municipality,” while another reader says, “absolutely it should be what towns.”

Another reader sent a message stating Toronto breaks down areas by neighbourhoods (https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-latest-city-of-toronto-news/covid-19-status-of-cases-in-toronto/?fbclid=IwAR17XPtVLDJxhOlnklb7hOoyKjeMygthcsTEp00JSpCh4b3wXqUNLWhiCaw).

Obviously a neighbourhood in Toronto would be more populated than some regions of the HKPR District Health Unit.

But another reader sent an e-mail stating the local health unit, “is being over protective to the point of being ridiculous.”

They back it up by stating they Eastern Ontario Health Unit breaks it down by municipality and township. (https://eohu.ca/en/covid/covid-19-status-update-for-eohu-region)

The Eastern Ontario Health Unit has released information concerning townships and communities such as Casselman which has a population of 3,548 which is smaller that most or all of the communities and townships our health unit covers.

“If EOHU can share numbers at the municipal level, then HKP health can too. They are covered by the same Freedom of Information Act,” says the reader.

In a follow-up e-mail, Eekhof the Health Unit is “trying to strike a balance in its reporting of local COVID-19 cases.”

With all due respect, the HKPR District Health Unit and specifically the Medical Officer of Health for the region needs to head back to the drawing board.

Eekhof said, the health unit believes it is taking the right approach for Northumberland County, Haliburton County and the City of Kawartha Lakes.

“We can’t really speak to what other health units are doing in the reporting of their COVID-19 cases.”

That’s true, but what the HKPR District Health Unit can do is look beyond the borders of its own region – contact other health units and get information on how well it’s working for them.

Given what other health units of the Province are releasing for information on COVID cases, our local health unit needs to do better for communities it serves.

Editorial – HKPR District Health Unit Needs To Give More Defined Regions Concerning COVID-19

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