Kingston MOH Warns COVID-19 May Present As Mild Cold – Kingston | The Canadian News

Kingston’s chief physician says local rates of COVID-19 are among the highest in southern Ontario, as community spread continues to account for more than half of active cases.

“Many people may not recognize that the symptoms they attribute to a mild cold could, in fact, be COVID,” says Medical Health Officer Dr. Piotr Oglaza.

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It’s been two weeks since public health introduced more symptoms to detect to help slow the spread of the virus.

As active case counts in the KFL & A region once again surpass 300, Oglaza urges all who feel sick to stay home.

“We have seen that through our outbreak and cluster investigations where the vast majority of those clusters and outbreaks would have a symptomatic COVID-19 individual present.”

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In addition to symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath, and decreased taste or smell, KFL & A Public Health warns that even mild symptoms such as headache, stomach pain, poor appetite, or a stuffy nose can mean you have COVID-19.

“We’ve always had, until the pandemic, a kind of culture,” says infectious disease specialist Dr. Gerald Evans, “certainly, as a doctor who works in a hospital knows: ‘Well, I feel a little bummed by the climate. But maybe I’ll go to work anyway and maybe I’ll be fine. ‘

Evans says that in healthy adults who have been vaccinated, COVID-19 can most of the time present as a very minor cold.

“We really can’t take those risks with so much COVID in our region right now, so if you’re not feeling well, stay home,” says the doctor.

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Many people Global News spoke to on the streets of Kingston did not realize that COVID-19 can present itself as a minor cold.

“There are many mixed messages about exactly which symptoms are definitely COVID and which are not,” says Kingston resident Nicholas Abernathy. “I think the government and public health authorities could do a better job of sending clearer messages to the general population exactly what we should do when we have what symptoms, when, where and how.”

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“Even in my group of friends, people think that if you have two vaccines, if you have any symptoms, it is probably just a cold or the flu,” says Hallema Raja.

Oglaza says that isolating yourself when you’re sick is essential, especially as gatherings increase before the holiday season.

In the weeks ahead, it could make a difference in keeping vulnerable people alive and healthy and keeping children in schools.

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