Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health reports a significant drop in the confirmed cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the first half of this year.
A staff report going to the Board of Health's monthly meeting Wednesday shows a sharp decline in gonorrhea and chlamydia in the first six months of 2020 compared to last year.
There were 340 cases of chlamydia recorded by Public Health in the first six months of this year compared to 456 in the same period of 2019, a drop of 25 per cent.
There were 44 cases of gonorrhea this year compared to 61 the previous year, a drop of 28 per cent.
Those figures parallel provincial numbers, which saw a 28 per cent drop in chlamydia and 19 per cent drop in gonorrhea, says the report.
There was also a drop in the number of cases of hepatitis B and C, from 53 in 2019 to 37 in 2020.
The testing for STIs is one of the services offered by Public Health's clinical services and while some resources were redirected elsewhere to deal with the pandemic, others helped fill the gaps.
"Local primary care providers, walk-in clinics and community partners increased support for immunizations, testing of STI/BBIs (blood borne infections) and treatment of STIs. ARCH also increased their clinic capacity to help support clients who chose not to seek testing and treatment with their primary care provider," says the report.
"Despite COVID restrictions, people continue to test positive for STIs and BBIs. However, as expected, the volume of positive cases is down year to date, which is consistent with provincial trending. This reduction in reported cases could be related to reduced access to testing or reduced incidences of infection due to COVID restrictions limiting human interaction (i.e. closure and/or restricted access to bars and strip clubs)."
