From green to red in a week, eastern Ontario region serves as warning bell for others

The Leeds, Grenville, Lanark region emerged from the provincewide lockdown in the green zone, the least restrictive of levels on the province's COVID-19 framework,on Feb. 16 a status it enjoyed forabout a month until it moved to yellow.

About a week later on Monday, the region entered the red zone.

The Leeds, Grenville, Lanark District Health Unit (LGL) saw 76 new cases this weekend alone. Last week, it set a record with 139 COVID-19 cases, the highest number of new cases within a seven-day period.

Experts say it's a prime example of how quickly COVID-19 is able to spread and it serves as warning for other regions with looser restrictions.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paula Stewartpoints to a curling club in Perth, Ont., as the source of theoutbreak and the reason for quick, widespread infection across the region.

So far, none of the cases have been identified as a variant of concern but the spread has been caused by"people inclose contact with each other, many people together without masks," Stewart said.

• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark going red, Kingston area to yellow on Monday
• Officials worry for residents' mental health with stricter restrictions

Last week, Stewart told CBCreopening in green likely gave residents the wrong message that the pandemic for the region was over.

"I think people relaxed a little bit more," she said.

Outbreak 'could happen anywhere'

Dr. Doug Manuel, a senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, said navigating loosened restrictions can be tricky. There's typically a greater chance for more contact in crowded places.

"There's potential to have a superspreader event or have a very rapidly spreading outbreak. There's the potential there in the green zone where there wouldn't be when you were on lockdown," Manuel said.

• Green zone gave false sense of security, says Renfrew County official

He said that's not to suggest regions should avoid moving to green if they're able to.Thekey to preventing widespread infection, Manuel said,isquick response when areasdo see cases, pointing to Canada's East Coast or New Zealand as examples of places who have successfully quashed outbreaks.

In those cases, officials have been able to do extensive contact tracing, but it requires a lot of resourcesto manage all possible contacts, Manuel said.

For her part, Stewart warned that the outbreak in her region "could happen anywhere," and that regardless of how many restrictions are in place "it's just so critical to follow the precautions."

It's a situation thatled to pressure on the local health-care system, according toMary Wilson Trider, president and CEO of both theAlmonte General Hospital and Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital.

Trider said staff and physicians have not escaped the "impact of infectionsin the community."

The challenge is making sure there is enough staff to keep hospital operations going, she said.