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Ten Canada Post staff working in Barrie have tested positive for COVID-19 this month

Through rain, sleet or snow. And even COVID-19, apparently.

Canada Post has confirmed to Simcoe.com that 10 employees working out of its Morrow Road distribution centre in Barrie have tested positive for the virus since Dec. 1.

“Throughout the COVID-19 response, Canada Post has worked with and followed the guidance of public health officials across the country,” spokesperson Valérie Chartrand said. “Our goal since March has been to protect the safety of our people and the people we serve as we maintain an essential service. Our employees follow physical distancing protocols, wear mandatory face coverings and follow other safety measures. We understand, however, that this is a concerning time for employees, especially when we communicate that a work colleague has tested positive.”

In each case, the postal service says, it has followed the direction and advice of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. It has also supported the health unit’s contact-tracing efforts and ensured appropriate sanitization is being conducted within the facility.

“Given our safety and sanitization protocols in place, they have deemed it to be low risk of transmission in the workplace,” Chartrand said. “Health officials have been in communication with us to understand what we are doing in our facility, (and) reviewed our safety and sanitization protocols. We are following any further direction they may have.”

Mail and parcel processing continues to operate “safely” during one of the busiest times of the year, she said.

“Contingency plans are in place to keep pace as best as possible,” Chartrand said.

Health unit medical officer of health Dr. Charles Gardner declined to comment on the matter during a teleconference with reporters Dec. 8.

Mayor John Tory says he hopes to open gyms after 28-day restrictions lift; Toronto reports 321 new COVID-19 cases

Mayor John Tory said Wednesday that he would like to see businesses reopen at the end of the most recent 28-day round of local public health restrictions.

“I will admit that I have a bias to a plan that can have doors open safely in as many places as possible,” said Tory, speaking at a COVID-19 press conference at Toronto city hall.

He said he is thinking of public health not just in terms of COVID-19, but in terms of other health indicators.

“If people are out of work, they can’t feed their family or themselves properly, they may not be able to pay their rent and might’ve lost their housing — they’re going to have mental health issues by virtue of the fact that they’re in crisis,” he said.

Tory made his remarks as Canada marked a grim milestone — 10,000 people across the country have died since the virus first landed here, likely in January. The first death in Canada was recorded in March.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, reported 321 new cases in the city on Wednesday, with 140 people hospitalized and 37 in ICU. Over the weekend, Ontario broke records for new infections, surpassing 1,000 cases in one day for the first time since the outbreak began.

A second COVID wave is also swamping Europe, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying Wednesday that health authorities have lost track of the virus, triggering a month-long partial lockdown that will see bars and restaurants close beginning Monday.

Toronto was returned to a modified Stage 2 on Oct. 10 in an attempt to control a growing resurgence of the virus, closing gyms and banning indoor dining, but the number of new infections has continued to climb in the city. Health officials have pointed to Thanksgiving gatherings as a possible cause.

Tory added that he thinks there could be a way to have gyms reopen at the end of the 28-day period, subject to certain conditions.

He said people want to stay fit, and need to stay fit to deal with the stress of the pandemic, and as the weather grows colder, will increasingly be looking for ways to work out indoors.

Tory said the pandemic has been devastating to local businesses, some of which have been forced to shut down more than once.

“Independent businesses that have been around for some period of time are used to recessions, where you lose a percentage of your sales and some of your activity is curtailed because of an economic slowdown,” said Tory. “What nobody has ever experienced in our lifetime I don’t think, is a complete cessation of business.”

He said businesses that haven’t failed are facing serious liquidity problems, and have had to lay off staff.

“It has caused untold anguish and damage to the economy. You just have to hope — just like grass that sometimes will die — that there’s a way in which it can come back, if you water and care for it, and if we get some break on the health side.”

Francine Kopun is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

DID YOU KNOW? A raging fire in 1891 wiped out much of downtown Alliston

Almost every small town has a great fire story, and Alliston is no different.

The great fire that happened May 8, 1891, decimated many of the stores and buildings that once lined Victoria Street.

A historical newspaper clipping that described the aftermath said the blaze consumed upwards of 30 acres of land and destroyed “two thirds of the prettiest and most lively main streets of any town in the province.”

According to historical records, the fire is believed to have started in the horse stables outside the Queen’s Hotel, which was located in the heart of downtown.

Historian Ralph Braden, who wrote about the fire in one of his books, said the blaze was able to spread quickly due to strong warm breezes and the cedar plank sidewalks that lined the streets.

He called it “an inferno waiting to happen.”

He said volunteers worked desperately to douse the flames with buckets of water, and the town had to call for help from neighbouring communities.

The Collingwood Fire Department answered the call and it brought its pumper to town on the train, but it didn’t arrive until late in the afternoon.

It took years for the town to rebuild, but a new downtown eventually rose from the ashes.

Ontario reports two more schools closed because of COVID-19; 56 more school-related cases with 32 among students

Two more schools in Ontario are currently closed because of a outbreak bringing the total to four, according to the Ministry of Health’s latest update Friday morning.

Both additional schools are in Ottawa: St. Jerome Catholic elementary school had two staff members test positive; and Franco-Cité Catholic high school where 15 individuals have tested positive since the school year began.

They join Ottawa’s Horizon-Jeunesse and St. Charles Catholic School near Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue West in North York in being closed.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in public schools across Ontario has jumped by 56, to a total of 628 in the last two weeks.

In its , the province reported 32 more students were infected for a total of 369 in the last two weeks; since school began there have been a total of 482.

The data shows there are nine more staff members for a total of 94 in the last two weeks — and an overall total of 149.

The latest report also shows 15 more individuals who weren’t identified for a total of 165 in that category — and an overall total of 245.

There are 429 schools with a reported case, which the province notes is about 8.9 per cent of the 4,828 public schools in Ontario.

The Toronto District School Board updates its information on current COVID-19 cases throughout the day . As of 10 p.m. Thursday, there were 110 TDSB schools with at least one active case — 124 students and 39 staff.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board also updates its information . As of 8:05 a.m. Friday, there were 37 schools with a COVID-19 case, with 41 students and 10 staff infected.

Epidemiologists that the rising numbers in the schools aren’t a surprise, and that the cases will be proportionate to the amount of COVID that is in the community. Ontario set another one-day record Friday, reporting 939 new COVID-19 cases — 336 new cases in Toronto, 150 in Peel and 126 in Ottawa.

Dr. Susy Hota, an epidemiologist with the University Health Network, told the Star earlier that the school numbers are rising because it reflects an exponential increase in the community.

“These are kids who are attending school,” she said this week. “It’s not necessarily that these numbers are (from) school.”

Ann Marie Elpa is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email: