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Month: November 2021

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‘It’s been quite searing’: John Tory on being Toronto’s pandemic mayor, Dr. Eileen de Villa — and whether he’ll run again

Nov 2, 2021 , , , , by shlf

John Tory is entering the back half of his second term as Toronto mayor consumed with an enemy that didn’t even exist one year ago.

We talked to him about how has changed his job and if seeking a third term is a possibility.

How has the pandemic changed what you do day-to-day as mayor?

Tory: I’m doing a lot of events virtually, which is a very big difference. But it’s actually proven to be quite useful as a means of being more open to people. If you are disabled, or a senior person or whatever, and you had access to the internet, you can be part of these public meetings. I’ve done town halls, I’ve done statutorily required public meetings, for developments and for different things.

You’re known for a long work day. Has the pandemic made it longer?

Tory: The emergency response has given me extensive additional responsibilities and extra dealings with other governments — I did so on routine things but now also on emergency stuff. So being mayor has really become two jobs. I say that without complaint. It’s just more difficult to do two jobs, whereas you were doing one before. The pressure of the second job — in context of the immediacy of decisions the consequences of them for people — it’s not lost on you when you’re sitting trying to make those decisions.

Decisions you make with Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s public health chief, literally spell life and death for people.

Tory: Back in March on a Saturday morning about six of us got a presentation from Dr. de Villa on projections for (COVID-19) and there was the case, if we did nothing how many would die, and I think the median number was 8,000 people in the city of Toronto, between then and the end of the year, and it ranged up as high as 10,000. If somebody told you that many people were going to die in Toronto, short of an explosion of some kind or a terrible earthquake — I was just stumped … When I wake up, the first news I hear is at 5 a.m. and when I hear about a tragic death from COVID-19 or anything else, you take it very personally, not that you could have stopped it, but you do think ‘If only we’d done this, or done that.’ You really don’t want anyone to come to any bad results in the city. So it’s been quite searing in that respect, as I think it would be for any human being.

Normally you are making decisions with other politicians. What is your decision-making process with de Villa?

We’ve operated very much in a collegial way. I think you’ve seen that I’ve been on the same page as her pretty much every day. There are some times we work to get to that place, just because I might have a different going-in opinion, just based on what I think is best for the city or what I think the public would accept. We’ve worked extremely well to come to what I think is the right place. She relies on me, to some extent, I think it’s fair to say, to help deal with other governments while she deals with her counterparts.

Hopefully, the pandemic will be behind us as you near the end of your second term in 2022. Are you more likely now than a year ago to seek a third term?

I haven’t had time to think about it. I think you have to ask yourself that question first — above anything else — what do you want to do with your own life? The second question is, ‘What about your family?’ The third thing is ‘Is it going to be in the best interest of the city for you to try to stay?’ I am nowhere near ready to retire — the structure of work for me is something that I value — the challenge — and I still have a huge desire to give back. I have nothing much left to prove to myself. If anything, it’s that I’d like to be a better husband, father and grandfather than I’ve been able to do in this job.

Many people say your wife Barb Hackett will be the deciding factor, her opinion and the state of her autoimmune nerve disorder.

Tory: Luckily, her health now is great. But her views will count for everything. We’re both the same age (66). So you ask yourself ‘Well, how do you want to spend your years?’ Because (being mayor) is a four-year term. But we have not had that discussion — it just isn’t time yet.

This interview was edited for brevity and clarity.

David Rider is the Star’s City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter:

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Motorcyclist from Sudbury area killed in crash near Beeton

Nov 2, 2021 , , , , by shlf

One person is dead and another remains in hospital with serious injuries following a multi-vehicle crash that took place Nov. 9 on Tottenham Road, west of Beeton.

The crash happened around 11:22 a.m. at the

Police said three motorcycles were heading north on Tottenham Road when two of the bikes collided with a Nissan Pathfinder SUV that was heading south.

The cause of the collision is still under investigation.

One of the drivers of the motorcycles, 69-year-old Gaetan Guilmette, who is a resident of the Sudbury area, died at the scene. The driver of the second motorcycle, a 53-year-old Sudbury area woman, was airlifted to hospital in Toronto in serious condition.

Police said the third motorcycle was not involved in the crash.

The driver of the SUV, a 53-year-old woman, was transported to Stevenson Memorial Hospital with minor injuries.

The intersection was closed for several hours to allow the OPP’s collision reconstruction team to investigate.

There is no word on possible charges at this time.

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‘Using a sledgehammer to swat a fly’: Barrie siding with conservation authorities in spat with Ontario government

Nov 2, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Barrie is wading into a power struggle unfolding between conservation authorities and the Ontario government.

On Nov. 30, the city’s general committee approved a motion asking the province to repeal or amend changes to the Conservation Authorities and Planning Acts, as set out in Bill 229.

Under the proposal, which must be ratified by council next week, Barrie will request the province delay passage of clauses affecting municipal concerns. A longer transition period — up to December 2022 — should be enacted to give time to properly budget for the changes, the city says.

The draft legislation introduces policies that alter conservation authorities’ role in regulating development, the permit appeal process and reviewing planning applications. Municipalities rely on these agencies for environmental-protection expertise, Coun. Clare Riepma said.

It also grants broader authority to the province to make decisions without conservation authority data and expertise, he said.

Mayor Jeff Lehman noted the Ontario Big City Mayors caucus, , approved a similar motion days ago.

“Every one of us felt reform was needed,” he said. “(But) the government needs to slow down and consult. We’ve had tremendous progress made in cleaning up Lake Simcoe — phosphorus reduction and the return of native fish species we thought were gone. That is really due to the efforts of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA). Their mandate has proven to be very important. I would never defend the worst excesses of scope creep; however, this bill goes way beyond that.”

The caucus joined a chorus of municipalities and conservation authorities calling on the province to slow down.

But others opposed the city’s effort, noting Simcoe County recently decided against passing a similar resolution.

“I’ve not seen (conservation authorities) changing the way they do business and focusing primarily on their core mandates,” Coun. and city representative on the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority board, Gary Harvey, said. “(They) argue Bill 229 will create more costs and delays, which is untrue. Some of these changes will actually streamline processes. Conservation authorities have more powers than police and bylaw officers. They can go onto property without a warrant. Some changes need to occur to provide a good balance between conservation, municipalities and landowners.”

Riepma compared the legislation to , which threaten to bypass elements of the planning process, and he called Harvey’s argument “one of the best pieces of spin doctoring” he’d seen in “a long time.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen such a display of alternative facts,” Riepma, who sits on the LSRCA board, said. “We have 36 conservation authorities in the province. There’s no doubt a couple of them may be quite dysfunctional. Something needs to be done about them. It seems this (legislation) is a bit like using a sledgehammer to swat a fly. In this case, the fly is sitting on a window. We’re not dealing with science anymore; it’s what will the minister approve.”

The motion would be sent to several provincial government officials, including Environment, Conservation and Parks Minister Jeff Yurek and Barrie area MPPs.

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Painting through the pandemic: Wasaga arts and culture organization ready for next steps

Nov 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The arts and culture sector is like a small stream running into a pond.

Create a dam that will harness its energy, and that small stream can energize a community.

That’s the analogy used by former Wasaga Society for the Arts chairperson Michael Jarrett, as the arts and culture organization emerges from a COVID-19 lockdown that shuttered its office only two months after opening.

“That is our ideal, to create an entity (in the WSA) that acts as a dam and reservoir, not just for creative talent, but for resources and assets that could be put toward the development of that creative talent,” said Jarrett, a writer and editor who publishes a magazine focused on the port economy of the Caribbean from his Wasaga Beach home.

In January, Stonebridge’s Mark Crowe provided the WSA with space at Two months later, the group had to shut the office because of COVID-19.

“It doesn’t mean things stopped. The thinking caps were still on,” said WSA board chairperson and president Steve Wallace, who took the reins from Jarrette in June.

The board continued to meet by online teleconference and, once the province eased restrictions, the doors reopened Aug. 1.

“Our approach was like a ‘ready, fire, aim’ management style,” Wallace said. “It was, ‘Let’s do something, and eventually we’ll get it sorted out.’”

Wallace said getting a curator, Sue Miller, who had experience owning and operating a gallery, was the final piece.

The WSA recently wrapped up its first art exhibition in the gallery. Its next — featuring artist Barbara Kendrick — opens Oct. 3.

The centre is open to the public Thursdays and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m., and has meeting rooms available for small groups.

Wallace said Jarrett — who is still very much involved as past chair — took the organization through its “formative years,” building a structure that established the group’s mandate and values.

Wallace said his task is to take the group to the “next level.”

“It’s like any organization: it takes awhile to build,” he said. “I think we’re very clear on our mission.”

That includes getting behind establishing a permanent arts and culture centre in the community.

“Whether it’s built by the municipality (or) private individuals or organizations … at some point, those kind of institutions require a registered charity to support their fundraising and operations, and we want to be that organization.”

WSA has applied to the Canada Revenue Agency for charitable status, and is seeking board members with experience in business, finance and law.

“We’re ready to make that leap — notwithstanding COVID and the challenges it presents,” Wallace said. “We still have to build the capacity to fulfil our mandate and achieve our goals.

“If we get the right mix of people, we’ll be ready for the next phase.”

For more information, go to .

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: As part of our coverage of COVID-19, we’ve been looking at local non-profit groups and how they’ve been able to navigate the challenges of the pandemic.

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Teachers at Scarborough school refusing to work after COVID-19 outbreak

Nov 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Teachers at a Scarborough elementary school refused to work Monday over fears for their safety after the school remained open despite a confirmed outbreak.

An outbreak was declared at Glamorgan Junior P.S. on Friday by Toronto Public Health after nine staff and two students tested positive for the virus.

According to public health, 58 students at the school, near Kennedy Road and Highway 401, have been asked to self-isolate as a precaution.

The school remains open, with replacement staff, because most of the cases are believed to be linked to a single wing of the building.

Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, told the Star that teachers have the right to refuse work if they feel unsafe.

“These are the steps that the staff are taking, not just for themselves as the workers, but also to bring awareness to the situation to keep our staff and students safe,” Walton said.

The 32 staff members who refused to work were 25 teachers, three educational assistants/special needs assistants and four early childhood educators.

Shari Schwartz-Maltz, manager of media relations for the Toronto District School Board, told the Star that 10 positive cases were in a single wing of the school, the other in the main area.

“We’ve gone in and done enhanced cleaning and it’s being determined that all our health and safety protocols are being followed and so the school remains open,” Schwartz-Maltz said.

Among the replacement staff were four vice-principals from neighbouring schools, three lunch room supervisors and one temporary teacher. The school’s principal and vice principal were also teaching classes.

Schwartz-Maltz told the Star that the Ministry of Labour determined that it was safe to work last week.

Dr Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, was asked why Glamorgan Junior remained open, while was closed after four confirmed cases.

“There is an investigation that happens. It’s a question of whether there is a risk of transmission or risks that need to be accounted for within the school setting. Each investigation is going to be a little bit different,” de Villa told reporters at a news conference.

“One has to look at the specifics of the situation in the school, determine whether there is risk, or risk of transmission that has been identified, and make appropriate decisions premised on what you find through that investigation.”

Mary Unan of CUPE said the labour ministry is now investigating to see if there were reasonable grounds for Monday’s work refusal.

Before the pandemic, 548 students attended the school, which dropped to 278 during COVID-19.

On Monday morning, 186 students showed up, but parents were taking their kids home throughout the day.

The work refusal comes as Ontario is reporting an additional 71 new cases of COVID-19 in public schools across the province. This brings the total number of cases in the last two weeks to 892 and 2,230 overall since school began.

, the province reported 41 more students were infected for a total of 480 in the last two weeks; since school began there have been an overall total of 1,238.

The data shows there are eight more staff members infected for a total of 88 in the last two weeks — and an overall total of 295.

The latest report also shows 22 more infected individuals who weren’t identified for a total of 324 in that category in the last two weeks — and an overall total of 697.

There are 558 schools with a reported case, which the province notes is about 11.56 per cent of the 4,828 public schools in Ontario.

The province reports that for the first time in a week, a school has closed because of an outbreak.

Elder’s Mills Public School, a French-immersion elementary school in Woodbridge, of COVID-19. The school is set to reopen on Nov. 11.

There is a lag between the daily provincial data at 10:30 a.m. and news reports about infections in schools. The provincial data on Monday is current as of 2 p.m. Friday and don’t include reports from the weekend. It also doesn’t indicate where the place of transmission occurred.

The Toronto District School Board updates its information on current COVID-19 cases throughout the day . As of Monday at 10:30 a.m., there were 180 TDSB schools with at least one active case — 250 students and 58 staff.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board also updates its information . As of Monday at 10:05 a.m., there were 99 schools with at least one confirmed case — 71 students and 14 staff.

Epidemiologists have 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 reported 948 new cases overall on Monday — 315 in Toronto, 269 in Peel, 81 in York Region and 64 in Ottawa.

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

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Stevenson Memorial Hospital Prepares COVID-19 Assessment Centre for Fall/Winter Operation

Nov 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH) is continuing its operation as the fall season progresses and is preparing for the winter months with the construction of a new structure onsite. Starting today, the assembly of a heated, winterized structure will take place in the southwest corner of the lower parking lot which will transition to the Hospital’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre in early November.

The Assessment Centre will continue to operate as a drive-thru operation, but the new 40 ft long x 20 ft wide structure will have a garage door on each end that can house two cars at a time. Traffic will continue to flow through SMH’s lower parking lot to the new Assessment Centre and back out to Fletcher Crescent once complete.

“We are continuing to operate our COVID-19 Assessment Centre to meet the needs of our community as the weather changes,” says Jody Levac, President and CEO, SMH. “Our new structure will ensure our staff and community members are safe from the elements. We are keeping our Centre onsite for many reasons, including proximity to our Lab, stewardship of PPE, IT support and for our staff who are redeployed to other areas once their shifts are complete at the Centre.”

Those seeking COVID-19 tests at SMH are required to call and book a same-day appointment by calling (249) 501-0383. The Assessment Centre operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone line opens at 7 a.m. each operating day.

For more information about SMH’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre, please visit www.stevensonhospital.ca/covid-19-assessment-centre.html

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1 in 4 Canadians say they can’t afford the holidays amid COVID-19: report

Nov 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Well into the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, one quarter of Canadians have reported they won’t be celebrating the holidays this year, according to a released by Credit Canada. 

The survey, conducted by Angus Reid in late October, revealed that 24 per cent of people across the country will not be partaking in any celebrations this year and that 21 per cent do not think they will have consistent income over the next six months. 

Further, 44 per cent of those surveyed said they don’t think they will be able to accumulate savings over the next 12 months.

“While the holiday season is undoubtedly going to look different this year, it’s not all doom and gloom, and in fact these numbers aren’t that shocking given the trying times we’re in,” Keith Emery, a CEO of Credit Canada, said. 

Shannon Lee Simmons, a Toronto-based financial planner and finance expert, agreed.

“I think that it’s absolutely something that is expected this year,” she said. “Some people have completely lost their income and they are on government programs and not entirely sure what their industries are going to look like, so of course those people are feeling the pinch in a huge way. Holiday spending is going to look absolutely different for them in a way that they probably never expected.”

She added that a recent found that Canadians are spending less in general on the holidays this year, all across the board.

“For people who didn’t lose their jobs, who could work remotely, whose industries are still relatively intact, I’m also seeing on the front lines that they’re feeling the pinch because they’re trying to prioritize other savings,” she said. “I think everyone is nervous about the uncertainty of the future.”

Simmons outlined some tips for families to get through the holiday season:

Get creative

Simmons said there are a host of ideas that families can partake in that are inexpensive or free, such as planning activities to do around the house, hosting your own holiday concert in the living room, or participating in any community events that emerge in your neighbourhood, such as a festive scavenger hunt.

“It’s just about making sure that we’re taking time to make it special,” she added.

Simmons said one idea that has been circulating this year is making a “favourites list” for every member of the family and then spending one day for each person over the holidays, doing their favourite things.

Be OK with spending less

Simmons said this is a year when it’s more acceptable for families to kick back and release themselves from the regular holiday pressures and stress that come with gift exchanges, parties and gatherings — and so they should.

“This is an interesting year because there’s none of that pressure this year so there’s no events, there’s no Christmas party, there’s no … endless hosting guests — there’s no events that usually cost money and add to some of that stress,” she said. “And that’s totally OK. I think that it gives people a moment to pause.”

Remove automatic credit card credentials online

Any online accounts that have your credit card data stored and allow you to click and purchase items within seconds, may not be the best idea for those wanting to save during this time of year, Simmons said.

She added that with more people at home and working remotely, online shopping has increased dramatically for many of her clients. And with credit card information stored and ready to go, it’s easy to make unnecessary purchases.

“Give yourself a 24-hour embargo and then if you still think that that was the right thing to do then go ahead and do it,” she advised.

Prioritize emergency accounts (if possible)

For those who do have an income and can save a little bit over the holidays, Simmons recommends putting aside some emergency funds, in order to start off 2021 on the right foot — and have a bit of a contingency plan amid an uncertain future.

“I think everyone wants to have a good January and I think that the holidays is real critical piece to how you feel about stuff in January,” she said.

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It’s likely too late for Ontario to avoid the milestone of 150 COVID patients in ICU. What does that mean for hospitals?

Nov 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

On Friday, the province took hasty steps to try to avoid the grim scenarios projected by new modelling, including a daily case count in Ontario that could hit 6,500 by mid-December.

But when it comes to ICU capacity, the province’s latest measures are already too late to avert a worrisome milestone, experts say: 150 COVID patients in critical care, a threshold that would necessitate the cancellation of elective surgeries and other life-saving procedures.

“Even in our best-case scenario, we will exceed the 150-patient threshold,” said Dr. Michael Warner, medical director of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital. “By definition, this will lead to limitations in access to the ICU for non-COVID-related care, and that has real consequences for people in terms of missed treatments, further illness, and potentially death.”

On Friday, Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott announced that the province would be tightening restrictions for several jurisdictions across the province and lowering thresholds in its controversial COVID-19 “framework” for imposing control measures.

The move comes after the province was criticized for rejecting advice from its own public health agency, and dire new projections presented on Thursday by expert disease modellers.

Hospitals are now bracing for what many predict will be a rough road ahead. While the number of COVID hospitalizations across Ontario is still low, it has grown by 61 per cent over the past three weeks alone, Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, said in a press conference Thursday.

For ICU capacity, his group projected that the province could see 150 critical care beds filled in two or three weeks, a milestone that would require hospitals to cancel procedures like cancer surgeries and neurosurgeries. That’s an outcome that Anthony Dale, CEO and president of the Ontario Hospital Association, described as “a horrifying scenario that looks like it’s about to become real.”

Within roughly six weeks, almost every modelling scenario pointed to “well over 200 ICU beds being occupied,” according to Brown. And under the worst-case scenario presented on Thursday, Ontario will see close to 450 patients with COVID-19 in critical care units by mid-December.

These projections were made before the province announced its new measures Friday, however. With the added restrictions now in place, it’s no longer clear if the worst-case scenarios are still plausible in the same timeframe, said Beate Sander, co-chair of the Ontario COVID-19 Modelling Consensus Table and a scientist with the University Health Network.

But this latest round of restrictions has likely come too late to avert the milestone of 150 ICU patients by late November or early December, she said. This is because interventions take time to kick in and it would be roughly three weeks before they start having an impact on ICU occupancy levels, she said.

As of Friday, critical care units across the province were already treating 110 COVID patients, according to a daily report by Critical Care Services Ontario.

Most hospitals still have relatively low numbers in their ICUs but those in hotspot areas are already feeling the strain. At Scarborough Health Network, there are already 22 COVID patients in ICU across three hospital sites, according to the CCSO report — accounting for 20 per cent of the province’s total.

This mirrors the hospital network’s experience from the early part of the first wave, when it was also caring for roughly one-fifth of the province’s total number of COVID patients in critical care, said ICU chief Dr. Martin Betts in an interview late last month.

And at Humber River Hospital, which serves the city’s hard-hit northwest corner, Dr. Jamie Spiegelman said the latest COVID projections are unsurprising “based on what we’re seeing in the hospital.”

“Every day at our hospital, we’re admitting anywhere between five to 10 people with COVID-19,” said Spiegelman, an internal medicine physician and critical care specialist. “And out of those, one or two come to ICU, either requiring higher oxygen requirements or intubation. So that’s the general trend we’re seeing right now.”

When the province’s load of critical COVID patients hits the 150 mark, hospitals will have to start turning off other services, like cancer surgeries and other advanced surgeries that might see patients winding up in critical care, said Kevin Smith, CEO and president of the University Health Network.

This will mostly impact the large acute-care hospitals, he said. But with that kind of demand on these hospitals, it would mean offloading complex patients into smaller hospitals, which may already be operating at full capacity themselves.

Smith says, however, that the worst-case scenarios recently projected are “not Armaggedon” — Ontario has an ICU capacity of 2,000 beds, so there’s still room to scale up. He said the province’s plans were also crafted to accommodate the hellish scenarios seen in hospitals around the world back in March, which never materialized in Ontario and are still not expected, even in the second wave.

But Smith’s biggest concern under the model’s worst-case scenarios is that there won’t be enough health workers to staff ICU wards and other programs providing complex care.

At UHN, there are currently 220 to 250 nursing vacancies, and some 125 frontline health workers are currently unable to work, perhaps because they’re symptomatic and awaiting for a COVID test result or self-isolating as a close contact of a confirmed case, Smith said.

If Ontario reaches a point of seeing 6,500 new cases a day, “providers will be a component of that,” he said.

“One of the highest-risk groups of infection are health-care providers, and so will we have people available to provide care if they’re getting sick at the same rate?” he said. “Frankly, the big discussion is health-care human resources much more than beds.”

For many health workers, the reality of a coming second-wave hospital surge is difficult to take in. Like everyone else, health workers are suffering from COVID fatigue but they’re also feeling “disappointed and distraught that the necessary steps weren’t taken” to avoid the scenarios now being projected for their hospitals, Warner said.

“The novelty of having to battle this very challenging disease has worn off and we’re left with the scars” from wave one, he said. “People really suffer by watching their loved ones dying on Zoom, and that’s what’s going to happen in the next couple of months.

“The fear of not being able to save people because they can’t treat COVID — I think that’s gone,” he continued, adding that doctors now have a much clearer understanding of what to do when a COVID patient lands in ICU.

“But the fear of being the only person to hold a patient’s hand while they’re dying, while their family watches on an iPad, you never get over that. And to know that’s in our future is difficult and dispiriting.”

Jennifer Yang is a Toronto-based health reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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‘We just don’t know’: Georgian Bay General Hospital officials unsure how COVID-19 entered facility

Nov 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Local health officials are still working to try to determine the source of a COVID-19 outbreak at Georgian Bay General Hospital.

“As far as how it got into our organization, we just don’t know,” said Dr. Dan Lee, COVID-19 medical lead and chief of emergency medicine at GBGH. “It is a tricky virus that can easily be spread, and sometimes it is difficult to tell how that happens.”

The outbreak at the Midland hospital was declared Dec. 4 after a staff member and patient tested positive for the virus. On Dec. 7, the hospital announced an additional 13 cases, with 12 more staff members and another patient testing positive.

Since then, hospital staff and those with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit have been feverishly conducting contact tracing for all 15 reported cases in an attempt to find out how it spread through the facility.

“The (health unit) is still trying to determine what the index case may have been and how it may have been transferred,” said Lee.

Hospital officials are in charge of contact tracing for the staff at the hospital and are working to determine who else at GBGH may have come into contact with the 15 positive cases. Health unit officials are doing contact tracing out into the community, including looking at recent visitors to the hospital and patients who were recently discharged.

According to Lee, nearly 500 staff members have been tested for COVID-19 following the pair of positive tests on Dec. 4.

“We made a decision over the weekend to go above and beyond what the recommendations were (from the health unit) and test all staff at the hospital,” said Lee. “I think this is going to be very helpful in limiting the transmission.”

Protocols at GBGH have been ramped up in response to the outbreak, which started in the 2 North inpatient unit. Since then, all admissions to 2 North have been halted and staff have been prevented from moving between floors.

Staff are now required to put on a gown and gloves prior to assessing any patient at the hospital. Capacity restrictions have been enhanced for staff break rooms, and more spaces have been designated as break areas to allow staff to keep their distance from one another.

“We’ve enhanced all our protocols beyond (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care) guidelines,” said Lee.

The outbreak currently only extends to the inpatient units at GBGH, including 2 North, 2 East, 1 North, the intensive-care unit and obstetrics. The emergency department is not part of the outbreak.

“It is still safe to come in,” said Lee. “Even if we go to a facility-wide outbreak, we have all of our enhanced protocols in place to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. If everyone is following the protocols — our staff, our visitors, our patients — then there is minimal risk.”

While all non-urgent and elective surgeries scheduled at the hospital have been postponed, residents are still encouraged to seek medical attention if they need it.