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Today’s coronavirus news: First dog in Canada tests positive for COVID-19; Ontario reports 1,042 cases, another record single-day total; NDP projects majority win in B.C. election

Jul 29, 2022 , , , , by shlf

The latest news from Canada and around the world Sunday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

9:10 p.m.: Researchers have identified the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in a Canadian dog — but it doesn’t mean pet owners should panic.

The dog belongs to a Niagara Region household where four out of six members tested positive for the coronavirus. The family’s canine companion had no symptoms and a low viral load, suggesting that dogs remain at relatively low risk of becoming gravely ill or passing on COVID to others, experts said.

8:45 p.m.: British Columbia’s New Democrats are said to have achieved their sought-after majority government Saturday night against the backdrop of four undecided ridings, 525,000 mail-in ballots still to be counted and a top rival who didn’t concede.

In an where the decision to send people to the polls seemed to be the biggest issue, the NDP won in parts of Metro Vancouver traditionally considered to be B.C. Liberal strongholds.

The win shows the NDP has managed to use its razor-thin minority government, established in 2017, to gain the support of the province and overcome an image problem haunting it since the 1990s. At the same time, the B.C. Liberals lay in tatters with their worst election showing in decades.

“I believe that for three and a half years we focused on the needs of all British Columbians,” NDP leader John Horgan said at a media conference Sunday morning. “I was reaching out always to communities, to people, to businesses in every corner of the province talking about the values that I want to bring to government.”

Horgan said he decided to call the snap election to push for a majority government to better handle issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

6:30 p.m.: Only curlers would be disappointed if they were asked to sweep less.

But that’s just what curlers across Canada are being requested to do as the sport of rocks and brooms tries to find a way to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The sport has adapted really well,” said Stephen Chenier, executive director of CurlOn, formerly the Ontario Curling Association, which represents about 45,000 curlers in southern Ontario. “The sport has adopted new rules and has shown an understanding of what we’re trying to do in supporting the efforts of public health.”

Curling Canada has enacted new regulations, pending approval of local health authorities:

  • Only one sweeper per rock;
  • The opposing skip can no longer sweep the opponent’s rock after it crosses the T-line;
  • The players on the idle team must remain six feet apart, and on the same side of the ice to make room for teams on adjacent sheets. And as one team makes its way down the ice with its rock, the other must set up in the hack.

5:48 p.m.: As President Donald Trump barnstorms the swing states, often downplaying the coronavirus pandemic before largely unmasked crowds, the nation continues to lurch toward what his opponent Joe Biden, citing health experts, warned will be a “dark winter” of disease and death.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN on Sunday that “we’re not going to control the pandemic.” Asked why, he said it’s “because it is a contagious virus just like the flu.”

Vice-President Mike Pence will continue campaigning despite his for COVID-19. His office said Pence and his wife both tested negative for the virus Sunday.

About half of U.S. states have seen their highest daily infection numbers so far at some point in October, and the country as a whole came very close to back-to-back record daily infection rates on Friday and Saturday.

Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that 83,718 new cases were reported Saturday, just shy of the 83,757 infections reported Friday. Before that, the most cases reported in the United States on a single day had been 77,362, on July 16.

As of Sunday, there were more than 8.6 million confirmed infections in the U.S., with deaths climbing to over 225,000, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

5:04 p.m.: Italy introduced the strongest virus restrictions since the end of a national lockdown in May, and Spain will impose a national curfew as cases surge in the two countries at the epicentre of the initial wave of the pandemic in Europe.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte approved a plan to limit opening hours for bars and restaurants, and shut entertainment, gambling venues and gyms. Italians will also be urged not to travel. The measures will begin on Monday and remain in effect until Nov. 24.

Italy’s government is running out of options to avoid a full lockdown as it’s failing to contain the spread through early autumn. New infections rose to a record 21,273 on Sunday and there are now more than 1,200 people being treated in intensive care units for the virus.

4:35 p.m.: Like the recessions before it, this year’s pandemic-induced economic downturn has had its winners and losers.

Shoppers Drug Mart is one of the winners. Its parent company, Loblaw Companies Ltd., saw profits rise during the first quarter of 2020 despite the added costs of pandemic safety measures, with Shoppers’ same-store sales rising more than 10 per cent. And though Loblaw’s profit in the second quarter due to those extra costs, its revenue increased. At Shoppers, though pharmacy same-store sales fell, front store sales rose.

The pharmacy chain recently got into the COVID-19 testing game alongside Rexall and other community pharmacies, the latest in a long line of moves by the company aimed at expanding its profile in health care.

Love them or hate them, it might seem like the retailer is ready for anything, always ahead of the competition.

That’s no accident. Shoppers has been steadily increasing the services it provides and pouncing on new opportunities, looking to a future where it resembles a community health hub rather than just a local pharmacy.

2:02 p.m.: Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov tested positive for the coronavirus and is feeling a “general malaise,” he said on his official Facebook page.

Borissov, 61, was briefly quarantined on Friday after coming into contact with a deputy minister who had tested positive, but he was then released on Saturday after twice testing negative. He said he’s resting at home.

The number of hospitalized patients in intensive care in the Balkan country reached a record-high on Sunday. Local authorities across the county, including in the capital Sofia, have shut down bars and night clubs while the government is trying to avoid tougher nationwide measures.

2:01 p.m.: Public health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador are reporting a new case of COVID-19 in the province.

They say an Ontario man in his 60s had recently travelled to western Newfoundland after he was granted a travel exemption.

As a result, the province’s Health Department is asking passengers who travelled on Air Canada Flight 7484 from Toronto to Deer Lake on Oct. 20 to call 811 to arrange for COVID-19 testing.

The infected man has been self-isolating since he arrived in the province, which is mandatory for 14 days under provincial law.

All of his close contacts have been told to remain in isolation and to watch for symptoms.

1:59 p.m.: Health officials in New Brunswick say two people with underlying health conditions have died from COVID-19 and two others have been infected with the virus.

Those who died on the weekend include a person in the 70s from the Moncton area and a person in their 40s from the Campbellton region

The area in northern New Brunswick has been under tightened public health restrictions since Oct. 9 as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak in the region.

The province, which has recorded one of the lowest infection rates in Canada since the pandemic was declared in March, has lost six people to the virus.

The total number of infections has reached 328.

1:46 p.m.: Hundreds of people won’t be taking to the skies with Delta Air Lines after refusing to follow the airline’s mask policy.

The company said in a memo to its staff that numerous passengers have been placed on the no-fly list since it instituted a rule on May 4 that requires people to wear masks during flights amid the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reported.

“As of this week, we’ve added 460 people to our no-fly list for refusing to comply with our mask requirement,” reads the message,” reads the recent memo from CEO Ed Bastian.

The mask requirement is one of several safety guidelines introduced by Delta this year in response to the outbreak of COVID-19. The airline has also blocked off the purchase of middle seats through Jan. 6 and partnered with Lysol to ensure cleanliness on flights.

The Centers for Disease Control has said using public transportation, including planes, can increase the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19, and advises that all involved parties wear masks.

Each of the major airlines now requires masks on their flights. The airlines announced in June that passengers who decline to follow the mask requirement can be banned from future trips.

Delta said in a previous update released in August that about 270 passengers had been banned over the mask policy at that point.

1:40 p.m.: The federal government is being criticized for not doing enough to help disabled veterans as new figures appear to confirm fears COVID-19 is making it more difficult for them to apply for assistance.

The figures from Veterans Affairs Canada show about 8,000 veterans applied for disability benefits during the first three full months of the pandemic, which was about half the normal number.

The sharp drop in the number of applications helped the department make a dent in the backlog of more than 40,000 requests for federal assistance waiting to be processed.

Yet the department also acknowledges at least part of the decline is likely because the pandemic made it harder for veterans to get the necessary information to apply, such as doctor’s assessments.

That is exactly what Brian Forbes, chairman of the National Council of Veterans Associations, has been warning about since the spring.

Forbes, whose organization represents more than 60 veterans groups in Canada, says he is frustrated because the government has not moved to address the problem despite knowing about it for months, and that now is the time to act.

1:39 p.m.: Florida’s rising number of COVID-19 cases could be the leading edge of a dangerous spike that could continue for months as the state remains wide open for business, tourism and education, public health experts warn.

A decline of cases since the summer surge is over, four weeks into the state’s Phase 3 reopening of bars and restaurants at full service, state and national data indicates.

With Gov. Ron DeSantis promising there’s no chance of a return to lockdowns, no matter the severity of another surge, we can expect more people will need hospital treatment and more will die, experts say.

“My worry for Florida is that the embers are out there and they’re starting to burn, and by the time we see it in the numbers that are reported officially, it’s too late, and you’re going to see it only in the rearview mirror and wish you’d been a little more aggressive,” said Dr. Thomas Giordano, chief of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

1:38 p.m.: Much of San Francisco looked like a ghost town during late April. All but essential services were closed. Few roamed the streets. The mood seemed as grim as the grey skies overhead.

Now life has returned. Restaurants and stores are open. Clad in masks, pedestrians last week clutched bags from stores where they had just shopped. Diners sat at tables outside restaurants and cafes. People strolled along the bay on the Embarcadero, and a huge Ferris wheel opened for business at Golden Gate Park.

After cautiously approaching the pandemic for months, with a go-slow attitude toward reopening, San Francisco has become the first urban centre in California to enter the least restrictive tier for reopening. Risk of infection, according to the state’s colour-coded tiers, is considered minimal, even though San Francisco is the second-densest city in the country after New York.

“We have, at least so far, done everything right,” said Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco.

City officials still are not declaring victory. Characteristically, they warn, the virus still lurks around the corner. And as they have before, they will follow local metrics rather than reopen just becomes the state allows it.

1:37 p.m.: Ontario ; the province’s seven-day average for new infections — a better indicator of the overall trend than single-day numbers, experts say — also hit a new all-time high, now up to an average of 857 cases daily.

The totals suggest the second wave is “getting worse not better” in Ontario, said University Health Network infectious-disease specialist Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, adding that there are other areas that are getting “hotter,” including Halton, where new restrictions “are needed without delay.”

Looking ahead, “this week and the next week are going to be crucial” to gauging where Ontario’s epidemic is headed, said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto and Toronto General Hospital.

It’s still too early to know whether “modified Stage 2” restrictions in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa are slowing the virus’s spread, he said.

“We all have to take a deep breath in,” he said, noting it can take two weeks for interventions to show up in case numbers. “We won’t see the first whiff of improvement until later this week ahead.”

11:42 a.m.: Monday’s vote on a Conservative motion to launch an in-depth review of the Liberal government’s COVID-19 response highlights a key challenge of pandemic politics: how to hold a government accountable for decisions based on science, when the science itself is changing nearly every day.

The opposition wants a committee probe into everything from why regulators are taking so long to approve rapid testing to an early decision not to close the border to international travel, and what concerns the Liberals is how that probe is being framed.

11:37 a.m.: Quebec has reached more than 100,000 cases of COVID-19 as of today.

The province is reporting 879 new cases in the past 24 hours, bringing its total to 100,114 infections since the pandemic began.

Health officials also say 11 additional deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus were reported, for a total of 6,143.

Five of those additional deaths took place in the past 24 hours, five were reported between Oct. 18-23 and one occurred at an unspecified date.

Hospitalizations went up by two across the province in the past 24 hours, for a total of 551.

Of those, 97 people were in intensive care — an increase of four compared to the previous day.

11:36 a.m.: With COVID-19 cases surging in the United States, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows acknowledged the Trump administration can’t stop the spread and is focusing instead on getting a vaccine.

He told CNN’s “State of the Union”: “We’re not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics.”

President Donald Trump largely shuns wearing a mask and has repeatedly insisted at campaign rallies that the U.S. is “rounding the corner” when it comes to the coronavirus. But Meadows on Sunday appeared to contradict that assessment. When pressed why the U.S. won’t get control of the pandemic, he replied: “Because it is a contagious virus just like the flu.”

Meadows says the administration is making efforts to contain the virus and predicts “we’re going to defeat it.” Meadows says “our ability to handle this has improved each and every day.” New cases, however, have been on the rise, according to data published by Johns Hopkins University.

11:35 a.m.: Pediatricians are urging the British government to reverse course and provide free meals for poor children during school holidays as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes more families into poverty.

Some 2,200 members of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health have written an open letter to Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying they were shocked by his “refusal’’ to back down on the issue. The House of Commons last week rejected legislation that would have provided free meals during all school holidays from October through the Easter break.

The doctors say some four million children live in poverty, and a third rely on free school meals. Many parents in Britain have lost their jobs or are working reduced hours during the pandemic, making it imperative to make it possible for poor children over the holidays get at least one nutritious meal a day, the doctors argue.

“Families who were previously managing are now struggling to make ends meet because of the impact of COVID-19,’’ the doctors wrote. “It is not good enough to send them into the holiday period hoping for the best, while knowing that many will simply go hungry.’’

11:34 a.m.: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she’s not giving up on passing another coronavirus relief economic package before the November 3 election.

At issue is a huge virus relief bill that would send another $1,200 direct payment to most Americans, restart bonus unemployment benefits, fund additional testing and vaccines, provide aid to schools and allocate money to state and local governments, a Democratic priority.

Pelosi says she sent the administration a list of concerns on Friday and she is told that she’ll have answers on Monday.

Pelosi says she wants a relief bill that is predicated on steps that science dictates should be taken to deal with the coronavirus, and “if we don’t, we’re just giving money to the president to spend any way he wants and that has not been in furtherance of crushing the virus.”

10:15 a.m.: Ontario is reporting another 1,042 COVID-19 cases in , the second day in a row the province has reported a record single-day total.

Ontario’s seven-day average for new infections, a measure experts point to as a better reflection the course of the pandemic than single-day numbers, is also at an all-time high, now up to 857 cases daily.

It was the first day in which Ontario’s daily case total had surpassed 1,000. The previous record was set Saturday, with 978 cases.

Another seven deaths were reported; Ontario has now seen 3,093 people die in the pandemic.

Locally, Ontario’s hardest-hit regions continued to be responsible for the majority of new infections. The province reported another 309 cases in Toronto, 289 in Peel Region, 117 in York Region and 80 in Ottawa; the province’s four largest health units by population are all currently in a “modified Stage 2” over their high infection rate.

Meanwhile, the two other regions that may see new restrictions announced Monday also reported significant totals, with 52 new cases in Durham Region and 31 in Halton Region.

On Saturday, mayors from Halton and Durham lobbied against new restrictions for their regions, .

The province reported 38,769 tests were completed Saturday, down from more than 44,000 the day before.

9:42 a.m.: Spain declared a second nationwide state of emergency Sunday and ordered an overnight curfew across the country in hopes of stemming a resurgence in coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

The Socialist leader told the nation in a televised address that the extraordinary measure will go into effect on Sunday night.

Sánchez said that his government is using the state of emergency to impose an 11 p.m.-6 a.m. nationwide curfew, except in the Canary Islands.

Spain’s 19 regional leaders will have authority to set different hours for the curfew as long as they are stricter, close regional borders to travel and limit gatherings to six people who don’t live together, the prime minister said.

“The reality is that Europe and Spain are immersed in a second wave of the pandemic,” Sánchez said after meeting with his Cabinet.

7:31 a.m.: A COVID-19 outbreak in the north of Melbourne has led health authorities in Australia’s Victoria state to hold off on any further easing of restrictions in the beleaguered city.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews withheld any announcement on an easing on Sunday as the state awaits results on 3,000 people who were tested in the city’s north in the past 24 hours.

He described it as a “cautious pause” — not a setback — to rule out there wasn’t widespread community transmission linked to the cluster.

Among the current restrictions are mandatory wearing of masks and no travelling beyond 25 kilometres (15 miles) from home. At the start of the second wave of cases two months ago, Andrews instituted an overnight curfew and shut down most businesses.

7:27 a.m. (Updated 2 p.m.): There are 216,040 confirmed cases in Canada.

Quebec: 100,114 confirmed (including 6,143 deaths, 84,828 resolved)

Ontario: 70,373 confirmed (including 3,093 deaths, 60,160 resolved)

Alberta: 24,261 confirmed (including 300 deaths, 20,310 resolved)

British Columbia: 12,554 confirmed (including 256 deaths, 10,247 resolved)

Manitoba: 4,249 confirmed (including 54 deaths, 2,142 resolved)

Saskatchewan: 2,669 confirmed (including 25 deaths, 2,070 resolved)

Nova Scotia: 1,100 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,029 resolved)

New Brunswick: 326 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 250 resolved)

Newfoundland and Labrador: 289 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 275 resolved)

Prince Edward Island: 64 confirmed (including 63 resolved)

Yukon: 20 confirmed (including 15 resolved)

Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)

Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved), 3 presumptive

Nunavut: No confirmed cases

Total: 215,000 (3 presumptive, 214,997 confirmed including 9,929 deaths, 180,372 resolved)

7:24 a.m.: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a Cabinet meeting Sunday to prepare a new state of emergency to stem surging coronavirus infections, a move that could impose curfews and other restrictions across the country.

Sánchez’s government said Saturday night that a majority of Spain’s regional leaders have agreed to a new state of emergency and the meeting Sunday was to study its terms.

The state of emergency gives the national government extraordinary powers, including the ability to temporarily restrict basic freedoms guaranteed in Spain’s Constitution such as the right to free movement.

Spain’s government has already declared two state of emergencies during the pandemic. The first was declared in March to apply a strict home confinement across the nation, close stores and recruit private industry for the national public health fight. It was lifted in June after reigning in the contagion rate and saving hospitals from collapse.

The second went into effect for two weeks in Madrid to force the capital’s reluctant regional leaders to impose travel limits on residents to slow down an outbreak in which new infections were growing exponentially. It lasted until Saturday.

7:22 a.m.: Just weeks after India fully opened up from a harsh lockdown and began to modestly turn a corner by cutting new coronavirus infections by near half, a Hindu festival season is raising fears that a fresh surge could spoil the hard-won gains.

“I’d be very worried about what we are going to see in India,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health and a leading infectious disease expert.

The festivals draw tens and thousands of people, packed together shoulder-to-shoulder in temples, shopping districts and family gatherings, leading to concerns among health experts who warn of a whole new cascade of infections, further testing and straining India’s battered health care system.

Sunday 7:20 a.m.: Several members of Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle, including at least four members of his staff, have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past few days, people briefed on the matter said, raising new questions about the safety protocols at the White House, where masks are not routinely worn.

Devin O’Malley, a spokesman for Pence, said that the vice president’s chief of staff, Marc Short, had tested positive. A person briefed on the diagnosis said he received it Saturday.

“Vice President Pence and Mrs. Pence both tested negative for COVID-19 today and remain in good health,” O’Malley said, adding, “While Vice President Pence is considered a close contact with Mr. Short, in consultation with the White House Medical Unit, the vice president will maintain his schedule in accordance with the CDC guidelines for essential personnel.”

The statement did not come from the White House medical unit but instead from a press aide. Two people briefed on the matter said that the White House Chief of staff, Mark Meadows, had sought to keep news of the outbreak from becoming public.

A spokeswoman for Meadows did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

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Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports 1,248 new cases and 29 deaths in highest single-day death toll since June; U.S. surpasses 11 million cases of coronavirus, hospitalizations hit record level

May 31, 2022 , , , , by shlf

The latest news from Canada and around the world Sunday. This file is no longer updating. . Web links to longer stories if available.

9:11 p.m. A massive surge in COVID-19 cases in recent days wasn’t enough to deter some revelers in Brampton from gathering in large groups to celebrate Diwali on Saturday night.

Peel police Const. Akhil Mooken said the city’s bylaw office and police dispatchers received several complaints from residents about large gatherings in violation of COVID-19 laws.

“We did receive several complaints in regard to noise complaints (and) breaching of the provincial guidelines when it comes to gathering limits,” he said.

“Our partners from the municipal bylaw team are primarily responsible for enforcing those, but we were called up on by them to assist at several places of worship to assist them in dispersing the large crowds that had gathered,” Mooken added.

8:50 p.m. In-person classes at high schools and colleges statewide will be suspended for three weeks along with eat-in dining at restaurants and bars under sweeping new restrictions aimed at reining in the exponential growth of coronavirus cases in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Sunday.

The new restrictions are to take effect Wednesday, and include the cancellation of organized sports and group exercise classes, though gyms may remain open for individual exercise with strict safety measures, and professional and college athletics may continue.

Casinos and movie theatres also will have to temporarily shut down, and all businesses are asked to allow employees to work from home if possible.

6:37 p.m. Manitoba’s justice minister condemned the actions of demonstrators opposing mandatory masks and other lockdown measures in a community southwest of Winnipeg over the weekend, calling actions at the event “incredibly unfortunate, dangerous and wrong.”

Cliff Cullen thanked the officers who enforced provincial health orders at Saturday’s event in Steinbach, Man., and issued a stern reminder that those who break COVID-19 restrictions will be ticketed.

“The language and vitriol experienced by our enforcement personnel at (Saturday’s) event is absolutely unacceptable. These individuals are working to keep all Manitobans healthy and safe so we can slow the spread of this virus and save lives,” Cullen said in the statement.

“Manitobans have been warned and, if they choose to participate in events that openly disregard public health orders, they can expect that enforcement action will be taken.”

The rally in Steinbach drew a large crowd, though it came just a day after the president of the Manitoba Nurses Union said nurses reported having to triage patients in their cars at the local hospital because of a lack of space in the Emergency Department.

5:21 p.m. Premier Doug Ford is encouraging Ontarians to “limit their trips outside of the home” as a result of rising COVID-19 numbers.

In a tweet on Sunday, Ford asked that outings be kept to “essential reasons like going to work, school, getting groceries, or for medical appointments.”

He added that families should not allow visitors to their homes and should also avoid social gatherings.

5 p.m. U.S. officials have reported more than 11 million cases of coronavirus as of Sunday, as the country’s outbreaks speed to agonizing new levels of hospitalizations. The tally passed 10 million just a week ago, and more than 1 in 400 Americans have tested positive since.

The country logged more than 159,100 new cases Saturday, the third-highest total of the pandemic, raising the new seven-day average to more than 145,000, with upward trends in 48 states and an 80% increase in added cases from the average two weeks ago.

Ten states set single-day case records; 29 states added more cases in the past week than in any other seven-day period. On Sunday, officials in New Jersey announced 4,538 new cases, the second single-day record in a row.

4:20 p.m. Nunavut says nine new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Hudson Bay community of Arviat. One other new case has also been identified in Rankin Inlet which the territory says is linked to Arviat. The 10 new cases bring the territory’s total to 18, with 14 of them in Arviat.

The first diagnosis in the community was only identified on Friday. Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s chief public health officer, is asking anyone who left Arviat on or after Nov. 2 to immediately isolate for 14 days, wherever they are.

3:52 p.m. Maryland reported 1,840 new cases of the coronavirus and nine more deaths Sunday as new cases continued to surge in Western Maryland and in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. corridor.

Sunday’s additions bring the state’s total to 165,930 cases of COVID-19 and at least 4,153 people who have died due to the disease or complications from it since mid-March.

As of Sunday, 938 people in Maryland were hospitalized due to complications from COVID-19, 17 more than Saturday.

According to health officials, 20 more virus patients were placed into intensive care units, for a total of 238. The state reported three fewer people in acute care units, for a total of 700 Sunday.

The statewide seven-day average testing positivity rate was 6.57 per cent Sunday, .41 percentage points higher than Saturday.

3:31 p.m. A Surrey, B.C., elementary school has been ordered to close due to a COVID-19 outbreak, while staffing shortages stemming from virus case clusters have forced closures at two other schools in nearby municipalities.

The Fraser Health authority said seven COVID-19 cases have been identified at Cambridge Elementary School, and the facility will close until Nov. 30 to help break the chain of transmission.

The health authority said two other schools, Jarvis Elementary School in Delta and Al-Hidayah School in New Westminster, will close to manage a cluster of COVID-19 cases.

It said those closures are related to staffing issues presented by the cluster of cases and both will be closed for two weeks.

Jordan Tinney, the superintendent of Surrey schools, said staff understand the concern parents may have and that the safety of the community is of “utmost importance.”

The Fraser Health region has emerged as a provincial COVID-19 hot spot, with the majority of new cases being identified in the region over the past week.

3:07 p.m. Nova Scotia is reporting two new cases of COVID-19. Health officials say both cases reported today are in the central health zone, which includes Halifax.

Both are connected to previously reported cases, including one linked to the city’s cluster in the Clayton Park area. The new cases are still under investigation.

Nova Scotia has 21 active cases of novel coronavirus and has recorded a total of 1,144 positive cases, 1,058 cases are considered recovered, and there have been 65 deaths.

The province reported a total of eight new cases over the weekend.

12:40 p.m.: You should be nervous , with COVID-19 surging across the U.S., says Ralph Baric, a UNC professor who is one of the world’s preeminent researchers of coronaviruses.

Things are likely to get much worse before they get better.

“We are looking at five months of extensive and rapid virus spread,” Baric said in a phone interview with The News & Observer. “The good news is there is a light at the end of tunnel.”

That light appears to be a new vaccine by Pfizer, which delivered promising results on its experimental vaccine this month. A number of other vaccines are being tested as well.

But they won’t be ready for weeks or months and the weather is quickly getting colder, sending more Americans indoors to places where the virus may spread rapidly.

“I think it is important (to note) that before vaccines become widely delivered,” Baric said, “that we are looking at about 250,000 more deaths in the U.S., despite the development of new drugs. That is probably going to still occur because of the massive increases in cases.”

Nationwide, and in North Carolina, records are being set for daily positive coronavirus cases. On Friday, more than 181,100 new cases were reported across the country, a record that came only eight days after the U.S. reported its first 100,000-case day, The New York Times reported.

More than 244,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S.

Perhaps more than half of those additional deaths can be avoided, Baric says. “But you have to wear masks the correct way — not just covering your mouth,” he said.

12:11 p.m.: One of the scientists behind the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer said Sunday that he was confident that it could halve the transmission of the virus, resulting in a “dramatic” curb of the virus’ spread.

Professor Ugur Sahin, chief executive of Germany’s BioNTech, said it was “absolutely essential” to have a high vaccination rate before next autumn to ensure a return to normal life next winter.

“If everything continues to go well, we will start to deliver the vaccine end of this year, beginning next year,” Sahin said. “Our goal is to deliver more than 300 million of vaccine doses until April next year, which could allow us to already start to make an impact.”

“I’m very confident that transmission between people will be reduced by such a highly effective vaccine — maybe not 90% but maybe 50%,” he said.

Pfizer and BioNTech said last week that interim results showed the vaccine was 90% effective in preventing people from getting ill from COVID-19, though they don’t yet have enough information on safety and manufacturing quality.

“What is absolutely essential is that we get a high vaccination rate before autumn/winter next year, so that means all the immunization, vaccination approaches must be accomplished before next autumn,” Sahin said.

11:48 a.m.: New Brunswick is reporting three new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 22.

Public Health says the new cases involve a person between 20 and 29 years-old in the Moncton region, an individual between 20 and 29 in the Saint John area, and a person between 70 and 79 years of age in the Fredericton region.

Officials say one of the cases is related to travel and the other two are still under investigation.

The province has reported a total of nine new cases this weekend.

11:20 a.m.: Quebec is reporting 1,211 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 additional deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.

Public health authorities say two of those deaths took place in the last 24 hours, 11 occurred between Nov. 8 and 13, one was before Nov. 8 and one occurred at an unspecified date.

The province has now recorded 123,854 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and 6,626 total deaths.

Officials say hospitalizations went up by four over the past 24 hours for a total of 587.

Of that, 89 people are in intensive care, an increase of seven from the previous day.

10:20 a.m.: Ontario health officials say there were 1,248 new COVID-19 cases reported on Sunday, and 29 deaths in the past 24 hours — the highest single-day death toll since June.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says 364 cases are in Toronto, 308 in Peel Region and 125 in York Region. The province says it has conducted 44,837 tests since the last daily report. In total, 479 people are hospitalized in Ontario due to COVID-19, including 118 in intensive care.

10 a.m.: A Cyprus court has ordered nine people detained for three days on suspicion of smashing store fronts and hurling stones and Molotov cocktails at police following a rally against a regional lockdown in the coastal town of Limassol.

Police said Sunday that they have also arrested the 31 year-old organizer of the rally on suspicion of inciting others to commit a criminal offence.

The violence took place after around 1,000 people gathered late Saturday in Limassol to protest a strict, 19-day lockdown that bans all non-essential movement of people, shut bars and restaurants and imposes a 8 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew. Some 23 people were arrested, of which nine — aged 16 to 27 — were detained.

9 a.m.: The number of coronavirus patients hospitalized in France dropped this weekend for this first time since September, after two weeks of new nationwide lockdown measures aimed at slowing surging infections and easing hospital strains.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care also fell for the first time in six weeks, according to figures released Saturday night, though virus patients still occupy 96% of France’s standard ICU beds.

The number of weekly infections per 100,000 people in France has now been falling for 14 straight days, and some doctors say they’re starting to see signs of relief in overstretched ICUs.

France has reported more virus infections than any European country and has had 44,246 virus-related deaths.

8:30 a.m.: Amid the chaos of this unprecedented year, — from outbreaks and tech shortages to staffing issues and problems keeping class sizes to a safe level. The overwhelming number of no-show students presents one more challenge in a year that’s already had far more than its share.

“This has never happened, where you have had this many kids not show up,” Toronto District School Board chair Alexander Brown told the Star. “It is a logistical nightmare. And no one knows how to navigate it.”

The TDSB has reported it is down roughly 5,500 students — more than double the number of no-shows in a typical year, when around one per cent of the board’s roughly 240,000 students don’t turn up in class, according to a spokesperson. Toronto’s Catholic board told the Star its enrolment is also down this year by between 2,000 and 2,500 students. And the Peel District School Board is missing roughly 2,800 students who were expected in class.

All of these kids were either registered and did not show up for school, or were projected to attend, but didn’t.

7 a.m.: 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.

“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,” Mayor Tory told the Star.

“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.”

City Hall Bureau Chief, David Rider spoke with Tory about how has changed his job and if seeking a third term is a possibility.

7 a.m.: During the coronavirus crisis, current economic data shows that the pre-pandemic well-off are benefiting while the pre-pandemic marginalized are suffering considerably, write contributors Ronald Meng and Imran Abdool. In short, we are experiencing a K-shaped recovery: the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Winston Churchill famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” and its congruent economic crisis is an opportunity to implement key changes that will set Canada’s economic trajectory on the right path.

Specifically, three things must be done: a universal basic income with automatic stabilizers; high-quality, affordable child care; and a well-designed wealth tax.

7 a.m.: Discreet online mourning is part of the new realities of life — and death — for local and international organized criminals during the COVID-19 crisis.

Meanwhile, experts say the smartest organized criminals are now rebounding and even expanding after their initial pandemic scare.

“Crime tends to be a first-mover, sussing out new opportunities whenever a crisis like COVID-19 arises,” Misha Glenny, a fellow at the Berggruen Institute think tank, writes on his blog. “They are very entrepreneurial.”

“The bad news is the surge of online activity during lockdown has multiplied the opportunities for the ever-growing cyber criminal fraternity,” he continues.

For some, the new opportunities lie in a new division of police resources, weakened enemies, legitimate business failures and sloppy online security.

6:10 a.m.: The COVID-19 crisis has overshadowed an equally dark pandemic of opioid overdoses, which have risen sharply since March as the border closure and limited access to services raise fatal risks for drug users.

British Columbia saw more than 100 “illicit toxicity deaths” each month between March and August, with the death toll breaching 175 in May, June and July, according to numbers compiled by the Public Health Agency of Canada last month.

The 181 deaths in June were a 138 per cent increase from the 76 fatalities in the same period a year earlier.

The situation is no better in Ontario, where an estimated 50 to 80 people per week are dying of overdoses, according to the chief coroner’s office. The figures are up by 35 to 40 per cent year over year since the onset of the pandemic.

6 a.m.: Several thousand supporters of President Donald Trump in Washington protested election results and then hailed Trump’s passing motorcade before nighttime clashes with counterdemonstrators sparked

Several other cities on Saturday also saw gatherings of Trump supporters unwilling to accept Democrat Joe Biden’s Electoral College and popular vote victory as legitimate. Cries of “Stop the Steal” and “Count Every Vote” continued in spite of a lack of evidence of voter fraud or other problems that could reverse the result.

After night fell, the relatively peaceful demonstrations in Washington turned from tense to violent. Videos posted on social media showed fist fights, projectiles and clubs as Trump supporters clashed with those demanding they take their MAGA hats and banners and leave. The tensions extended to Sunday morning. A variety of charges, including assault and weapons possession, were filed against those arrested, officials said. Two police officers were injured and several firearms were recovered by police.

6 a.m.: Mexico on Saturday topped 1 million registered coronavirus cases and nearly 100,000 test-confirmed deaths, though officials agree the number is probably much higher.

How did Mexico get here? By marching resolutely, even defiantly, against many internationally accepted practices in pandemic management, from face mask wearing, to lockdowns, testing and contact tracing.

What is more, officials in Mexico claim science is on their side. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell says any wider testing would be “a waste of time, effort and money.” Face masks, López-Gatell says, “are an auxiliary measure to prevent spreading the virus. They do not protect us, but they are useful for protecting other people.”

5:30 a.m.: India has reported 41,100 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the country’s overall tally since the pandemic began to 8.79 million a day after it celebrated Diwali, a major Hindu festival.

The Health Ministry on Sunday also reported 447 deaths in the same period, driving total fatalities to 129,635.

India is second in the world in total reported cases behind the U.S., but daily infections have been on the decline since the middle of September. There has been, however, a resurgence of infections in New Delhi, which has seen a renewed surge in recent weeks, recording more new cases than any other Indian state.

In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:

— Authorities in Sri Lanka say about 400 inmates and officers in the country’s highly congested prisons have tested positive for the coronavirus as infections spike in the capital and its suburbs. Twelve of those who tested positive are officers, while the rest are inmates.

4 a.m.: The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. EST on Nov. 15, 2020:

There are 291,845 confirmed cases in Canada.

_ Quebec: 122,643 confirmed (including 6,611 deaths, 103,668 resolved)

_ Ontario: 92,761 confirmed (including 3,332 deaths, 77,241 resolved)

_ Alberta: 38,338 confirmed (including 401 deaths, 28,321 resolved)

_ British Columbia: 20,895 confirmed (including 290 deaths, 14,901 resolved)

_ Manitoba: 10,453 confirmed (including 152 deaths, 3,891 resolved)

_ Saskatchewan: 4,820 confirmed (including 29 deaths, 3,100 resolved)

_ Nova Scotia: 1,142 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,056 resolved)

_ New Brunswick: 364 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 339 resolved)

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 301 confirmed (including 4 deaths, 289 resolved)

_ Prince Edward Island: 68 confirmed (including 64 resolved)

_ Yukon: 24 confirmed (including 1 death, 22 resolved)

_ Northwest Territories: 15 confirmed (including 10 resolved)

_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)

_ Nunavut: 8 confirmed

_ Total: 291,845 (0 presumptive, 291,845 confirmed including 10,891 deaths, 232,915 resolved)

4 a.m.: The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has cut off supports for children with autism and their caregivers, leaving them feeling abandoned by the British Columbia government, advocates and researchers say.

The neglect of neurodiverse kids with special needs has been “so overwhelming that something fairly radical has to be done by this new government if families are going to rebuild any trust,” said Deborah Pugh, the executive director of ACT — Autism Community Training.

“It’s not just a matter of throwing money at this,” Pugh said in an interview. “We need a change in the whole attitude toward children with special needs and their families in the province.”

Pugh’s organization partnered with the autism and developmental disorders lab at Simon Fraser University for a survey of 238 caregivers of children with autism in B.C. asking about their experiences from March to June.

The survey showed the majority of caregivers reported their child’s anxiety, tantrums, routines and sleep quality had worsened, while parents’ own well-being declined and provincial supports in response to COVID-19 were insufficient to meet their needs.

Previously: have died following a COVID-19 outbreak believed to have started on Nov. 2.

More than 80 per cent of the residents at Rockcliffe Care Community at 3015 Lawrence Ave. E., west of McCowan Road, have tested positive for the virus.

A statement to the Star from Rockcliffe Care’s owner Sienna Senior Living on Saturday confirmed that in addition to the seven deaths, 136 residents and 66 staff and temporary employees have tested positive.

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Why QR codes are having a moment: How the pandemic created a surge of interest in a 25-year-old technology

Jan 10, 2022 , , , , by shlf

It may not be the first thing that leaps to mind, but among many other things, the year 2020 has been the year of the QR code.

QR codes aren’t new. In fact, they’ve been around for more than 25 years. But this year, they seem to be everywhere: on restaurant patio tables to access online menus, on doors to help with contact tracing, and in businesses for contactless payment. You’ll find them in your Toronto Star as well: codes you can scan to access exclusive online data.

Here’s how QR codes work, and why the COVID-19 pandemic set the stage for widespread use of this technology.

A QR code, or “quick response code,” is the next generation of the barcode. It encodes information horizontally and vertically, instead of just horizontally, making it capable of containing a lot more information.

It can also be read quickly, hence the name, and set off certain actions, such as redirecting the user to a website. This makes a QR code much more versatile than a regular barcode.

Richard Hyatt, co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based startup Candr, said its QR codes come in varying complexities. Many include redundancies, meaning the same information is encoded into the image more than once, so that if the QR code is partially damaged, it can still be scanned.

“Because you can put more data into that QR code, you can do some fancy things,” Hyatt said.

The QR code was invented in 1994 by Japanese engineer Hara Masahiro to track vehicles during the manufacturing process. (The term “QR Code” is trademarked by the company Denso Wave.) Instead of a simple barcode, the QR code was designed to hold a lot more information to streamline the process of scanning and tracking items.

Masahiro has said that the black-and-white pattern was inspired by the board game Go, which uses black-and-white playing pieces on a grid-marked board.

Since its invention, uses for the QR code have expanded into marketing and shopping. While smartphone users initially needed a third-party app to scan the codes, many Android and iPhone smartphones can now scan the codes via built-in camera apps.

QR codes have had a few resurgences over the years — remember Snapcodes, the personalized codes made by Snapchat to make adding friends easier? Snapchat’s CEO was inspired by seeing WeChat users in China scanning QR codes, according to a 2017 article in Wired.

If your smartphone has the capability, simply open the camera app and hold your phone up to the QR code. The app should prompt you to open whatever link the QR code is directing you to, whether it’s a restaurant menu or a contact tracing form.

If your smartphone’s camera app doesn’t have this capability, there are many third-party QR scanning apps that can be downloaded to perform the function.

Because of their versatility, QR codes are useful for a number of functions related to slowing the spread of COVID-19, said Konesh Thurairasah, co-founder and COO of Safe Check-IN, a tool to help businesses comply with contact tracing, among other things.

Not only can they direct a client to a menu or a contact tracing form, they can help business owners track how many people are in their store to avoid breaking pandemic restrictions.

When Thurairasah and his co-founder decided to make a contactless option for contact tracing and more, QR codes immediately popped into their heads, because of their versatility and also their cost-effectiveness, he said.

Since launching their Milton, Ont.-based startup around three months ago, interest has grown. Sign-ups doubled last month over the previous month and users are showing interest in an increasing array of features, Thurairasah said.

Kevin Derbyshire, co-founder and president of Toronto-based startup Candr, said its digital service was being developed to help companies connect with customers before COVID-19 using QR codes. Then, in the early days of the pandemic, a friend in the restaurant industry mentioned that they were collecting contact tracing details using pen and paper.

Derbyshire and Hyatt thought there must be a better way — and immediately thought of using Candr’s QR codes to improve the contact tracing process.

First, it’s more hygienic — there’s no shared pen or paper. Second, it’s more secure — nobody can access other people’s contact information such as by taking a photo of the sign-up sheet. And third, they could add new functionalities — for example, clients can take a COVID-19 symptom questionnaire, view a restaurant’s menu, and browse promotions, all through one QR code.

The process also eliminates errors caused by misheard names or messy handwriting.

Since the service launched in May, Derbyshire said they have had a “dramatic rise” in sign-ups, in Canada and outside the country. Many clients are restaurants, he said.

“It’s taken off,” said Derbyshire. “What used to be something that I would consider an inventory management tool on floors in large warehouses in the ’90s (is now) on tables of fine dining.”

You’ll find QR codes taped to the tables at your favourite restaurants — a contactless way to read the menu. QR codes are also being used at banks and other institutions to create a digital lineup.

Recently, Toronto company Scarboro Music put QR codes up on its display window so customers could virtually shop while the store is closed due to the current COVID-19 lockdown.

Pre-COVID-19, QR codes were used as an electronic ticket for concerts and shows (remember those?). The QR code in that confirmation email was proof of payment.

Companies are using them more often now for contactless payment, even digital payment giant PayPal. In November, Calgary-based payment company Helcim launched QR codes for restaurants and other small businesses.

Helcim founder and CEO Nick Beique said the QR codes help restaurants facilitate menus and online orders. Other businesses such as fitness studios are using them for easy registration, and the Toronto Star, noticing a resurgence in interest from marketers, recently added the procurement of QR codes for advertisers as a new service.

Beique thinks the increased use of QR codes to access menus in 2020 helped familiarize people in North America with the technology that other countries adopted years ago, and it’s leading to more creative uses.

“I think that the people removing the physical menus and (using) QR codes is really what has taught an entire population how to use them,” he said.

Thurairasah said some Safe Check-IN clients use QR codes to schedule and check-in visitors at care homes or hotels.

He predicts QR code usage will continue to rise in 2021 as businesses look for easier ways to comply with pandemic restrictions.

Hyatt agreed.

“The QR code’s here to stay.”

Rosa Saba is a Calgary-based business reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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Canada’s top doctor has been reluctant to say tiny airborne particles spread COVID-19. Under pressure, she’s reconsidering

Nov 18, 2021 , , , , by shlf

OTTAWA—Canada’s top public health official says it may be time to revise federal guidance to provinces on how to prevent airborne infections.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Tuesday the science on whether COVID-19 is transmitted via tiny aerosolized particles indoors is “evolving” and more changes to protect health-care workers, especially in long-term-care homes, could be needed.

It’s a small but controversial concession by Tam, who is under pressure from an increasingly vocal group of Canadian nurses and some infectious disease specialists — one that could lead to more stringent requirements for costly N95 respirators not only for hospitals and long-term-care homes, but also for stricter rules in public workplaces outside of health-care settings as well.

Her statement comes months after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization airborne transmission of aerosolized particles may be possible in crowded, poorly ventilated settings.

Tam’s reluctance to definitively agree that there is airborne transmission may be baffling to some, yet epidemiologist Dr. David Fisman with the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, says it is difficult for her to marshal consensus.

“Dr. Tam is having to negotiate a very challenging medical-political landscape, which makes it hard for her to simply state what many of us now take for granted,” said Fisman.

“The complexities of this situation are really closely linked to the N95 supply chain and worries that that will dry up,” he said. “And also to some very well established voices on the Canadian infection control scene who are quite adamant that this disease can’t possibly be transmitted via aerosol.”

The main way the virus is believed to be transmitted from one person to another is via larger droplets that spread when people cough, sneeze, speak, sing or shout. Those droplets are believed to fall within a two-metre distance — hence the recommendation to wear a mask, stay physically apart, frequently wash hands, and don’t touch your face.

Tam told reporters Tuesday that there is more “science and data” emerging, and she believes smaller airborne virus particles that are exhaled and can remain suspended in the air for long periods of time do “exist.” But she said “the circumstances and their importance is still being worked out.”

Even in the absence of certainty in the data, Tam said she had already recommended universal masking policies in health-care settings because of the risk to health-care workers from people who are asymptomatic or presymptomatic.

Now, she said, “given evolving opinions and evidence we will of course go back and have another look at whether certain aspects of the guidance need to be reviewed as well.”

Federal guidance to provinces already recommends droplet and contact precautions for routine care of COVID-19 patients. It requires N95 respirator masks and personal protective gear for health workers whenever aerosol-generating medical procedures are carried out, such as intubating a patient.

Canadian nurses have called on Tam and the Public Health Agency of Canada to update that federal advice to set out even more stringent rules based on the “precautionary principle” that would require employers in both acute-care and long-term-care settings to equip personnel with N95s and PPE whenever the workers come in contact with COVID-positive patients.

“The federal guidance doesn’t go far enough,” said Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses, in an interview Tuesday.

Silas said even now — 10 months into the pandemic — there are hospitals in Ontario and Alberta that do not mandate the wearing of N95 respirator masks for nurses entering units where there are COVID-positive patients.

Health-care workers can make a “point of care risk assessment” and if they deem there is a risk from a patient who, say, cannot be masked and is coughing violently or vomiting, the nurse or personal support worker can ask for an N95 to be supplied.

Yet Silas said some administrators are still reluctant to dispense them as a matter of course.

The issue, she said, “is cost and fear that the supply will run out.”

Tam said Tuesday she is looking at updating recommendations on ventilation. She said modern hospitals generally already have good ventilation; meanwhile she said HVAC systems should be serviced.

And Tam said for everyone, “masking indoors when you’re not with people in your household and certainly when you can’t maintain any kind of distancing” along with “improving ventilation would be the sort of circumstance where you can reduce the impact of aerosols.”

Tam said Tuesday she is “most excited about” getting experts in ventilation together with infectious disease experts and infection control practitioners “to see if we could not find the most scientifically informed and sensible path forwards.”

Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her 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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Purple fentanyl seized by police during Penetanguishene drug bust

Oct 22, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Police have charged three people after a raid on a Penetanguishene home Oct. 22.

Officers with the Southern Georgian Bay OPP community street crime unit executed a search warrant at a Yeo Street residence at 9:30 p.m. The search was part of an ongoing investigation into recent drug-related incidents in and around Penetanguishene and Midland.

Local police, along with members of the OPP Central Region emergency response team, seized a quantity of purple fentanyl, drug-related paraphernalia and more than $8,000 in cash.

A 28-year-old Georgian Bay Township man, 30-year-old Penetanguishene man and 50-year-old Tiny Township man are all facing charges.

The younger men have both been charged with possession of an opioid, possession of an opioid for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of property obtained by crime.

The 50-year-old has been charged with possession of an opioid.

All three are slated to appear in court in Midland in late November and early December.

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29 dead in outbreak in Scarborough long-term-care home

Oct 8, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Twenty-nine residents of a long-term-care home in Scarborough have died in a outbreak that began last month, its operators confirmed Wednesday.

Kennedy Lodge Long Term Care Home, near Ellesmere Road, has had 92 confirmed resident cases since Oct. 2, said the statement from Revera Inc.

“The team at Kennedy Lodge offers its most sincere condolences to the families and friends of the residents who passed away during the pandemic,” Dr. Rhonda Collins, Revera chief medical officer, said in a statement.

Thirty residents at the 289-bed facility have active cases and 32 have recovered, the statement said.

Revera also said that 35 staff members have tested positive. Of those, 17 cases are resolved and the others are at home in self-isolation.

“(Toronto Public Health) and Scarborough Health Network (SHN) have been working closely with us to help manage the outbreak,” the statement said. “SHN has helped us with enhanced cleaning at Kennedy Lodge and is supporting our infection control and (personal protective equipment) education.”

The statement added that all residents are monitored for symptoms twice daily and tested if they present any symptoms for COVID-19. Additionally, staff are screened before and after shifts, and are required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

Earlier this year, Kennedy Lodge was doing well in the pandemic’s first wave. By the end of April, it hadn’t reported even a single case of COVID-19, .

The home implemented strict pandemic outbreak protocols in March, before provincial directives were issued.

It had implemented physical distancing, enhanced cleaning, more staff where needed, universal masking for all employees and the appropriate use of personal protective equipment.

In early April, Revera also implemented a policy barring personal support workers from working at multiple locations to prevent spread of the illness.

Kennedy Lodge is not the only Scarborough facility to be hit hard during the second wave.

at the 204-bed Rockcliffe Care Community nursing home, have COVID-19, and one has died of the disease.

By Wednesday, an outbreak identified nine days earlier infected 110 residents and 46 staff at the Lawrence Avenue East facility, Rockcliffe Care’s owner Sienna Senior Living confirmed.

In a statement, the for-profit company said its “deepest sympathies go out” to the deceased resident’s family, and that Sienna is working with Toronto Public Health and the Scarborough Health Network to protect its residents and staff, “who are working tirelessly.”

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases at the Main Street Terrace long-term-care home has dropped following efforts from Michael Garron Hospital and Toronto Public Health.

The first positive case in the second wave came on Oct. 13 at the home near Gerrard St. E. and Woodbine Ave. On Oct. 23, Revera Retirement Living and Long-Term Care Services informed family members that an outbreak had occurred in the 150-bed home; by Nov. 2, the case number had reached a peak of 65.

As of Monday, the number of active cases was down to 50, as

Revera is the owner of 225 and manager of 186 retirement and long-term-care homes in Canada, according to its website.

With files from toronto.com and Local Journalism Initiative reporter Ali Raza

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

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‘We have been able to address concerns’: Alcona flood relief project study complete

Oct 7, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Plans to alleviate flooding in south Alcona are closer to becoming a reality now that an environmental assessment study has been completed.

Chronic seasonal flooding affects residents in Belle Ewart every year, when the Belle Aire and Cedar Creeks overflow.

“The chronic flooding issues have plagued residents of these communities for over a decade and now that we’ve completed the environmental assessment process, we have been able to address concerns about public safety and the costs to repair annual damages, which totalled nearly $2 million,” said Mike Walters, Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) Chief Administrative Officer.

The preferred solution to the flooding identified in the study includes channel improvements in the residential section of the Belle Aire Creek, as well as redirecting flows away from the Belle Aire Creek to the local Little Cedar Creek wetland.

Making improvements to the wetland aims to slow water down, store it and absorb it, which is considered an effective and sustainable solution to reduce flooding damage. This solution was chosen based on the environmental benefit, effectiveness, cost, and future resiliency to climate change that it creates, the LSCRA said.

The next step is implementation, which involves producing engineering and landscape architecture plans with post-construction performance monitoring and maintenance strategies.

The Alcona Flood Relief Project is a partnership between the LSRCA, Town of Innisfil, and engineering consultant, Greenland International. The partners contributed both financially and in-kind services. The Government of Canada also provided funds for 50 per cent of the study.

For more information, visit


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No Barrie, Innisfil GO Train service this weekend

Sep 30, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Metrolinx is stopping GO Train service Nov. 28 and 29 along the Barrie line to do track improvements.

Instead, buses will be running to connect riders to all stops, except Downsview Park. Riders wishing to get to Downsview Park will have to use the TTC as an alternative.

These replacement GO buses will depart five to 15 minutes later than train times. If you are using PRESTO to pay for your ride, tap on the device inside the bus, not at a transit station machine.

For more information, or to see schedules, visit . You can also plan your route at .


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It’s ‘important we remember’: Remembrance Day services scaled back in Midland and Penetanguishene

Sep 21, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Donate to the Poppy Campaign and watch Remembrance Day services from the safety of your own home.

That’s the advice of Dan Travers of the about this year’s services.

Legions across the country are grappling with how to proceed with the Poppy Campaign and Remembrance Day services while keeping veterans and the public safe from the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Details are to be worked out, but ceremonies will be held in Midland and Penetanguishene at the cenotaph for a small number of people.

The Midland Legion has partnered with Rogers TV Midland this year to live stream its Nov. 11 service.

“This year, safety and public health has to be our No. 1 priority. We are discouraging in-person attendance, but we are hoping as many people as possible can join us by livestream on Rogers,” said Travers.

The is planning on limiting the service to 25 essential people at the cenotaph, said president and District E Commander Paul Howe.

“Legionnaires, the Ladies’ Auxiliary and veterans representing the First World War, Second World War, Korea, Bosnia and Afghanistan — as long as we recognize those who have fought for our country, as long as we lay wreaths for the different wars, that’s the best we can do,” Howe said.

Travers said despite the changes this year, “It’s immensely important we do remember the individuals who served our country and died for our country and the freedom we enjoy today.”

This year, there will be no Remembrance Day church services, parade or after-service meal. No cadets, first responders or military will be invited to the service.

Wreaths can be purchased in advance, but there will no lineup of people placing wreaths. They will likely be placed before the service.

The Poppy Campaign remains a cash collection. Legion members are working on details to safely collect funds. Monies raised go to local veterans and their families, not to Legion operating funds.

Poppy Campaign donations can be made online and directed to local branches through the website at .

The Penetanguishene Legion is also selling poppy masks for $10.