Tag: 昆山嫩茶

‘Please, just make decisions based on the evidence’: Halton mayors lobby against expanding Stage 2 restrictions as COVID-19 hits new highs in Ontario

As Ontario hit a grim new milestone , leaders in some of the province’s harder-hit areas urged the provincial government not to impose more restrictions on regions that haven’t already been rolled back to Stage 2.

The province reported 978 new cases in its morning update, a single-day record that has also pushed Ontario’s rolling seven-day average to a pandemic-high 803 cases daily. Locally, the province reported 348 new cases in Toronto, 170 in Peel, 141 in York Region, 89 in Ottawa and 51 in Durham.

Meanwhile, open letters from politicians in Halton Region — one to and one to Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams — said the province shouldn’t impose new restrictions there. Earlier this month, the province imposed a return to a “modified Stage 2” in Toronto, Ottawa, Peel Region and York Region, all of which continue to see higher rates of infection than in Halton.

Halton’s showed an increase of 35 cases.

“A blanket approach that unfairly punishes small businesses with no explanation will hurt our local economy and impact buy-in from our residents,” said the letter to Ford, signed by mayors of four cities and towns in Halton, as well as regional chair Gary Carr.

The letter to Williams, meanwhile, demanded the release of being used when reinstating or lifting COVID-related restrictions.

“During the height of COVID-19, the majority of Ontarians accepted unprecedented restrictions in order to stop the spread and flatten the curve. Now, nearly seven months later the public is demanding more than just the blanket statement of ‘on the advice of medical experts,’ ” said the letter, signed by Carr, two mayors and a pair of Progressive Conservative MPPs.

Burlington mayor Marianne Meed Ward, who signed both letters, said the message to provincial officials was simple.

“Please, just make decisions based on the evidence,” Ward said in an interview.

Ward said she was hopeful the province wouldn’t roll Halton back to the modified Stage 2. The letter to Williams added that the region has taken a number of steps after York was rolled back to Stage 2 a week ago, including a ban on using municipal facilities for team sports and fitness classes.

“There is no evidence to suggest that moving Halton to a modified Phase 2 will have any meaningful impact on reducing case counts. One thing that is certain, is that many people and businesses cannot financially withstand another shutdown,” the letter added.

The mayor of Oshawa also urged the province not to clamp down in Durham Region, saying the economic toll would be disastrous, and unnecessary.

“I understand that everyone’s health and well-being has to be the top concern. But I just don’t think a return to Stage 2 is justified, based on the numbers,” Mayor Dan Carter said in an interview. “It would be devastating for the economy, especially in the restaurant industry.”

As of Saturday evening, Durham and Halton have the sixth- and seventh-highest rate of new cases per capita in the province, at 35 and 34 cases per 100,000 people per week, respectively.

In an email, Ford spokesperson Ivana Yelich defended the provincial government’s pandemic performance.

“While the numbers in Halton and other parts of the province are concerning, we are working very hard to control the spread of the virus as much as possible,” said Yelich, who also gave some broad details of which criteria are used in assessing regional COVID risk.

“These include COVID-19 spread and containment, public health capacity to conduct rapid case and contact management, the type and setting of outbreaks, incidence tracking, increases in hospitalization and ICU admission and testing capacity,” Yelich said. “As we have done in the past, we will continue to provide a clear account of the data and evidence if and when a region needs to be moved into modified Stage 2.”

Toronto General Hospital infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch suggested the province should wait another week before imposing restrictions on new areas, to see if the return to Stage 2 is working elsewhere.

“Next week will be crucial, because that’s when we’ll start to really see what kind of impact the restrictions brought in for Toronto and Peel will have. Right now, it’s still a bit too early to tell,” Bogoch said.

Jean-Paul Soucy, a University of Toronto PhD student in epidemiology and co-founder of the COVID-19 Canada Open Data Working Group, disagreed, saying the province should act sooner rather than later in regions like Halton and Durham.

“The earlier you act, the more your return is compounded,” he said.

Soucy also noted that Ontario’s numbers would likely have been higher sooner if the province hadn’t changed the testing system to be appointment-only earlier this month. Since then, the province has reported fewer completed tests daily on average.

“The fact that we’re seeing higher numbers like this despite the changes in testing is concerning,” Soucy said.

Josh Rubin is a Toronto-based business reporter. Follow him on Twitter:

This Toronto plumber is selling candy chutes for Halloween to raise money for the Daily Bread Food Bank. The demand has been overwhelming

What do you do when the long-standing trick-or-treating Halloween tradition is possibly in jeopardy amid the pandemic?

If you are plumber Geoff Burke, you put your building skills to use by making and installing candy chutes outside people’s homes.

“Kids are definitely having a tough year with school cancellations, not being able to see their friends and all that, so I thought, why not provide a little bit of life for these kids who have missed out on so much already this year,” said Burke, a resident in Toronto’s west end and owner of Watermark Plumbing Services Inc.

“Along with what the experts are saying, this is one of the safer holidays that we can celebrate safely outside.”

Canada’s top public health official Dr. Theresa Tam, told reporters on Tuesday that Halloween need not be cancelled altogether. According to Tam, public health leaders believe it’s possible to strike ” between risk and fun if outdoors.

Tam urged community members to observe existing safety measures — such as masking up, using hand sanitizer and observing physical distancing — while out on the candy hunt.

Toronto, Ottawa and Peel region are Ontario’s hot zones, but Ontario’s medical health officer Dr. David Williams said, as of Tuesday, recommendations for Halloween in those spots haven’t yet been finalized.

Meanwhile Burke, 32, has come up with a creative solution to pandemic trick-or-treating: distributing candy through makeshift chutes installed in front of people’s homes.

The idea came to him a few weeks ago when he read a story about a man in Ohio who created a candy chute as a means to distribute candy to kids during Halloween while safely observing physical distancing guidelines. Burke’s own two-year-old daughter is at an age when she’s starting to enjoy the outside activities and it would be hard to explain to her why trick-or-treating is not happening, he said.

When he put out a call over the Thanksgiving weekend, the community response was swift and overwhelming. He had to stop the requests after getting 400 of them.

“It was quickly getting out of hand,” he said about people’s interest.

The chutes are made from drainage pipes, which have been donated by Burke’s supplier, . The pipes are then painted orange and decorated just to give them an extra festive look.

The plan is to use volunteers from Daily Bread Food Bank to help put them up, starting next week.

Burke only asks that for each chute installed, a minimum $25 donation be made to help the food bank. Earlier in April he used his plumbing services to raise over $4,500 for the same initiative, after realizing COVID-19 was leaving many people out of food options.

“To me, it’s just a way to help people get out there, stay socially distanced and have a little bit of fun. It’s been a difficult time for everybody for too long,” he said.

Burke is not the only person to think outside the box while trying to find a way to celebrate this upcoming Halloween.

On his front porch in Brooklin, north of Whitby, Scott Bennett has installed a candy slide through which he’s planning to drop candy straight into the bags of trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

He has on how to build one such slide on his YouTube channel where he usually posts various projects of his craft in woodworking. With “as few tools as possible” he hopes people will quickly learn to do it and safely take part in Halloween.

“I think our kids are going through enough change right now, and adults are potentially stressed about things,” he said, noting Halloween is a magical time of the year and at this stage of the pandemic it’s really important that people get a chance to see some change in their routine.

“I don’t want to be in my house with the lights off. I want to be out on the porch talking to my neighbours, celebrating with everyone.”

With files from Tonda MacCharles

Gilbert Ngabo is a Star breaking news reporter based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter:

Traffic alert: Hwy. 89 closed in both directions at Hwy. 400 in Innisfil

Update: the hydro pole has been cleared and the road is re-opened.

A hydro pole has been knocked down and is sitting along Highway 89 at the Highway 400 bridge.

South Simcoe Police are asking drivers to avoid the area.

Crews are on scene.

The hydro pole was hit by a truck.

There were no injuries, police said.