Hours after Ontario Premier Doug Ford received his COVID-19 booster shot, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health delivered a dose of both bad and good news during his weekly COVID-19 update at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Tuesday afternoon (December 21), projecting the rapid growth of omicron will increase hospitalizations but remaining optimistic that students will be returning to in-person learning in the new year.

“Our provincial weekly case incidence rate is 112 cases per 100,000 people,” Dr. Kieran Moore said. “This represents exponential growth of cases in the province, and we are currently tracking to have more cases per day than we have ever had during the entire pandemic.”

Dr. Moore said Ontario’s per cent positivity has been steadily increasing as well, and is currently 7.3 per cent for the week of December 12th to 18th. Hospitalizations have increased by nine per cent, but ICU admissions have been stable.

However, Dr. Moore added he expects to see an increase in hospitalizations and ICU admissions as a result of the spread of the omicron variant, since it is four to eight times more transmissible than the delta variant and is now the dominant strain of the virus in Ontario.

He announced the government would be focusing on protecting the most vulnerable Ontarians by providing case and contact management to the highest-risk settings, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, retirement homes, and other vulnerable congregate settings such as shelters.

“We are prioritizing screening testing, with rapid antigen testing, in these settings to protect the most vulnerable and to maintain critical health care worker capacity to ensure our health care and other critical infrastructure workers can go to work and stay at work safely,” he said.

The government’s intention is to prioritize rapid antigen testing among health care and other essential workers to keep them working, by providing asymptomatic workers with daily testing after a high-risk contact so they can continue working instead of isolating at home.

Dr. Moore pointed out the government administered more than 206,000 doses of vaccine yesterday, and half of Ontarians over 70 have already received their booster doses.

“If we can maintain this momentum of over 200,000 doses a day, that’s a million additional Ontarians a week that would be provided their booster doses,” he said. “I think if you compare us to any other jurisdiction in Canada, we are ahead of all jurisdictions.”

Dr. Moore said that, while it’s still too early to make any conclusions, there is increasing evidence that omicron may not be as virulent as initially feared.

“I’m not seeing a significant severity signal today in terms of ICU use or hospitalization in England,” he said. “We’ve looked at the 4,600 Ontarians that have been confirmed to have omicron … only 15 were admitted to hospital, so that’s a .15 per cent admission rate.”

“Now admittedly, that’s in a much younger population that’s gotten omicron. They’ve gotten it through social activities. They’re in the 20 to 30 age range, which has a low risk for adverse events associated with COVID in general.”

However, Ontario is still preparing for the possibility that hospitalizations and ICU admission will increase as a result of omicron’s exponential spread.

“But even if it’s much less virulent, its attack rate could mean that it spreads so rapidly that it will have an effect on our hospital sector,” Dr. Moore said. “We’re preparing for an increase in hospitalization and ICU utilization, just because of the sheer rapid spread of the virus.”

As to the question whether students will return to in-person learning after the holiday break, Dr. Moore was optimistic that schools will remain open.

“We’re not seeing any significant impact on children’s health,” he said. “We have no children in our pediatric ICUs in Ontario today. So that is very reassuring that this virus doesn’t have severe outcomes in that population. Together with our children from five to 11 — 38.3 per cent have been immunized with their first doses in that age group to date, which I think is brilliant. We’ll continue with first and second dose strategy with that population to further protect them against all strains of COVID-19, including protection against omicron.”

“Together, with all the measures that we have put in place to protect our schools and keep them safe, that’s a very good combination when you have low severity of the illness in children, good protection with vaccination, very good protocols in place to safeguard our schools with ventilation, masking, and we’re actually looking at additional layers of protection for the workers as well as students. We’ve very committed to keeping our schools open.”

While Dr. Moore said it’s ultimately the government’s decision, he has consulted with experts on whether school openings in should be delayed in January and they have said they don’t see a reason to do it right now.

“Certainly we’ll be prudent and cautious, but (there are) very good signals to date,” he said.

In response to a reporter’s question about how long it takes for the booster dose to increase immunity against the virus, Dr. Moore noted that it only takes five to seven days — in comparison to the 14 days after first and second doses.

Dr. Moore acknowledged that Ontarians have pandemic fatigue, but said “omicron is not taking a holiday.”

“In addition to getting vaccinated, please follow the public health measures we know have worked so well to protect us over the last 20 months. They all together provide additional layers of protection against this virus. Remember to keep the size of your gatherings over the holidays small, and attend or organize further gatherings to reduce your total number of contacts.”

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford encouraged all Ontarians to get their booster dose after he received his at an Etobicoke pharmacy on Tuesday morning.

“We have well over 200,000 appointments booked just on the provincial portal, and not mentioning the pharmacy portals and the primary care docs,” he said. “So folks, we’re really gearing up to hit anywhere from 200 to 300,000 every single day, and again I just want to thank everyone who is getting their shots, and everyone who is delivering the shots. It’s the real Ontario spirit, Team Ontario, let’s keep going.”

“Once again, because of the great work these folks do, we will be the world leaders once again, so thank you and God bless everyone, and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays.”

A Trent University student has won the final $500 early bird draw in the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area’s Holiday Shopping Passport program.

Jonah Udovc’s winning passport was drawn last Wednesday (December 15) at the Peterborough DBIA’s offices.

For ever $10 people spend at any of more than 150 participating downtown business, they receive a stamp in their holiday shopping passport. When a passport is filled with 20 stamps (representing $200 in spending), the completed passport is entered into a draw for three $500 early bird prizes and a $1,500 grand prize.

Udovc completed a single passport after purchasing a new house plant from Plant Goals at 387 Water Street, where he got his passport, and a coat from Wild Rock Outfitters at 169 Charlotte Street. In a media release, he says he plans to use his $500 Boro gift card to explore more of the downtown core.

“Supporting local directly impacts the livelihood of our local shop owners which feels far more impactful than shopping at a big box store,” Udovc says. “I love the downtown and couldn’t imagine shopping for the holidays anywhere else.”

Udovc is the final winner of one of three $500 early bird prizes drawn on Wednesdays in December. Derek Banville was the December 1st winner and Gabi Hintelmann was the December 8th winner. The $1,500 grand prize winner will be drawn on Wednesday, January 12th.

You can still get a holiday shopping passport at any of the participating shops, boutiques, salons, restaurants, and cafes in downtown Peterborough. Visit theboro.ca/holiday-shopping-passport/ for a list of all the participating businesses.

To start off your holiday shopping passport with no purchase necessary, you can get complimentary stamps at the Peterborough Public Library (345 Aylmer St. N.), the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Visitors Centre (270 George St. N.), and the Boro Holiday Hub (373 George St. N.).

Both the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit and Peterborough Public Health have issued opioid alerts.

The HKPR District Health Unit issued an overdose alert on Monday (December 20) following five opioid overdoses resulting in hospitalizations in the City of Kawartha Lakes in a 48-hour period.

The health unit is concerned these overdoses may be the result of a contaminated or poisoned drug supply or of inconsistent or increased potency, causing more severe overdose reactions.

“We are issuing this alert to make community members aware that more drug overdoses are occurring in the City of Kawartha Lakes and remind everyone to be extra vigilant,” says Catherine MacDonald, a registered nurse and substances and harm reduction coordinator with the HKPR District Health Unit.

Peterborough Public Health issued a drug poisoning alert on Tuesday (December 21), with local paramedics having responded to nine opioid-related calls for service and with 12 opioid-related visits to the emergency department at Peterborough Regional Health Centre over the past week.

“Over the last two days, paramedic calls for service and emergency department visits for suspected drug poisonings have been consistently high,” says medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott. “This has prompted us to proceed with issuing a public warning in hopes of preventing further harms in the community.”

Both health units recommend the following safety tips for anyone who uses drugs (or know someone who does).

• Test a small amount of drug before you use.
• Never use drugs alone. If you use with a friend, do not use at the exact same time.
• If you are alone, call the National Overdose Response Service 1-888-688-6677 or ask a friend to check on you.
• Avoid mixing drugs.
• Keep a naloxone kit close at hand when you’re using. You can get a naloxone kit at most pharmacies and needle exchange sites.

If someone is showing signs of an overdose or if they cannot be resuscitated after naloxone is administered, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Signs of an overdose include very large or very small pupils, slow or no breathing, cold and clammy skin, blue or purple fingernails or lips, and snoring or gurgling sounds. Often in drug overdoses, it is also difficult to wake the person up.

Under Canada’s Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, anyone who seeks medical help for themselves or for someone else who has overdosed will not be charged for possessing or using drugs for personal use.

The Gallery on the Lake in Buckhorn is permanently closing.

Owner and president Esther Inglis and her husband have sold their 4.57-acre property on Lower Buckhorn Lake, which includes the 15,000-square-foot gallery building as well as a 5,000-square-foot residential home.

The couple were planning to retire before the pandemic, and originally put the property on the market in the summer of 2018 for $3.5 million. It was most recently listed for $2.6 million.

Located at 65 Gallery on the Lake Road, The Gallery on the Lake was originally founded in 1983 by the late artist Edwin Mathews and his wife Barbara. The gallery had two subsequent owners, but closed in 1997.

In 2000, Inglis and her husband bought the defunct property, revitalized it, and reopened The Gallery on the Lake in 2002 as one of Canada’s largest retail art galleries, representing some of Canada’s best artists.

The Gallery on the Lake remains open to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Friday (December 24), and by appointment from December 27 to 31. A closing sale is underway, with original artworks discounted from 10 to 50 per cent.

The new owners of the property will not be continuing operation of the gallery, effective January 20, 2022.

A Northumberland antiques dealer has donated a rare stetson-style police hat to the museum of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

On November 30, inspector Jeff Martin of the Northumberland OPP met with Roy Cobbing, owner of Ray Cobbing’s Antique and Collectibles in Morganston, about six kilometres south of Warkworth in Trent Hills, to accept the donation of the wide-brimmed hat.

Martin has become aware that a police-issued wide-brimmed hat was being sold online. He reached out to the seller to discuss the uniform piece and the risks associated with citizens having access to authentic police uniforms and equipment.

As a result, Cobbing agreed to donate the stetson hat to the OPP, where it will be displayed in the museum at the OPP General Headquarters in Orillia. According to the OPP, this particular version of the stetson hat is rare and few were issued to officers.

Stetsons, also called “pony hats”, were part of the OPP uniform when the force was created in 1909. Officers also wore peak caps and winter fur caps, depending on where they were stationed or their rank. The OPP museum already has one of the only original stetson hats from that era.

By the mid 1920s, the stetson hats were gradually replaced by peaked uniform caps, worn with brass cap badges in the shape of a maple leaf. In 1997, the OPP reintroduced the stetson hat for non-commissioned officers, mainly because of concern officers were being exposed to ultraviolet rays.

In 2009, the OPP reverted to the peak caps, as officers found the wide-brimmed hats made it difficult to get in and out of cruisers and expressed a desire to return to the previous look.

Four people have been injured, one seriously, in a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 7 west of Omemee on Monday morning (December 20).

The Kawartha Lakes OPP and emergency crews are on the scene of the collision, which happened at around 9 a.m. on Monday and involved three passenger vehicles and a commercial motor vehicle.

Three people have been transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and one person has been transported to a Toronto-area hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Highway 7 is closed while police document the scene. Detours are in place on Highway 7 at Mount Horeb Road and Heights Road.

The closure will remain in place for several hours for the police investigation.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision and has not yet spoken to investigators is asked to call City of Kawartha Lakes OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

Peterborough police are seeking the public’s help in locating a missing 31-year-old man.

Derek Smith was last seen by his family on Friday, December 10th. He has connections to both Durham Region and Toronto.

Smith’s family and police are concerned for his safety.

Smith was last seen wearing a black and grey winter jacket, grey sweat pants, black gloves, a black toque, and black snow boots.

He is known to always wear personal protective equipment including latex gloves and face masks.

Anyone with information about Smith’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Peterborough Police Service at 705-876-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

When 62-year-old farmer Richard Tukendorf woke up in the middle of the night, doubled over in severe pain, he knew something was wrong. Then, after he went to the bathroom, he became really scared.

“There was blood in my urine — a lot of it,” he recalls. “Something serious was going on. I needed to go to the hospital right away.”

At the emergency department at his local hospital, Richard had a CT scan. His doctors told him they were concerned about something they saw on the scan.

“They thought it could be a tumour,” he says. “They immediately sent me to see a specialist at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.”

The urologist waiting for Richard at PRHC told him he didn’t think it was cancer, but wanted to take a closer look to find out what was going on. A scope revealed a ruptured blood vessel in Richard’s kidney was the source of his pain and bleeding.

While Richard was very relieved it wasn’t cancer, he now had a new fear. Would he need major surgery to fix the problem? Would doctors be able to save his kidney? How would he be able to run his farm if he was recovering from surgery?

Twenty years ago, Richard’s fear would have been realized. Surgeons would have had to remove some, or even all, of Richard’s kidney. He would have been in the hospital for days and laid up for weeks at home, unable to work.

So when Richard found out he was a candidate for an innovative form of treatment called interventional radiology thanks to advances in technology, he was relieved for a second time.

As PRHC expert Dr. Fady Abdelsayed explained to Richard, interventional radiology is a minimally invasive alternative to conventional surgery that uses real-time imaging to steer needles, guidewires, and catheters into tiny incisions in the skin or through blood vessels to perform a procedure.

“Dr. Abdelsayed used a high-tech x-ray to steer a tiny needle through my blood vessels into my kidney,” Richard says. “He then used a bit of glue to seal the ruptured blood vessel shut to stop the bleeding.”

Although Richard had a local anaesthetic where the tiny incision was made, he was awake during the entire procedure, which took about an hour.

“That’s all there was to it — not even one stitch,” he says. “The pain was gone instantly as if someone flipped a switch. It felt like a miracle. I’ve seen medical marvels in movies, but I never imagined I’d experience one.”

And because interventional radiology is a minimally invasive procedure, not even requiring stitches, Richard recovered quickly.

“I walked out of the hospital the next day to go home,” he says. “I was able to go back to my life and my work as a farmer. That was a huge relief. If I had needed major surgery, I would have been laid up for weeks, unable to do what needs doing on my farm.”

According to Dr. Abdelsayed, interventional radiology is the future of healthcare.

“It helps us innovate and push the boundaries of what we can do for patients,” Dr. Abdelsayed explains. “It often lets us quickly give a patient relief from pain or help get them a diagnosis sooner. Because it’s minimally invasive, patients have less pain, shorter hospital stays, and face fewer risks than with traditional surgery.”

“It’s remarkable how many different things we can do,” he notes. “We can diagnose and treat cancer. We can collect fluid and drain blocked kidneys. We can shrink painful tumours, remove blood clots, and treat infections.”

But PRHC’s interventional radiology suites are now 13 years old. They’re too small to fit the latest state-of-the-art equipment — including CT scans, fluoroscopy, and ultrasound — used during interventional radiology procedures. They’re too small to accommodate the number of medical experts needed during the procedures. The suites need to be upgraded and expanded to meet the increasing need for interventional radiology.

“Dr. Abdelsayed and his colleagues perform 6,000 procedures every year, making PRHC one of Ontario’s busiest interventional radiology centres in the province outside of downtown Toronto,” says Lesley Heighway, PRHC Foundation President and CEO.

“Our facilities are in constant use and the need is only growing,” she says. “Because the government doesn’t fund equipment, our hospital is counting on your donations. Your support will help PRHC’s healthcare professionals provide patients like Richard with the very best care — close to home — with less risk, less pain, and a shorter hospital stay.”

“PRHC really needs your help to expand and upgrade their suites to fit the staff and all the advanced equipment they use to treat patients,” Richard adds. “You’ll be helping Dr. Abdelsayed and his team offer this world-class care to more folks like me for years to come.”

With the support of donors, PRHC will build a new step-down unit for rapid and high-demand procedures, add more recovery beds, and create more space for professionals like Dr. Abdelsayed to work.

For more information or to support this needed investment in the future of healthcare at our regional hospital, visit the PRHC Foundation’s website at prhcfoundation.ca or call 705-876-5000.

This story was created in partnership with the Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation.

Peterborough’s medical officer of health is urging area residents to reduce close contacts and reconsider social gatherings, with the health unit reporting a surge of 33 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (December 18).

“This abrupt rise in cases is a clear indication that the omicron variant is circulating in our community,” says Dr. Thomas Piggott in a media release issued by Peterborough Public Health early Saturday evening. “I am strongly recommending that residents reduce their close contacts and reconsider holiday plans to keep themselves safe and reduce the high transmission we are seeing.”

There are now 78 active cases of COVID-19 in the Peterborough area. Provincially, 3,301 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Saturday, the largest single-day increase since May 6, following 3,124 new cases reported on Friday and 2,421 new cases reported on Thursday.

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, the provincial government is imposing new public health restrictions, including a 50 per cent capacity limit on most indoor public settings (including all retail), a limit of 10 people per table at restaurants, and a limit of 10 people at indoor social gatherings and 25 people at outdoor social gatherings.

“Even with the new provincial capacity limits, we anticipate there will be a significant increase in cases in the coming days,” Dr. Piggott says. “We layer up to go outdoors in the winter to protect us from the cold and we need to layer up our prevention to protect us from COVID-19.”

Dr. Piggott is recommending five tips for preventing the spread of the virus during the holiday season:

• Check local and provincial public health guidance before going to any gathering.
• Get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is available to you. Three doses ensure the best protection. Reduce your risk by only gathering with others outside your household if they are also vaccinated.
• Stay home if you are feeling unwell and seek a COVID-19 PCR test to confirm a COVID-19 infection. If you have access to rapid antigen testing, use it to ensure you are negative before attending any gathering and consider reporting the result whether positive or negative to Peterborough Public Health.
• Gather outdoors if possible. If not, remember to open windows to allow for proper air flow in small spaces.
• If you gather with people from outside your household ensure the room is well ventilated by opening windows or doors (even a crack), and wear a tightly fitted medical mask or N95 respirator mask.