Kaawaate East City Public School is reporting Peterborough’s first school-related case of COVID-19 in the fourth wave of the pandemic.

On Saturday night (September 11), school principal Marguerite Masterson sent an email to parents, guardians, and staff advising the school was notified by Peterborough Public Health of a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the school.

Masterson’s email does not indicate if the case is a student or a teacher or another school employee.

“What we can share is that the individual is isolating at home, and that (Peterborough Public Health) has investigated and has determined that no students or staff members are deemed high-risk contacts related to this case,” Masterson writes.

Masterson wrote the school was to be disinfected by an electrostatic sprayer on Saturday night. The school will remain open and will continue to follow public health protocols including thorough cleaning and disinfecting, frequent handwashing, mask wearing inside the school, physical distancing, and any other requirements from the health unit.

Students, employees, and visitors to the school are asked to complete the provincial government’s daily self-screening tool at covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/.

“We will let families know of any further developments,” Masterson writes. “Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.”

Peterborough’s newest school, Kaawaate East City Public School opened its doors for this first time on Tuesday (September 7).

The newly constructed school is located at 250 Hunter Street East, beside the building that was formerly King George Public School.

The school’s population of 610 from junior kindergarten to Grade 8 includes students from King George as well as the now-closed Armour Heights Public School.

Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.

Ontario is reporting 857 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 13 to 716.

Of Ontario’s 34 health units, 2 are reporting triple-digit increases — Toronto (170) and Peel (100) — with 13 reporting double-digit increases — York (77), Ottawa (73), Hamilton (55), Windsor-Essex (50), Simcoe Muskoka (33), Durham (29), Niagara (29), Waterloo (29), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (26), Chatham-Kent (24), Middlesex-London (24), Brant (23), and Halton (18) — and 1 (Timiskaming) reporting no new cases at all.

Of the new cases, 67% are people who have not been fully vaccinated (58% have not received any doses and 9% have received only one dose) and 25% are people who have been fully vaccinated with two doses, with the vaccination status unknown for 8% of the cases because of a missing or invalid health card number. The 7-day average case rate is 11 per 100,000 for unvaccinated people, 7.92 per 100,000 for partially vaccinated people, and 1.61 per 100,000 for fully vaccinated people.

Hospitalizations have increased by 2 to 363, with the number of ICU patients increasing by 3 to 180 and the number of ICU patients on ventilators increasing by 1 to 114. Ontario is reporting 8 new COVID-related deaths.

Over 21.13 million vaccine doses have been administered, an increase of 40,220 from yesterday, with over 10.15 million people fully vaccinated, an increase of 23,688 from yesterday, representing almost 68.7% of Ontario’s total population.

For a daily summary of cases in Ontario, including a breakdown of cases in each of Ontario’s 34 health units, visit ontario.ca/page/how-ontario-is-responding-covid-19.

Numbers are unavailable for Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, Northumberland, and Hastings Prince Edward as the respective health units do not issue reports on weekends. Regional numbers for Saturday and Sunday will be included in Monday’s update.

As of September 10, there are 102 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, including 45 in Peterborough, 31 in Hastings Prince Edward (19 in Belleville, 4 in Central Hastings, 3 in Quinte West, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in North Hastings, and 1 in Prince Edward County), 18 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Haliburton, and 2 in Northumberland.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,745 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,677 resolved with 23 deaths), 1,252 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (1,189 resolved with 58 deaths), 974 in Northumberland County (955 resolved with 17 deaths), 133 in Haliburton County (126 resolved with 1 death), and 1,312 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,269 resolved with 12 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on September 10.

For detailed data for each health unit, visit the COVID-19 trackers for Peterborough Public Health, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.

For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.

Peterborough police are asking for the public’s help after two shooting incidents on Friday afternoon (September 10) and the following morning.

Just after 2 p.m. Friday, officers were called to the area of Park Street South and Romaine Street in Peterborough about a shooting. A male was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Shortly after midnight on Saturday, officers were called to the area of Rubidge Street, between Dalhousie Street and Sherbrooke Street, about a shooting. A male was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police say it is not yet known if the two incidents are related, but they do not believe the incidents are random.

Anyone with information about either of the incidents is asked to call the Peterborough Police Service at 705-876-1122 x555.

If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at stopcrimehere.ca.

The heightened nastiness of the federal election has come out of the social media shadows, now crystal clear for all to see as they traverse one of Peterborough’s major thoroughfares.

An elevated electronic sign located on the south side of Lansdowne Street West between Goodfellow Road and The Parkway, owned by a Peterborough businessperson, is rotating through a number of messages, one of which reads “Monsef’s ‘brothers’ murdered 158 Canadian sons and daughters!” accompanied by an image of Canadian Forces members carrying a flag-draped coffin.

That particular message is a reference to Peterborough-Kawartha Liberal MP Maryam Monsef’s August 24th news conference on the Afghanistan evacuation crisis during which she said “I want to take this opportunity to speak to our brothers, the Taliban.”

Met with harsh criticism from not only her political opponents and the media but also from Canadians across the country, MP Monsef clarified the intent of that reference on August 25, saying “The reference to brothers is a cultural reference” while making clear her condemnation of the Taliban and terrorism in general.

kawarthaNOW reached out to the sign’s owner for comment but has not heard back.

However, in a statement issued exclusively to kawarthaNOW, MP Monsef makes her feelings clear.

“This doesn’t represent the Peterborough-Kawartha I believe in … the Peterborough-Kawartha I know we can be,” she writes. “Our community and our country need to decide if this is who we really are. I don’t think it is.”

Missing from the messages in question is clear or readable authorization information — name, email address, and phone number — as required by law of third-party election advertisers.

According to Elections Canada, there are three types of regulated activities during an election period: election advertising, partisan activities, and election surveys.

Election advertising is defined as the transmission to the public by a third party, by any means during the election period, of an advertising message that promotes or opposes a registered political party or candidate, including taking a position on an issue with which the registered political party or person is clearly associated.

Meanwhile, issue advertising is the transmission of a message to the public that takes a position on an issue with which a candidate or registered political party is clearly associated, without identifying the candidate or party in any way. Issue advertising is regulated only during the election period. Like any other election advertising, it must include a tagline.

Accordingly, as the messages identify a particular candidate, it falls under the election advertising regulation and, as such, must include authorization information.

“As this advertisement does not have an authorization tag on it, we do not know who is responsible for this hateful display,” says MP Monsef campaign spokesperson Karen August. “We are following up with Elections Canada and considering other avenues.”

This story has been edited to clarify Monsef’s quote about the Taliban.

Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.

Ontario is reporting 848 cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 6 to 729.

Of Ontario’s 34 health units, 2 are reporting triple-digit increases — Toronto (166) and Peel (117) — with 14 reporting double-digit increases — York (77), Windsor-Essex (74), Hamilton (53), Ottawa (52), Durham (48), Halton (35), Simcoe Muskoka (27), Waterloo (26), Niagara (24), Eastern Ontario (21), Chatham-Kent (21), Middlesex-London (19), Huron Perth (10), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (10) — and 3 (Thunder Bay, Porcupine, and Timiskaming) reporting no new cases at all.

Of the new cases, 72% are people who have not been fully vaccinated (63% have not received any doses and 9% have received only one dose) and 22% are people who have been fully vaccinated with two doses, with the vaccination status unknown for 6% of the cases because of a missing or invalid health card number.

Hospitalizations have decreased by 4 to 361, with the number of ICU patients decreasing by 8 to 177 and the number of ICU patients on ventilators decreasing by 2 to 113.

Ontario is reporting 11 COVID-related deaths, by 6 of the deaths occurred more than a month ago and are being reported today due to a data clean-up. There were 5 new COVID-related deaths yesterday.

Over 21 million vaccine doses have been administered, an increase of 35,844 from yesterday, with over 10.1 million people fully vaccinated, an increase of 19,367 from yesterday, representing almost 68.5% of Ontario’s total population.

For a daily summary of cases in Ontario, including a breakdown of cases in each of Ontario’s 34 health units, visit ontario.ca/page/how-ontario-is-responding-covid-19.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 33 new cases to report, including 11 in Peterborough, 11 in Hastings Prince Edward, 9 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Haliburton. There are no new cases in Northumberland.

There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Peterborough, the area’s 23rd death and the first death in the greater Kawarthas region since July 28.

An additional 21 cases have been resolved in the region, including 12 in Hastings Prince Edward, 5 in Kawartha Lakes, and 4 in Peterborough.

The number of active cases has increased by 6 in Peterborough, by 4 in Kawartha Lakes, by 2 in Haliburton, has decreased by 1 in Hastings Prince Edward, and remains the same in Northumberland.

New, resolved, and active cases in Hastings Prince Edward, Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland are over the past 2 days.

There are currently 102 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 11 since September 8, including 45 in Peterborough, 31 in Hastings Prince Edward (19 in Belleville, 4 in Central Hastings, 3 in Quinte West, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in North Hastings, and 1 in Prince Edward County), 18 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Haliburton, and 2 in Northumberland.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,745 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,677 resolved with 23 deaths), 1,252 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (1,189 resolved with 58 deaths), 974 in Northumberland County (955 resolved with 17 deaths), 133 in Haliburton County (126 resolved with 1 death), and 1,312 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,269 resolved with 12 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on September 10.

For detailed data for each health unit, visit the COVID-19 trackers for Peterborough Public Health, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.

For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.

Last Saturday (September 4), Hiawatha First Nation celebrated the grand opening of the new Lasting Individual Family Enrichment (LIFE) Centre.

The celebration included a formal ribbon-cutting at the 40,000-square-foot facility, along with a traditional drum circle and prayers, tours of the facility, and more.

Attendees included Hiawatha First Nation Chief Laurie Carr, the elected council, local dignitaries, and members of Hiawatha First Nation and surrounding communities.

“Our newly expanded L.I.F.E Centre honours our past, our present, and ensures the next seven generations of Michi Saagiig Peoples of Hiawatha First Nation can celebrate the richness of our culture and traditions,” said Chief Carr.

Located at 431 Hiawatha Line, the centre features the Anishinaabemowin language throughout, took four years to complete from initial design and planning, and was almost entirely self-funded.

“This much-needed community space represents an independent investment in the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of our growing community, especially for our young people, families, and elders,” Chief Carr added.

VIDEO: Grand opening of LIFE Centre by Hiawatha First Nation

The centre includes additional child care facilities, a ceremonial fire circle and firekeepers lodge, office spaces, a fitness centre with change rooms, a commercial kitchen, and walking trails.

It also includes a gymnasium that doubles as an event performance space. Once pandemic restrictions allow, Hiawatha First Nation plans to rent the gymnasium to the surrounding community.

The L.I.F.E. Centre will host both cultural and health-related events, including Hiawatha First Nation’s annual pow wow, the annual Seven Grandfather awards and gala, community kitchens, craft making, drum circles, and celebrations including weddings, birth celebrations, and celebrations of life.

“Future generations will come here and still feel the spirit and the celebration that’s here,” said Sandra Moore, a member of Hiawatha First Nation who attended the grand opening celebration.

“Coming together in this physical building is just the surface of what we’ll do,” added Moore, who also operates Creators Gifts Native Fabric at nativefabric.com. “When we come together, we connect with each other and we gain a deeper understanding of one another. There is a healing that can happen between people when we come together.”

Located on the north shore of Rice Lake east of the Otonabee River, Hiawatha First Nation includes 500 members who reside both in and outside the nation. The nation has strong partnerships with surrounding communities including Otonabee South Monaghan, Cavan Millbrook, Selwyn, and Peterborough. Many of the nation’s children and youth attend schools in Peterborough and Keene.

Trent University wants to inspire students and others to follow their dreams with a recently installed sculpture by renowned Canadian artist David Robinson.

The towering sculpture, entitled ‘Dead Reckoning’ (Monumental), depicts a muscular rower in a stylized scull pulling at his oars. The sculpture is made of bronze, stainless steel, and weathering steel.

Installed next to the Trent Athletics Centre, the sculpture is clearly visible to students, faculty, staff, and visitors as well as rowers training and competing on the Otonabee River.

According to a media release from Trent University, Robinson says the vessel resembles the needle of a compass, while the rower “represents anyone — including students on an educational journey — determined to forge a path to their dreams.”

The sculpture also reflects Trent University’s international reputation for rowing excellence, exemplified by the annual Head of the Trent regatta.

“We wanted to mark the 50th anniversary of the Head of the Trent regatta with something very, very special,” says Dr. Leo Groarke, president and vice-chancellor of Trent University. “This sculpture is a wonderful addition to the campus and a wonderful addition to the public sculpture initiative.”

Trent’s public sculpture initiative, established by alumnus David James (’68), celebrates sculpture in Canada and helps Trent acquire nationally significant works that present unique and diverse artistic practices.

“This sculpture will be an icon and a beacon for those on the river,” says Sherry Booth, Trent’s associate vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement.

The university will install a plaque next to the sculpture, detailing the artwork, the artist, and honouring the donors that made it possible.

Toronto-born Robinson entered the fine arts stream in high school, specializing in sculpture. He continued his studies at Langara College and became an honours graduate in the sculpture program at the Ontario College of Art.

Robinson’s sculptures incorporate a variety of materials ranging from bronze, steel, and silver to concrete, mirror, and paper. His work is in many private and corporate collections including the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Dentons Canada LLP, Painted Rock Estate Winery, Toronto Dominion Bank, and Vancouver General Hospital.

“I am very, very grateful to have the placement of this piece in a beautiful culture that is welcoming to the work,” Robinson says.

Plans to formally celebrate the installation will take place during the 50th anniversary of the Head of the Trent Regatta.

Last year, Trent University and the Peterborough Rowing Club decided to cancel the 2020 Head of the Trent regatta and postpone the 50th anniversary of the event until 2021 due to the pandemic.

The 2021 regatta will take place on Saturday, October 2, but will be for athletes and coaches only. The event is not open to spectators from the broader community. The regatta beer garden will not take place and no social events will be held on campus or at the Peterborough Rowing Club.

Chris Leach, founder of the Trent University Rowing Club, organized the first Head of the Trent regatta in 1971. It has since become North America’s largest single-day head-race regatta, attracting more than 1,200 athletes from over 50 universities and clubs across Canada and the northern United States.

The regatta is hosted and organized by the Peterborough Rowing Club and the Trent University Rowing Club. Races take place on the Trent-Severn Waterway, starting at the Parkhill Road Bridge and winding through the Trent Canal to finish five kilometres later at the university’s Symons Campus.

As warnings of a coming fourth wave of COVID-19 become louder and more frequent, Peterborough’s medical officer of health says the fourth wave is already here.

“We’re certainly feeling the surge,” said Dr. Rosana Salvaterra during a Peterborough Public Health media briefing on Thursday (September 9), noting a sharp increase in the number of close contacts being monitored as just one indicator of that.

In the Peterborough region, as of late yesterday afternoon, 36 active cases were reported with 179 close contacts being followed. To date this week, 18 new cases have emerged — a sizable increase from the five new weekly cases reported just a month ago.

“These numbers are tracking significantly higher than two weeks ago,” Dr. Salvaterra said, adding “the delta variant continues to be the dominant strain we are seeing here.”

“Young people under the age of 30 continue to represent the largest proportion of our cases. This is a trend we have seen throughout the pandemic.”

On a positive note, there are no active outbreaks in the region, with the last local outbreak resolved on July 29. However, a potential exposure at the Canoe and Paddle pub in Lakefield did see Peterborough Public Health issue an advisory yesterday that anyone — vaccinated or not — who attended the pub between from August 30 to September 3 self-monitor for symptoms as well as get tested.

To date, according to Dr. Salvaterra, that exposure has resulted in four pub staff being infected.

Not unlike her public health colleagues across the province, Dr. Salvaterra stresses the best way to lessen the effects of the fourth wave is to get immunized.

To that end, this morning she issued a directive strongly recommending all workplaces develop or enhance policies requiring all employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they are medically exempt.

She added that provincial labour laws require employers to use every reasonable precaution to protect the health and well-being of their employees. This includes workplace hazards posed by infectious diseases.

To help employers develop a policy or enhance an existing one, the health unit has provided guidance on its website at peterboroughpublichealth.ca/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/covid-19-workplace-vaccination/.

“It’s really up to the employer how far they want to go with a policy, but we are recommending that COVID-19 vaccination be required of all staff,” Dr. Salvaterra said. “And that there needs to be some way for the employer to validate that the two immunizations have been actually received.”

With mandatory proof of full vaccination to enter a number of premises and venues required starting September 22, Dr. Salvaterra says the health unit has seen an uptick in the number of people getting vaccinated locally. Still, she notes an estimated 10,500 residents still need to roll up their shirtsleeves to hit the ideal 90 per cent fully vaccinated mark.

“I don’t think that’s going to get done quickly,” she admitted. “It will happen more gradually over time.”

With schools now open for the new academic year, there is good news on the vaccination front with close to 80 per cent of local youth aged 12 to 17 having received a first dose, and almost 66 per cent now fully immunized. In addition, 82.7 per cent of all vaccine-eligible residents aged 12 and up have received one dose while 76.7 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Dr. Salvaterra also shared updated information from the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table that shows unvaccinated individuals are six times more likely to be infected with COVID-19, 30 times more likely to be hospitalized if infected, and 48 times more likely to end up in intensive care.

Of note, this was Dr. Salvaterra’s final media briefing as she prepares to depart Peterborough Public Health for a new position as deputy chief medical officer of health with Alberta Health. Dr. Salvaterra’s last day on the job locally is September 19, and she starts her new position in Edmonton on October 4.

With Peterborough’s new medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott set to take the reins in December, Donna Churipuy, director of public health programs, will serve as incident commander in the interim assisted by acting medical officer of health Dr. Ian Gemmill.

Also in attendance for Thursday’s media briefing were Peterborough mayor Diane Therrien and board of health chair and Selwyn mayor Andy Mitchell.