Some temporary changes are coming to downtown Peterborough streets in preparation for the expected start of the first step of Ontario’s reopening plan on Monday, June 14th.

Step one will see outdoor dining allowed again, with a maximum of four people per table, and the reopening of non-essential retail at 15 per cent capacity.

On George and Water streets, new patio spaces are being installed this week in on-street parking spaces next to businesses that choose to participate. Unlike last summer, both lanes of each street will remain open to traffic. Sidewalks will remain for pedestrian use only.

Portable planter boxes and fencing will be used to separate the pedestrian and patio spaces from the traffic lanes.

As was the case last summer, Hunter and Charlotte streets will both be reduced to a single lane of traffic between George and Aylmer streets, with Hunter Street going one way westbound and Charlotte Street going one way eastbound.

On Hunter Street, one sidewalk will be closed to allow for expanded patio space on the sidewalk next to participating businesses. Expanded pedestrian space will be provided on the closed section of the street to accommodate displaced pedestrians. Fencing and portable planters will be used to separate the pedestrian space from the traffic lane.

On Charlotte Street, expanded patio space will be provided in the closed section of the street and both sidewalks will be maintained for pedestrian use only.

The changes on Hunter and Charlotte streets will take place from May 24 to June 5.

“We’re getting ready so that once the province eases the restrictions to allow businesses to welcome people into their stores and restaurants as well as to open their patios, they’ll be able to use the expanded outdoor spaces right away,” says Mayor Diane Therrien in a media release. “Pedestrians will have more room to physical distance and businesses will have the option for more outdoor space.”

Businesses are being asked to keep sidewalks on George, Water, and Charlotte streets clear of signs or other items to ensure pedestrian have the maximum space available to physically distance.

Except on George and Water streets, where expanded patio space is created in on-street parking next to participating businesses, on-street parking spaces, commercial parking zones, and accessible parking spots will be maintained, with additional parking available at municipal parking lots and municipal parking garages.

There will be designated free 15-minute curbside pickup parking zones throughout the downtown to support curbside pickup.

Cycling lanes will be maintained on George and Water streets. On the sections of Hunter and Charlotte streets between Aylmer and George that are temporarily changed to one-way one lane streets, cyclists and motorists will share the lane.

Peterborough city council approved the temporary downtown public space changes in April, after a review of last year’s experience. The public was consulted to help design the changes planned for this year, with 61 per cent of 1,492 respondents to a survey agreeing the changes would gave them the ability to maintain appropriate physical distancing.

For more information about the changes, including maps, visit peterborough.ca/downtownptbo.

The Centennial Fountain in Peterborough’s Little Lake will be turned on for the 2021 season on Wednesday (May 26) at 11 a.m.

The fountain’s light show this year, which will run each evening beginning at 8 p.m., will pay tribute to frontline workers. The fountain is illuminated with more than 500 LED lights.

“Frontline workers have kept our community safe, healthy and functioning throughout the pandemic,” says Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien in a media release. “The fountain is a symbol of hope as we begin to emerge from the pandemic this summer.”

The fountain, which shoots water up to 76 metres in the air, was installed in 1967 through a donation by General Electric Canada to mark the Canadian Centennial celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation.

“We hope it will encourage people to get outdoors, which is good for mental and physical well-being,” Therrien says.

The fountain can be viewed from many locations around Little Lake, including Rogers Cove to the east and Millennium Park to the west. The fountain will run until Thanksgiving Monday (October 11).

The city asks people to follow public health restrictions, including the maximum limit for outdoor gatherings of five people, and to avoid crowded areas.

On Wednesday (May 25), Peterborough city council confirmed a vote by general committee earlier in the month to turn on the fountain for the 2021 season on May 26.

When the Trent-Severn Waterway 2021 navigation season begins on Friday (May 28), boaters can expect delays when travelling through the Peterborough Lift Lock.

Parks Canada will be conducting repairs until the end of June that will require modified lockage times for boaters.

“The Peterborough Lift Lock National Historic Site of Canada was built in 1904 and has been in continuous operation for 117 years, providing visitors with safe and enjoyable experiences,” reads a media release from Parks Canda. “Similar to other historic infrastructure, with extensive use, wear and tear, the need for regular maintenance is normal and expected.”

Boaters going up (north on the Trent Canal) will experience a lockage time of around four hours, while boaters going down (south on the Trent Canal) will experience a lockage time of around 45 minutes.

The actual delay experienced by boaters will vary, depending on the position of the lift lock’s tubs when the boater arrives.

Boaters will be asked to disembark their vessels while the transfer is underway. Masks are required to use Parks Canada facilities or to receive assistance from Parks Canada team members when a distance of two metres cannot be maintained.

Parks Canada has conducted two major maintenance activities at the Peterborough Lift Lock in the last six years.

In 2016, the hydraulic press wells that house the almost 67-foot tall cylinders that raise and lower the lift lock’s tubs were pumped clean of more than 110 years’ worth of grime, grease, and goop.

Between 2015 to 2019, Parks Canada removed vegetation from along the earth berm on the northeast approach to the Lift Lock as the roots of trees and large shrubs were creating subsurface instability.

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

Over the past 2 days, Ontario has reported 2,485 new cases — 1,446 cases yesterday and 1,039 cases today — with only 2 or Ontario’s 34 health units (Toronto and Peel) reporting triple-digit case increases on each day. The seven-day average of daily cases has fallen to 1,693 and the proportion of active cases has decreased for the 36th straight day.

There has been a net decrease of hospitalizations over the past 2 days, although more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. There has been a small net decrease in ICU admissions and a small net increase in ventilated patients over the past 2 days. Ontario has reported 41 deaths over the past 2 days, including 1 new death in a long-term care home.

Almost 8.3 million vaccine doses have now been administered, with the number over the past 2 days averaging just over 93,000. More than 55% of Ontario’s total population has received at least one dose of vaccine.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 108 new cases to report, including 80 in Kawartha Lakes (over the past 3 days), 13 in Peterborough (over the past 2 days), 11 in Northumberland (over the past 3 days), and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward (over the past 2 days), with an additional 66 cases resolved.

Most of the new cases in Kawartha Lakes are due to an outbreak at Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, resulting in a spike of 42 new active cases across the region.

There has also been a new COVID-related death in Peterborough, the region’s 19th death since the pandemic began.

See below for details from each individual health unit.

Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (325) and Peel (231). These two health units were the only ones to report triple-digit increases on May 23 as well.

There are double-digit increases reported today in York (77), Durham (60), Ottawa (48), Hamilton (43), Niagara (40), Halton (38), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (29), Porcupine (28), Simcoe Muskoka (20), Windsor-Essex (17), Waterloo (17), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (15), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (12), and Haldimand-Norfolk (10), with smaller increases in Middlesex-London (9) and Brant (7).

The remaining 16 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 8 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s new cases, 62% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (442) among people ages 20-39 followed by 254 cases among people ages 40-59 and 198 cases among people 19 and under.

With 2,018 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 94.7% — the 36th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. After an increase in the average positivity rate across Ontario on May 23, it has now decreased by 0.2% to 6.2%, meaning that 62 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 24.

Ontario is reporting 33 new COVID-19 deaths today, with 1 new death in a long-term care home. Ontario has averaged 21 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 2 from yesterday.

Hospitalizations have increased by 42 from yesterday to 1,025, although more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 5 to 692 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 10 to 498.

A total of 16,857 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 151 to 7,450.

A total of 8,251,642 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 86,927 from yesterday, and 544,288 people have been fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 6,318 from yesterday.

The number of fully vaccinated people represents 3.69% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.04% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 56.01% of the total population, an increase of 0.59% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 108 new cases to report over the past 2 days, including 80 in Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Peterborough (2 yesterday and 11 today), 11 in Northumberland, and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward. There are no new cases in Haliburton.

The cases in Kawartha Lakes and Northumberland are from the past 3 days, with 67 of the cases in Kawartha Lakes associated with an outbreak at Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay.

An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville involving 1 case was declared on May 21.

There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Peterborough, the region’s 19th death since the pandemic began.

There are 104 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 78 in Kawartha Lakes, 15 in Peterborough (12 yesterday and 3 today), 10 in Northumberland, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.

There has been 1 new hospitalization and 1 new ICU admission in Peterborough, and 1 new hospitalization in Kawartha Lakes.

An additional 66 cases have been resolved, including 26 in Peterborough (16 yesterday and 10 today), 14 in Northumberland, 13 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 2 in Haliburton. An outbreak at Peterborough Day Care Centre in the City of Peterborough was declared resolved on May 25. Outbreaks at unidentified workplaces in Belleville and Central Hastings were declared resolved on May 21. A community outbreak in Hastings Highlands in North Hastings was declared resolved on May 25.

There are currently 305 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 42 since yesterday, including 147 in Kawartha Lakes, 89 in Peterborough, 36 in Hastings Prince Edward (12 in Quinte West, 7 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 4 in Prince Edward County, 9 in Central Hastings, and 2 in North Hastings), 31 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,468 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,360 resolved with 19 deaths), 965 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (775 resolved with 56 deaths), 909 in Northumberland County (861 resolved with 17 deaths), 118 in Haliburton County (116 resolved with 1 death), and 1,103 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,056 resolved with 11 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on May 25.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 4 p.m. the previous day, as well as from systems in Toronto, Ottawa, and Middlesex-London at 2 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).

Peterborough Public Health

Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays. These numbers are for May 24 and May 25.

Confirmed positive: 1,468 (increase of 13)
Total variants of concern cases: 651 (increase of 15)
Active cases: 89 (decrease of 14)
Close contacts: 305 (decrease of 66)
Deaths: 19 (increase of 1)
Resolved: 1,360 (increase of 26)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 65 (increase of 1)*
ICU admissions (total to date): 15 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: Over 52,100 (increase of 100)
Total vaccine doses administered (residents and non-residents): 69,989 (increase of 3,944 as of May 20)
Number of residents who have received first dose: 64,199 (increase of 3,675 as of May 20)
Number of residents fully vaccinated: 4,852 (increase of 277 as of May 20)
Outbreaks: Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in the City of Peterborough, Helping Hands Day Care in Peterborough County, Unidentified workplace #9 in Peterborough County, Unidentified workplace #10 in Peterborough County, Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough (decrease of 1)**

*As of May 25, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 10 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 3) and a total of 76 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (increase of 1).

**An outbreak at Peterborough Day Care Centre in the City of Peterborough was declared resolved on May 25.

Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.

The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays. These numbers include May 23, May 24, and May 25.

Confirmed positive: 1,992, including 965 in Kawartha Lakes, 909 in Northumberland, and 118 in Haliburton (increase of 91, including 80 in Kawartha Lakes and 11 in Northumberland)*
Total variants of concern cases: 674, including 330 in Kawartha Lakes, 311 in Northumberland, and 33 in Haliburton (increase of 88, including 78 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland)
Active cases: 179, including 147 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (net increase of 62, with increase of 67 in Kawartha Lakes)
Probable cases: 1 (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 71, including 37 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 74, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,752, including 775 in Kawartha Lakes, 861 in Northumberland, and 116 in Haliburton (increase of 29, including 13 in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 191,761 (increase of 1,322)
Vaccine doses administered to residents: 95,921 (increase of 10,136 as of May 25)
Number of residents fully vaccinated: 7,335 (increase of 2,458 as of May 25)
Outbreaks: Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Campbellford Farm Supply LTD (no change)

*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.

**As of May 25, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 4 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 1).

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays. These numbers are from May 24 and 25.

Confirmed positive: 1,103 (increase of 4)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 463 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 36 (decrease of 7)
Deaths: 11 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 10 (decrease of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 4 (decrease of 2)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 3 (decrease of 3)
Resolved: 1,056 (increase of 11)
Tests completed: 142,903 (increase of 209)
Vaccine doses administered: 84,760 (increase of 1,096)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 6,761 (increase of 48)
Outbreaks: Quinte 5 at QHC Belleville General Hospital, Unidentified workplace in Belleville (net decrease of 1)*

*An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville involving 1 case was declared on May 21. Outbreaks at unidentified workplaces in Belleville and Central Hastings were declared resolved on May 21. A community outbreak in Hastings Highlands in North Hastings was declared resolved on May 25.

Province of Ontario

May 23

Confirmed positive: 523,911 (increase of 1,446)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 119,145 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 1,204); 888 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 83); 2,422 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 17)
VOC R(t): 0.83 (decrease of 0.01 as of May 16)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,775 (decrease of 103)
Positivity rate: 6.4% (decrease of 0.7%)
Resolved: 495,251 (increase of 2,072), 94.5% of all cases (increase of 0.1%)
Hospitalizations: 983 (decrease of 58)**
Hospitalizations in ICU: 687 (decrease of 6)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 478 (decrease of 2)
Deaths: 8,622 (increase of 8)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 19 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,947 (no change)
Total tests completed: 15,024,867 (increase of 20,151)
Tests under investigation: 7,299 (decrease of 2,214)
Vaccination doses administered: 8,164,715 (increase of 99,108), 55.42% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.67%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 537,970 (increase of 6,367), 3.65% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.04%)***

May 24

Confirmed positive: 524,950 (increase of 1,039)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 120,130 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 985); 817 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (decrease of 71); 2,462 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 40)
VOC R(t): 0.83 (decrease of 0.01 as of May 16)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,693 (decrease of 82)
Positivity rate: 6.2% (decrease of 0.2%)
Resolved: 497,269 (increase of 2,018), 94.7% of all cases (increase of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 1,025 (increase of 42)**
Hospitalizations in ICU: 692 (increase of 5)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 498 (increase of 10)
Deaths: 8,655 (increase of 33)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 21 (increase of 2)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,948 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: 15,041,724 (increase of 16,857)
Tests under investigation: 7,450 (increase of 151)
Vaccination doses administered: 8,251,642 (increase of 86,927), 56.01% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.59%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 544,288 (increase of 6,318), 3.69% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.04%)***

*R(t) is a virus’s effective reproduction number, which is the average number of new infections caused by a single infected individual at a specific time (t) in a partially immunized population. To successfully eliminate a disease from a population, R(t) needs to be less than 1.

**More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.

***An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.

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

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the City of Kawartha Lakes has spiked following the confirmation of additional cases in an outbreak at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay over the weekend, according to a media release from the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

Of the increase of 88 confirmed cases in Kawartha Lakes over the weekend, 67 are related to the outbreak. As of Tuesday (May 25), there are 122 inmates and nine staff who have tested positive for COVID-19.

“Our staff are working closely with the health services staff within the facility to help prevent any further spread,” says local medical officer of health Dr. Natalie Bocking in the media release.

“We have seen these measures implemented in outbreaks in other correctional facilities in the province and they have helped prevent any further spread and helped bring the outbreaks to a close,” Dr. Bocking adds. “Coupled with increased infection and prevention control measures being implemented by the facility, we hope to see these individuals recover and no further cases, “.”

The health unit first declared an outbreak at the facility last Monday (May 17), after six inmates in various areas of the facility were confirmed positive for COVID-19. The outbreak was then declared facility-wide as additional inmates and staff were confirmed positive.

The health unit says its laboratory testing has detected mutations consistent with a COVID-19 variant, but the specific variant lineage is yet to be confirmed. The type of variant is determined by whole genome sequencing, and it can take several weeks before results are available.

When the current province-wide stay-at-home order expires June 2, what follows will go one of two ways: that order will be extended or step one of the Ontario government’s ‘Roadmap to Reopen’ will come into effect well ahead of schedule.

That was the word from Peterborough’s medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra during a Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Tuesday (May 25).

“There isn’t going to be a limbo period — it will either be an extension of the stay-at-home order if more time is required or an introduction of step one,” said Dr. Salvaterra, noting if certain indicators, such as the number of daily cases and number of hospitalizations, remain too high, the order will be extended.

“There’s a bit of wiggle room there. Depending on how well we do with controlling the pandemic, there’s some flexibility as to when we can move to step one, keeping in mind you need two weeks post-immunization to get any protection from the vaccine,” she added.

Step one of Ontario’s re-opening plan, which requires a minimum of 60 per cent of Ontario adults to receive their first dose of vaccine, is scheduled to begin the week of June 14. It allows for larger outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, outdoor dining to resume with up to four people per table, and non-essential retail to reopen at 15 per cent capacity.

“The provincial requirement of 60 per cent vaccinated for step one to start had been reached as of May 22, so the target provincially is there,” Dr. Salvaterra said. “Now it’s a matter of some time for that to take effect, but also to watch those indicators.”

Step one would be in effect for at least 21 days before the move to step two, which would expand outdoor gatherings to up to 25 people, allow for outdoor sports and leagues to resume, allow personal care services to resume, and more.

At present, 56 per cent of Peterborough region residents have received at least their first dose of vaccine. Dr. Salvaterra sees no roadblocks to the 60 per cent target being met locally by June 2.

Meanwhile, local infection numbers have shown improvement since last week. As of Monday (May 24) at 4:30 p.m., the number of active cases in Peterborough city and county and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations was reported as 89 — a decrease of 20 since the previous Friday. Meanwhile, the number of close contacts of positive cases being monitored by public health staff has dropped as well and is now at 324, 50 less than what was reported Friday.

“We had a great long weekend with only single-digit increases in new cases each day,” said Dr. Salvaterra. “Hopefully this means that the third wave has crested, although it’s too soon to say as we have yet to see the effect of the long weekend’s activities. But, at this point, it’s looking promising.”

Two cases have been reported this week but that represents just one day. Still, last week’s 67 new cases was down substantially from the previous week’s 96 new cases. With one week left in May, the total new cases count for the month stands at 230, still well down from April’s new case count of 353.

There are currently six active outbreaks, the most recent at Fairhaven. It is the sixth outbreak at the Dutton Road long-term care home reported since the pandemic began.

“They (Fairhaven staff) have been busy testing and I’m happy to report that there have no resident cases to date with the only cases so far in (two) staff,” said Dr. Salvaterra. However, as reported by Fairhaven on its website, one resident has tested positive and is in isolation in at the home.

Dr. Salvaterra attributes the ongoing outbreak challenge at Fairhaven to the size of the home’s staff.

“(A large staff) means more opportunity for people to be infected,” she explained. “It may be just a bit of bad luck as well. They’ve worked so hard at Fairhaven. Sometimes it has felt unfair to come out of an outbreak and go back into another one so quickly. It’s also reflected in the fact that the definition of outbreak for long-term care homes is very low. You just need one person to test positive. Because of that we’ve been declaring outbreaks much sooner than we had in the past.”

On the vaccination front, Dr. Salvaterra says appointments are being expanded to evenings as well as weekends.

“We have 1,400 available appointments today online for clinics scheduled for June 15 and 17,” she said, noting anyone 12 years old or older in now eligible to receive their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

“We are also hoping to have more appointments open up, potentially at PRHC (Peterborough Regional Health Centre) for later this week. We will be loading more appointments as we get vaccine supplies confirmed.”

Area residents are directed to phone the provincial call centre at 1-833-943-3900 to book their COVID vaccination appointments when they are in the age group that has become eligible. The line is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week. Eligible residents can also book their appointments online by visiting ontario.ca/bookvaccine.

As for those awaiting word on their second dose, Dr. Salvaterra said the current focus remains “on getting as many people as possible” vaccinated with their first dose.

“We still have thousands of people here who haven’t had their first dose,” she said. “We are expecting the province to share its (second dose) plan with us this week. We will begin administering second doses once we have a plan and as we get supply. The province is working on the booking system to allow the changes required for second dose appointments. We’ll know a lot more soon.”

Also commenting during Tuesday’s briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien, Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, and Peterborough board of health chair and Selwyn mayor Andy Mitchell.