Thursday, August 21, 2025
Home Blog Page 532

Ontario reports 2,791 new COVID-19 cases, including 32 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

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

Ontario is reporting 2,791 new cases today — the lowest single-day increase since March 31 when 2,557 cases were reported.

Toronto and 6 other health units reporting triple-digit increases, with the seven-day average of daily cases falling by 68 to 3,509 and the number of active cases continuing to decline.

There are 2,303 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, 8 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa, and 51 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.

Hospitalizations have increased significantly, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for the past 2 days so this increase reflects earlier underreporting. There’s been a small decrease in both the number of ICU admissions and the number of patients on ventilators.

Ontario is reporting 25 deaths today, including 9 new deaths in long-term care homes — the highest single-day increase in long-term care homes since February 20 when 11 new deaths were reported.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 32 new cases to report (including 15 in Hastings Prince Edward, 10 in Peterborough, 5 in Northumberland, and 2 in Kawartha Lakes) and an additional 32 cases resolved, with the number of active cases decreasing by 3 to 202.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (931), Peel (653), York (275), Durham (147), Hamilton (128), Ottawa (112), and Halton (101).

There are double-digit increases reported today in Niagara (89), Middlesex-London (61), Waterloo (56), Simcoe Muskoka (52), Windsor-Essex (34), Brant (25), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (25), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (19), Haldimand-Norfolk (13), and Eastern Ontario (11), with smaller increases in Southwestern (9), Northwestern (7), Sudbury (7), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (7), North Bay Parry Sound (6), and Lambton (6).

The remaining 11 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with all health units reporting at least 1 new case.

Of today’s new cases, 60% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,199) among people ages 20-39 followed by 778 cases among people ages 40-59 and 469 cases among people 19 and under.

With 3,323 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.1% to at 90.6% — the 15th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.6% to 9.1%, meaning that 91 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 3.

Ontario is reporting 25 new COVID-19 deaths today, with 9 new deaths in long-term care homes. This is the highest single-day increase in long-term care homes since February 20 when 11 new deaths were reported. Ontario has averaged 26 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).

The number of hospitalizations has increased by 242 to 2,167, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report, so this increase reflects earlier underreporting. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 3 to 886 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has decreased by 2 to 609.

A total of 33,740 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation rising by 9,930 to 25,049.

A total of 5,467,120 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 88,871 from yesterday, with 378,085 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,180 from yesterday.

The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.57% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.02% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 37.11% of the population, an increase of 0.60% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 32 new cases to report, including 15 in Hastings Prince Edward, 10 in Peterborough, 5 in Northumberland, and 2 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Haliburton.

There are 7 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 4 in Hastings Prince Edward, 2 in Peterborough, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes.

There is 1 new hospitalization in Hastings Prince Edward and 2 more patients on ventilators.

An additional 32 cases have been resolved, including 11 in Peterborough, 10 in Hastings Prince Edward, 6 in Northumberland, 4 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton. An outbreak at Trent Champlain Residence E/F Tower in Peterborough was declared resolved on May 1.

There are currently 202 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 3 from yesterday, including 74 in Peterborough, 72 in Hastings Prince Edward (14 in Quinte West, 42 in Belleville, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 11 in Prince Edward County, 3 in Central Hastings, and 1 in North Hastings), 32 in Northumberland, 20 in Kawartha Lakes, and 4 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,255 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,167 resolved with 14 deaths), 733 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (670 resolved with 56 deaths), 827 in Northumberland County (781 resolved with 14 deaths), 105 in Haliburton County (100 resolved with 1 death), and 958 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (877 resolved with 9 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on April 28.

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).

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 1,255 (increase of 10)
Total variants of concern cases: 467 (increase of 2)
Active cases: 74 (decrease of 1)
Close contacts: 213 (increase of 20)
Deaths: 14 (no change)
Resolved: 1,167 (increase of 11)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 53 (no change)*
ICU admissions (total to date): 8 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 50,250 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #7 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #8 in Peterborough, Sunshine Daycare in Peterborough, Unidentified child care centre #1 in Peterborough County (decrease of 1)**
Vaccine doses administered: 56,409 (increase of 12,806 as of April 29)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,211 (increase of 1,730 as of April 29)

*As of May 4, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 17 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 1) and a total of 67 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (increase of 5).

**An outbreak at Trent Champlain Residence E/F Tower in Peterborough was declared resolved on May 1.

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 1,665, including 733 in Kawartha Lakes, 827 in Northumberland, and 105 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 5 in Northumberland)*
Total variants of concern cases: 401, including 137 in Kawartha Lakes, 243 in Northumberland, and 21 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
Active cases: 56, including 20 in Kawartha Lakes, 32 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (decrease of 6, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Probable cases: 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland (decrease of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 60, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 71, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,551, including 670 in Kawartha Lakes, 781 in Northumberland, and 100 in Haliburton (increase of 11, including 4 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 182,153 (increase of 734)
Vaccine doses administered: 72,365 (increase of 7,412 as of May 3)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,271 (increase of 723 as of May 3)
Outbreaks: Transition House shelter in Cobourg (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 4, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 8 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 2).

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 958 (increase of 15)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 334 (increase of 4)
Active cases: 72 (increase of 4)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 18 (increase of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 7 (decrease of 2)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 6 (increase of 2)
Resolved: 877 (increase of 10)
Tests completed: 132,208 (increase of 72)
Vaccine doses administered: 61,636 (increase of 736)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,098 (increase of 45)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Prince Edward County, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, QHC Belleville General Hospital, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville, Unidentified child care facility in Quinte West (no change)

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 476,692 (increase of 2,791)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 77,649 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,303); 309 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 8); 971 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 51)*
VOC R(t): 0.89 (decrease of 0.04 as April 27)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,509 (decrease of 68)
Positivity rate: 9.1% (increase of 0.6%)
Resolved: 432,109 (increase of 3,323), 90.6% of all cases (increase of 0.1%)
Hospitalizations: 2,167 (increase of 242)***
Hospitalizations in ICU: 886 (decrease of 3)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 609 (decrease of 2)
Deaths: 8,143 (increase of 25)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 26 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,928 (increase of 9)
Total tests completed: 14,264,861 (increase of 33,740)
Tests under investigation: 25,049 (increase of 9,930)
Vaccination doses administered: 5,467,120 (increase of 88,871), 37.11% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.60%)****
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 378,085 (increase of 2,180), 2.57% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.02%)****

*While Ontario’s daily update still is not yet reporting this information, Public Health Ontario confirmed on April 23 that 36 cases of the B.1.617 variant, a so-called “double mutation” variant first identified in India, have been detected in Ontario.

**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 the past 2 days, so this increase reflects earlier underreporting.

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

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from April 3 - May 3, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from April 3 – May 3, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from April 3 - May 3, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from April 3 – May 3, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from April 3 - May 3, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from April 3 – May 3, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from April 3 - May 3, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from April 3 – May 3, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from April 3 - May 3, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from April 3 – May 3, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

4,500 vaccine appointments still available in May at Peterborough-area clinics

By Paul Rellinger -
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo: Arne Müseler / www.arne-mueseler.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons)

High to moderate COVID transmission of COVID-19 in the Peterborough region coupled with still high Ontario-wide case counts has medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra urging residents yet to be immunized to “take whatever vaccine you can get.”

“The first vaccine you can access remains the best vaccine for you,” said Dr. Salvaterra during a Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Tuesday (May 4).

Dr. Salvaterra’s directive came during her take on the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) now investigating the merits of mixing vaccines.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

“Mixing vaccines isn’t going to speed up the (immunization) timeline,” Dr. Salvaterra said. “The timeline really depends on the availability of all the vaccines coming into the province.”

“With AstraZeneca now being in short supply, I know there a lots of people getting worried, asking ‘Will there be AstraZeneca for me when it’s my turn to get my second dose?’ We believe there will be. The NACI recommendation remains to complete your vaccination with whatever you started with.”

Dr. Salvaterra noted there is “fascinating” research underway into the efficacy of mixing different types of COVID-19 vaccines.

“There are some promising results starting to emerge from this research that shows there may actually be an advantage to mixing and matching — that our immune system can benefit from being nudged in a different way,” she said. “We need to stay tuned and wait for that research to be published.”

This development aside, it doesn’t change the fact that the Peterborough region remains on track to receive substantial deliveries of Pfizer vaccine starting May 17. That will create the potential for at least 1,000 people a day to be immunized with their first shot.

Many people have already had an appointment booked for weeks, but the recent diversion of vaccines to COVID hotspots combined with a shortfall in the amount of vaccine coming to Canada has seen their immunization put on hold.

Dr. Salvaterra said there remains about 4,500 appointments available for the month of May at clinics in the region, but expects those will be booked soon.

Those aged 55 and up can book vaccine appointments now. Dr. Salvaterra noted that’s scheduled to be expanded to 50 and older “likely this Thursday”, to 40 and older the week of May 10, to 30 and older the week of May 10, and to 18 and older come the week of May 24.

“The light is getting brighter at the end of the tunnel but we are still in the midst of a stay-at-home order,” reminded Dr. Salvaterra.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

With the local vaccination appointment call centre having shut down, 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 continue to book their appointments online by visiting ontario.ca/bookvaccine.

To date 56,409 people in the Peterborough region have received at least one dose — 52,143 of those Peterborough and area residents and the remainder residents from neighbouring health unit jurisdictions who secured a local appointment.

Meanwhile, the number of people fully immunized with two doses sits at 4,211. Local vaccination numbers are updated Thursdays between 4 and 5 p.m.

As of Monday (May 3) at 4:30 p.m., active cases stood at 75 in Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake and Hiawatha — down seven from what was reported the previous Friday. Since Monday, three new cases have been detected, bringing the total of new cases in May to 19.

Meanwhile, the number of close contacts of positive cases being closely monitored by public health staff continues its drop as of late, now pegged at 193, down 26 from Friday.

There are currently seven active outbreaks in the region, including two in daycare settings, one of those being at Sunshine Daycare on Bensfort Road that, according to Dr. Salvaterra, has seen both staff and children infected.

Also commenting during Friday’s briefing were Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, and Peterborough board of health chair and Selwyn mayor Andy Mitchell.

City of Peterborough seeking artists for ‘Renaissance on Hunter’ public art projects

By Sarah McNeilly -
The first two murals funded by the City of Peterborough's public art program are installed underneath the Hunter Street bridge: Edmonton artist Jill Stanton's "Bloodroot" in the foreground with Toronto artist Kirsten McCrea's "Electric City" in the background. For summer 2021, the city is funding the installation of eight temporary road murals and artists' gardens along four sites on Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough and is seeking proposals from individual artists and teams, with the proposal deadline May 29, 2021. (Photo: Samantha Moss / kawarthaNOW)

The City of Peterborough’s public art program has issued a call for proposals to artists for two public art projects — the Road Mural Project and the Artists’ Garden Project, collectively called ‘Renaissance on Hunter’ — which will be installed along Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough by early summer.

Due to the pandemic, the city will once again be making temporary changes to Hunter Street West this spring. To allow for expanded pedestrian space conducive for physical distancing, Hunter Street between George and Aylmer streets will be reduced to one-way westbound traffic.

This year, however, this city will make proverbial lemonade out of lemons by using the traffic calming and mobility strategy on Hunter Street as an opportunity to showcase public art and celebrate local artists.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

“The Renaissance on Hunter projects call to our artists will help transform the downtown corridor into a welcoming, engaging pedestrian space for the warm weather season,” says Mayor Diane Terrien in a media release. “The installations will adhere to COVID-19 Re-Opening Ontario guidelines and will contribute to making the area feel safer, while supporting business activity and public health as we enter and navigate the pandemic recovery together.”

The two public art projects, which will consist of a series of temporary murals on the asphalt and themed gardens/interventions in planters, will be featured in four new pedestrian spaces created between Aylmer and Chambers Streets.

The road murals and the combination of portable planters and barricades installed along the streetscape will provide physical separation between pedestrian space and the traffic lane. They will also further enhance accessibility for those with low vision.

In 2017, Prince Edward County artist Chrissy Poitras was commissioned to paint her "Floral Abstraction" mural on the south wall of the building at 378 Aylmer Street in Peterborough. For summer 2021, the City of Peterborough's public art program is seeking artists to install temporary road murals at four sites along Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough. (Photo courtesy of the Peterborough DBIA)
In 2017, Prince Edward County artist Chrissy Poitras was commissioned to paint her “Floral Abstraction” mural on the south wall of the building at 378 Aylmer Street in Peterborough. For summer 2021, the City of Peterborough’s public art program is seeking artists to install temporary road murals at four sites along Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough. (Photo courtesy of the Peterborough DBIA)

In addition to beautifying the temporary downtown public space changes, Renaissance on Hunter was also created with local artists in mind — the opportunity for paid work provides a vital lifeline for an otherwise hard-hit community.

“Public art priorities this year were for achievable projects in a short time frame,” says Wendy Trusler, the city’s public art facilitator. “We wanted to get the maximum impact both on the broader community, who will benefit from the project’s budget, and on the artists who will be making them.”

The two public art projects are open to both emerging and established professional artists and ad hoc artist teams or collectives working in a range of disciplines and media. Trusler is encouraging partnerships and collaborations to create and optimize opportunities for a variety of local artists.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

“I wanted to really encourage people to come together and work as teams to make more opportunities for more artists,” explains Trusler of the decision to allow for group submissions, adding “It’s not just for visual artists, but also for people in the performance world who have been really impacted by the pandemic.”

When it became clear that physical distancing measures would once again be required for the warmer months, Trusler reached out to the city’s planning and transportation departments to propose Renaissance on Hunter.

Funded through its public art program, the city is presenting Renaissance on Hunter in partnership with the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) and GreenUP.

“When it occurred to me that we’re going to have to shut down the roadways again, we put our heads together to see how things might shape up differently this year,” explains Trusler. “And then talking with GreenUp and the DBIA — they’re always doing fabulous things — and they wanted to come together and help. So it feels like there’s a critical mass of people behind the projects.”

"Daisy World", an artists' garden by Sandra Rechico installed at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto in 2004. For summer 2021, the City of Peterborough's public art program is seeking artists to install temporary gardens at four sites along Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough. (Photo: Harbourfront)
“Daisy World”, an artists’ garden by Sandra Rechico installed at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto in 2004. For summer 2021, the City of Peterborough’s public art program is seeking artists to install temporary gardens at four sites along Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough. (Photo: Harbourfront)

Trusler says artists’ gardens “have long been an interest of mine”, inspiring her to include them as part of Renaissance on Hunter.

“There was a very successful artists’ garden project in the 1980s at Harbourfront which went on for many years, with different artists doing installations, field plantings, and really interesting interventions in the spaces near the power plant,” Trusler recalls.

“As for the Road Mural Project, it’s no secret to anyone that road murals have become very, very important during the pandemic. When I started to look into road murals further, I saw all sorts of fabulous initiatives when streets are closed down temporarily.”

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

There’s no shortage of creativity in Peterborough-Nogojiwanong, which means there’s great potential for some amazing public art this summer.

There will be four road murals and four artists’ gardens, with budgets ranging from $3,000 to $9,500 depending on the project and the site. The selected artists will receive an honorarium based on each project site’s budget. The city will supply the planters and soil and the paint required for each project, with the artists responsible for the costs of other required materials.

To read the call for proposals for both the Road Mural Project and the Artists’ Garden Project, including more information about the project parameters and tips to assist with the application process, visit the city’s public art program web page at peterborough.ca/publicart.

The proposal deadline for both projects is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 28th. All proposals must be submitted online, and a selection committee will review the proposals. Selected artists will be notified in early to mid-June, with projects to be completed by late June. All artworks will remain in place until the projects end in mid-October.

Free help desk offers labour market data to employers and job seekers in greater Kawarthas region

By Paula Kehoe -
The Workforce Development Board's free local Labour Market Information (LMI) Help Desk provides employers, job seekers, and employment support agencies with a better understanding of the labour market in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Northumberland, as well as Muskoka. (Photo: WDB)

More than a year into the pandemic, new and rebounding jobs are offering a hint of hope for the economy. But whether you’re a person looking for work, a business looking to hire, or an organization delivering an employment program, it can be a challenge finding the information you need to make the best-informed decisions.

Enter the Workforce Development Board’s local Labour Market Information (LMI) Help Desk at www.wdb.ca/lmi-help-desk/. This free online tool provides employers, job seekers, and employment support agencies with a better understanding of the labour market in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Northumberland, as well as Muskoka.

“Labour market information can give you an advantage when making education, career, and employment decisions,” explains Jennifer Lamantia, chief executive officer of the Peterborough-based Workforce Development Board (WDB).

Anyone can access the free LMI Help Desk service, ranging from students seeking career information, employers looking for information to set competitive salaries, and economic development providers requesting skills and occupations that are in high demand in the area.

Government policymakers, economic developers, industry associations, human resources departments, educators, and school boards will also find it useful, according to Lamantia.

What skills are in demand in my area? What is the median wage for my occupation? What is the demographic of workers in my area? What industries and companies are trending in my area? These are just a few of the questions the LMI Help Desk can answer.

Anyone can access the Workforce Development Board's free LMI Help Desk service, ranging from students seeking career information, employers looking for information to set competitive salaries, and economic development providers requesting skills and occupations that are in high demand in the area. Government policymakers, economic developers, industry associations, human resources departments, educators, and school boards will also find it useful. (Stock photo)
Anyone can access the Workforce Development Board’s free LMI Help Desk service, ranging from students seeking career information, employers looking for information to set competitive salaries, and economic development providers requesting skills and occupations that are in high demand in the area. Government policymakers, economic developers, industry associations, human resources departments, educators, and school boards will also find it useful. (Stock photo)

If you’re looking for work or thinking about changing jobs, Lamantia says labour market information can help you find career paths that suit your skills and interests. It can show you which jobs have the best outlooks, where those jobs are located, what skills are in demand, and the requirements for a certain type of job.

“If you’re not sure what the future looks like for a personal support worker or a carpenter, ask the LMI Help Desk and we can get that information for you,” Lamantia says, adding that the help desk can also guide you to local employment services providers, where you will find information on available training programs, including those where tuition may be covered.

For employers, the LMI Help Desk can supply data about workplace changes, regional and demographic trends, and industry statistics — all of which can help businesses and organizations make informed and targeted decisions for training or hiring.

“This inevitably helps with an employer’s recruitment efforts because it makes them more attractive and competitive to people looking to find a job locally,” Lamantia says.

Entrepreneurs and start-ups can use insights gathered from the LMI Help Desk for market research and to help solidify their business plan.

“The data can help them figure out how many other businesses like theirs already exist in the region, what the talent pool is like if they want to grow, and the need to hire people with a specific skill set,” Lamantia points out.

Labour market information can be confusing and overwhelming, and the LMI Help Desk can quickly get you the data you actually need while also making it accessible.

To make a request to the Workforce Development Board's local Labour Market Information (LMI) Help Desk, you can email helpdesk@wdb.ca, call 705-749-3250, or complete an online form at www.wdb.ca/lmi-help-desk/. (Graphic: WDB)
To make a request to the Workforce Development Board’s local Labour Market Information (LMI) Help Desk, you can email helpdesk@wdb.ca, call 705-749-3250, or complete an online form at www.wdb.ca/lmi-help-desk/. (Graphic: WDB)

“Data is most useful when analyzed and distributed in a clear and easy-to-understand format,” says Lamantia, adding that not everybody has the time or ability to find and sort through the wealth of labour market data already available on the internet, including on WDB’s website at www.wdb.ca.

“WDB also has access to data that you probably wouldn’t have access to,” Lamantia notes. “All you have to do is simply submit a request and we do the work to get you that information.”

All requests are processed by WDB’s in-house labour market information analyst Sean Dooley, who is well-versed with data, analysis, and charts. You will receive a branded, professional report that can be shared with others.

“For example, if you’re an employment service provider and you request information about the skills employers are looking for, we’ll send you a nice-looking report that you can then share electronically with your team,” Dooley explains. “We also credit the source, so it has the quality behind it as well.”

Since the LMI Help Desk’s initial launch in 2016, requests have tripled, with over 400 reports issued. Dooley adds there has been an uptick in requests now that more businesses have resumed operations over the past eight months.

“When lockdown restrictions started to ease last July, people wanted data about what was going on in the area,” Dooley recalls. “We started to see more requests than we would typically get in those summer months when it’s a little quieter, but it was very busy.”

The data gathered by WDB has already had a positive impact on the labour market in the greater Kawarthas region, supporting education and skills training programs, grant applications, recruitment by local employers, career planning, and expanding the knowledge base of local industry trends.

The Workforce Development Board's LMI Help Desk can provide free local labour market information for Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Muskoka. Presented in a clear and easy-to-understand format, the information can help for job seekers, businesses, and other organizations making better-informed decisions related to employment. (Stock photo)
The Workforce Development Board’s LMI Help Desk can provide free local labour market information for Northumberland, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Muskoka. Presented in a clear and easy-to-understand format, the information can help for job seekers, businesses, and other organizations making better-informed decisions related to employment. (Stock photo)

Initially a WDB pilot project in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Northumberland, the LMI Help Desk was set to end this spring when funding from the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development decreased.

However, after Lamantia shared data about the success of the project, the ministry asked WDB to help six other workforce planning boards in Eastern Ontario and Muskoka expand their existing help desks or launch new ones based on the WDB model, and funded an Ontario Labour Market Partnership project that is currently underway.

The six boards also plan to adopt WDB’s Local Jobs Hub, a free online tool that automatically pulls local job listings from online job boards and allows job seekers to filter listings by key criteria, including skill level and type, part-time or full-time jobs, and whether a job is temporary, contract, or permanent.

“It’s wonderful to see the ripple effect that our services are making in the community to help with the local labour market and the strength of the economy, especially now when we’re looking at recovery,” Lamantia says.

To make a request to WDB’s local Labour Market Information (LMI) Help Desk, visit www.wdb.ca/lmi-help-desk/, where you can email, call, or complete an online form.

The website also includes an LMI User Guide and FAQ section for those who would like more information.

For more information on WDB, visit www.wdb.ca.

The Workforce Development Board's LMI Help Desk is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.

 

This story was created in partnership with WDB.

Ontario reports 3,436 new COVID-19 cases, including 16 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

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

Ontario is reporting 3,436 new cases today, with Toronto and 9 other health units reporting triple-digit increases. The seven-day average of daily cases has fallen by 11 today to 3,577, and the number of active cases continues to decline.

There are 3,033 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, 10 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa, and 49 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.

Hospitalizations have fallen again, but not all hospitals submitted data for today’s report. There’s been a small decrease in the number of ICU admissions and the number of patients on ventilators. Ontario is reporting 16 deaths today, with 1 death in a long-term care home. The seven-day average of new deaths has decreased to 26.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 16 new cases to report (including 7 in Peterborough, 3 in Northumberland, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Haliburton, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward) and an additional 56 cases resolved, decreasing the number of active cases by 47 to 205.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (985), Peel (714), York (351), Durham (271), Hamilton (194), Halton (159), Ottawa (130), Niagara (127), Waterloo (106), and Simcoe Muskoka (101).

There are double-digit increases reported today in Middlesex-London (61), Windsor-Essex (47), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (41), Brant (17), Eastern Ontario (15), Southwestern (15), Haldimand-Norfolk (13), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (12), Porcupine (11), and Northwestern (10), with smaller increases in Peterborough (9), Sudbury (6), and Grey Bruce (6).

The remaining 11 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 1 health unit (Timiskaming) reporting no new cases.

Of today’s new cases, 59% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,351) among people ages 20-39 followed by 977 cases among people ages 40-59 and 684 cases among people 19 and under.

With 3,623 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.1% to at 90.5% — the 14th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 1.2% to 9.7%, meaning that 97 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 2.

Ontario is reporting 16 new COVID-19 deaths today, with 1 new death in a long-term care home. Ontario has averaged 26 new daily deaths over the past week, a decrease of 1 from yesterday.

The number of hospitalizations has decreased by 36 to 1,925, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report, so the number of hospitalized patients may actually be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 6 to 889 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has decreased by 4 to 611.

A total of 33,179 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation falling by 4,972 to 15,119.

A total of 5,378,249 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 53,880 from yesterday, with 375,905 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 625 from yesterday.

The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.55% of Ontario’s population (no change from yesterday), with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 36.50% of the population, an increase of 0.37% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 16 new cases to report, including 7 in Peterborough, 3 in Northumberland, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Haliburton, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.

Outbreaks at Sunshine Daycare in Peterborough and an unidentified child care centre #1 in Peterborough County were declared on May 3.

There are 33 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 13 in Hastings Prince Edward, 9 in Northumberland, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, and 5 in Peterborough.

An additional 56 cases have been resolved, including 20 in Hastings Prince Edward, 16 in Kawartha Lakes, 10 in Peterborough, 7 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton. Outbreaks at Fenelon Court long-term care home in Fenelon Falls, Summersweet Custom Design & Build Inc. in Haliburton, Carressent Care Mary Street in Lindsay, and Adelaide Place in Lindsay have been declared resolved.

There are currently 205 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 47 from yesterday, including 75 in Peterborough, 68 in Hastings Prince Edward (13 in Quinte West, 42 in Belleville, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 9 in Prince Edward County, and 3 in Central Hastings), 34 in Northumberland, 23 in Kawartha Lakes, and 5 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,245 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,156 resolved with 14 deaths), 732 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (666 resolved with 56 deaths), 823 in Northumberland County (775 resolved with 14 deaths), 105 in Haliburton County (99 resolved with 1 death), and 944 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (867 resolved with 9 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on April 28.

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).

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 1,245 (increase of 7)
Total variants of concern cases: 465 (increase of 5)
Active cases: 75 (decrease of 3)
Close contacts: 193 (decrease of 6)
Deaths: 14 (no change)
Resolved: 1,156 (increase of 10)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 53 (no change)*
ICU admissions (total to date): 8 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 50,200 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Trent Champlain Residence: West Towers in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #7 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #8 in Peterborough, Sunshine Daycare in Peterborough, Unidentified child care centre #1 in Peterborough County (increase of 2)**
Vaccine doses administered: 56,409 (increase of 12,806 as of April 29)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,211 (increase of 1,730 as of April 29)

*As of May 3, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 16 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and a total of 62 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

**Outbreaks at Sunshine Daycare in Peterborough and an unidentified child care centre #1 in Peterborough County were declared on May 3.

 

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 both May 2 and May 3.

Confirmed positive: 1,660, including 732 in Kawartha Lakes, 823 in Northumberland, and 105 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)*
Total variants of concern cases: 400, including 136 in Kawartha Lakes, 243 in Northumberland, and 21 in Haliburton (increase of 15, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland)
Active cases: 62, including 23 in Kawartha Lakes, 34 in Northumberland, and 5 in Haliburton (decrease of 27, including 22 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Probable cases: 4, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland (decrease of 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 60, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 71, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,540, including 666 in Kawartha Lakes, 775 in Northumberland, and 99 in Haliburton (increase of 26, including 16 in Kawartha Lakes, 7 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 181,419 (increase of 462)
Vaccine doses administered: 72,364 (increase of 7,411 as of May 3)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,271 (increase of 723 as of May 3)
Outbreaks: Transition House shelter in Cobourg (decrease of 4)***

*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 3, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 10 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 2).

***Outbreaks at Fenelon Court long-term care home in Fenelon Falls, Summersweet Custom Design & Build Inc. in Haliburton, Carressent Care Mary Street in Lindsay, and Adelaide Place in Lindsay have been declared resolved.

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 944 (increase of 2)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 330 (increase of 13)
Active cases: 68 (decrease of 17)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 17 (decrease of 2)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 4 (no change)
Resolved: 867 (increase of 20)
Tests completed: 132,136 (increase of 240)
Vaccine doses administered: 60,900 (increase of 168)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,053 (increase of 1)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Prince Edward County, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, QHC Belleville General Hospital, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville, Unidentified child care facility in Quinte West (no change)

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 473,901 (increase of 3,436)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 75,346 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 3,033); 301 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 10); 920 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 45)*
VOC R(t): 0.89 (decrease of 0.04 as April 27)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,577 (decrease of 11)
Positivity rate: 9.7% (increase of 1.2%)
Resolved: 428,786 (increase of 3,623), 90.5% of all cases (increase of 0.1%)
Hospitalizations: 1,925 (decrease of 36)***
Hospitalizations in ICU: 889 (decrease of 6)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 611 (decrease of 4)
Deaths: 8,118 (increase of 16)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 26 (decrease of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,919 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: 14,231,121 (increase of 33,179)
Tests under investigation: 15,119 (decrease of 4,972)
Vaccination doses administered: 5,378,249 (increase of 53,880), 36.50% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.37%)****
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 375,905 (increase of 625), 2.55% of Ontario’s population (no change)****

*While Ontario’s daily update still is not yet reporting this information, Public Health Ontario confirmed on April 23 that 36 cases of the B.1.617 variant, a so-called “double mutation” variant first identified in India, have been detected in Ontario.

**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 number of hospitalizations may actually be higher.

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

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from April 2 - May 2, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from April 2 – May 2, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from April 2 - May 2, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from April 2 – May 2, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from April 2 - May 2, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from April 2 – May 2, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from April 2 - May 2, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from April 2 – May 2, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from April 2 - May 2, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from April 2 – May 2, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

Jackson Delta and Emily Burgess & The Emburys perform at Peterborough Memorial Centre on August 27

By kawarthaNOW -
Rick Fines, Al Black, and Gary Peeples of Jackson Delta pictured in 2019. The Peterborough acoustic blues trio will be headlining a PTBOLive drive-in concert at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on August 27, 2021, with Peterborough blues-rock band Emily Burgess & The Emburys opening. (Photo courtesy of SLAB Production)

This August, two well-known local musical acts will be taking the outdoor stage at the new PTBOLive summer concert series, presented at the Peterborough Memorial Centre by the City of Peterborough, Showplace Performance Centre, and Market Hall Performing Arts Centre.

Acoustic blues trio Jackson Delta will be headlining a drive-in concert at 7 p.m. on Friday, August 27th, with blues rockers Emily Burgess & The Emburys opening.

Originally formed in the 1980s by Peterborough residents Al Black (vocals, harmonica, and drums), Rick Fines (vocals and guitars), and Gary Peeples (vocals and guitars), Jackson Delta quickly made a name for itself with its blend of acoustic roots music and traditional blues.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

The band recorded its debut album Delta Sunrise in 1988 at Sun Studio in Memphis (only 250 copies were pressed), followed by 1989’s Acoustic Blues (nominated for a 1990 Juno for best roots and traditional album), Lookin’ Back in 1991, and I Was Just Thinking That in 1992.

The last record, a live recording with pianist Gene Taylor at the Ultrasound Showbar in Toronto in 1991, brought the band its second Juno nomination.

They toured extensively across North America and the U.K. in the ’80s, performing at every major folk, blues, and jazz festival. They provided back up for Colleen Peterson, Ann Rabson, Pinetop Perkins, and many others. In recent years, Jackson Delta has reunited for performances at Peterborough’s Market Hall.

Dawson McManus, Emily Burgess, and Marcus Browne of Emily Burgess & The Emburys. (Photo: Adam Guppy Photography)
Dawson McManus, Emily Burgess, and Marcus Browne of Emily Burgess & The Emburys. (Photo: Adam Guppy Photography)

Opening for Jackson Delta is another Peterborough band, Emily Burgess & The Emburys, featuring Emily Burgess on guitar and vocals, Marcus Browne on drums and vocals, and Dawson McManus on bass.

Burgess, who also performs with The Weber Brothers as well as a solo artist, won a 2018 Maple Blues Award from the Toronto Blues Society for New Artist or Group of The Year.

In 2017, Burgess released her debut solo album Are We In Love?, produced by The Weber Brothers, and in 2019, Emily Burgess & The Emburys released Never-Ending Fling.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Tickets are $125 per vehicle for the front row and $100 for general admission, and go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 7th at 10 a.m. online at www.memorialcentre.ca or by phone at 705-743-3561.

The August 27th concert is one of four additional shows in the PtboLIVE series that were announced on Monday (May 3), with the others being Classic Albums Live – Led Zeppelin II (Friday, July 16), Chad Brownlee with local singer-songwriter SJ Riley (Friday, July 23), and Classic Albums Live – The Beatles’ Abbey Road (Friday, August 20th).

Related story

First six shows announced of new summer drive-in concert series at Peterborough Memorial Centre

This is in addition to the six shows already announced back in April: Shaun Majumder and Ali Hassan (Friday, June 4th), The Trews with Adam and Cale Gontier (Saturday, June 5th), Splash N Boots (Sunday, June 6th), Classic Albums Live – Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon (Friday, June 18th), The Jim Cuddy Band with Express & Company (Saturday, June 26th), and Big Wreck with Heaps (Friday, June 2nd).

VIDEO: “Sink or Swim” – Jackson Delta

VIDEO: Jackson Delta in performance in 2012

VIDEO: “Black and Blue” – Emily Burgess & The Emburys

Ontario reports 3,732 new COVID-19 cases, including 7 in Peterborough and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward

By kawarthaNOW -

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

Ontario is reporting 3,732 new cases today, including 1,198 in Toronto and triple-digit increases in 8 other health units. However, the seven-day average of daily cases continues to decrease, falling by 30 today to 3,588.

There are 2,871 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, 10 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa, and 103 new cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.

Hospitalizations have fallen significantly, but not all hospitals submitted data for today’s report. There’s been a small decrease in the number of ICU admissions and a larger decrease of patients on ventilators. Ontario is reporting 23 deaths today, with no deaths in long-term care homes, and the seven-day average of new deaths remains unchanged at 27.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report (including 7 in Peterborough and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward) and an additional 9 cases resolved, with the number of active cases increasing by 2 to 252. Information for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton is unavailable as the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit does not issue updates on Sundays.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (1,198), Peel (797), York (306), Hamilton (237), Durham (232), Ottawa (180), Halton (129), Niagara (119), and Simcoe Muskoka (102).

There are double-digit increases reported today in Middlesex-London (84), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (50), Windsor-Essex (46), Brant (44), Waterloo (33), Haldimand-Norfolk (26), Eastern Ontario (23), Lambton (14), Renfrew (13), Northwestern (12), Southwestern (12), and Peterborough (11), with smaller increases in Porcupine (9), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (9), Hastings Prince Edward (8), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (8), and Chatham-Kent (6).

The remaining 8 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with all health units reporting at least 1 case.

Of today’s new cases, 58% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,474) among people ages 20-39 followed by 1,080 cases among people ages 40-59 and 686 cases among people 19 and under.

With 3,947 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 90.4% — the 13th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 1.2% to 8.5%, meaning that 85 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 1.

Ontario is reporting 23 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 27 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).

The number of hospitalizations has decreased by 191 to 1,961, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report, so the number of hospitalized patients may actually be higher. Tthe number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 5 to 895, with the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 22 to 615.

A total of 45,301 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 6,439 to 20,091.

A total of 5,324,369 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 76,685 from yesterday, with 375,280 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,721 from yesterday.

The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.55% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.01% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 36.14% of the population, an increase of 0.52% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report, including 7 in Peterborough and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward. Information for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton is unavailable as the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit does not issue updates on Sundays.

There is 1 additional patient on a ventilator in Hastings Prince Edward,

There are 30 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 15 in Hastings Prince Edward and 15 in Peterborough.

An additional 9 cases have been resolved, including 6 in Peterborough and 3 in Hastings Prince Edward.

There are currently 252 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 2 from yesterday, including 85 in Hastings Prince Edward (18 in Quinte West, 49 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 10 in Prince Edward County, 5 in Central Hastings, and 1 in North Hastings), 78 in Peterborough, 45 in Kawartha Lakes, 38 in Northumberland, and 6 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,238 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,146 resolved with 14 deaths), 738 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (650 resolved with 56 deaths), 820 in Northumberland County (768 resolved with 14 deaths), 103 in Haliburton County (96 resolved with 1 death), and 942 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (847 resolved with 9 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on April 28.

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).

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 1,238 (increase of 7)
Total variants of concern cases: 460 (increase of 15)
Active cases: 78 (increase of 1)
Close contacts: 199 (decrease of 12)
Deaths: 14 (no change)
Resolved: 1,146 (increase of 6)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 53 (no change)*
ICU admissions (total to date): 8 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 50,150 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Trent Champlain Residence: West Towers in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #7 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #8 in Peterborough (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 56,409 (increase of 12,806 as of April 29)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,211 (increase of 1,730 as of April 29)

*As of April 30, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 16 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and a total of 62 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

 

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. This information is from May 1; data for May 2 will be included in the May 3 report.

Confirmed positive: 1,661, including 738 in Kawartha Lakes, 820 in Northumberland, and 103 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)*
Total variants of concern cases: 385, including 130 in Kawartha Lakes, 234 in Northumberland, and 21 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 5 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Haliburton)
Active cases: 89, including 45 in Kawartha Lakes, 38 in Northumberland, and 6 in Haliburton (net decrease of 1)
Probable cases: 7, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland (no change)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 60, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 71, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,514, including 650 in Kawartha Lakes, 768 in Northumberland, and 96 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 180,957 (increase of 427)
Vaccine doses administered: 64,953 (increase of 13,242 as of April 26)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,548 (increase of 140 as of April 26)
Outbreaks: Fenelon Court long-term care home in Fenelon Falls, Summersweet Custom Design & Build Inc. in Haliburton, Transition House shelter in Cobourg, Carressent Care Mary Street in Lindsay, Adelaide Place in Lindsay (increase of 1)***

*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 April 30, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 8 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).

***An outbreak at Adelaide Place in Lindsay was declared on April 30.

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 942 (increase of 4)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 317 (increase of 15)
Active cases: 85 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 19 (decrease of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 4 (increase of 1)
Resolved: 847 (increase of 3)
Tests completed: 131,896 (increase of 3,600)
Vaccine doses administered: 60,732 (increase of 119)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,052 (increase of 5)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Prince Edward County, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, QHC Belleville General Hospital, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville, Unidentified child care facility in Quinte West (no change)

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 470,465 (increase of 3,732)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 72,313 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,871); 291 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 10); 875 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 103)*
VOC R(t): 0.89 (decrease of 0.04 as April 27)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,588 (decrease of 30)
Positivity rate: 8.5% (increase of 1.2%)
Resolved: 425,163 (increase of 3,947), 90.4% of all cases (increase of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 1,961 (decrease of 191)***
Hospitalizations in ICU: 895 (decrease of 5)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 615 (decrease of 22)
Deaths: 8,102 (increase of 23)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 27 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,918 (no change)
Total tests completed: 14,197,942 (increase of 45,301)
Tests under investigation: 20,091 (decrease of 6,439)
Vaccination doses administered: 5,324,369 (increase of 76,685), 36.14% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.52%)****
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 375,280 (increase of 1,721), 2.55% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.01%)****

*While Ontario’s daily update still is not yet reporting this information, Public Health Ontario confirmed on April 23 that 36 cases of the B.1.617 variant, a so-called “double mutation” variant first identified in India, have been detected in Ontario.

**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 number of hospitalizations may actually be higher.

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

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from April 1 - May 1, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from April 1 – May 1, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from April 1 - May 1, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from April 1 – May 1, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from April 1 - May 1, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from April 1 – May 1, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from April 1 - May 1, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from April 1 – May 1, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from April 1 - May 1, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from April 1 – May 1, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

10 things you may not know about trilliums

By kawarthaNOW -
The white trillium (trillium grandiflorum) is Ontario's official floral emblem. Although the trillium is a perennial plant, as a spring ephemeral it's very fragile, which is why picking it is a bad idea. It takes up to 10 years before the plant produces its first bloom, which lasts for around three weeks in the early spring. (Photo: Ontario Parks)

Trilliums are in bloom in forests and woodlands across Ontario, so expect to see many photos of the memorable flower across social media.

People are most familiar with the white trillium (trillium grandiflorum), which is Ontario’s official flower, but there are actually 50 species of trillium native to temperate regions of North America and Asia.

Here are 10 things you may not know about trilliums:

 

1. Trillium roots were once used to treat wounds and during childbirth

The trillium is also known as birthroot or birthwort, because of how the plants were used medicinally.

The roots of several species contain chemical compounds called sapogenins that act as astringents, antiseptics, coagulants, expectorants, and uterine stimulants. North America’s indigenous peoples used the roots to treat open wounds and inflammation, and during childbirth.

Another name for the trillium is the wakerobin — because the flowers appear in early spring before robins begin to appear.

The “tri” in the Latin word trillium means three, referring to the plant’s three leaves, three petals, and three stigmas (pollen receptors) in the flower.

 

2. If you pick a trillium bloom, the plant may not survive

Although the trillium is a perennial plant, as a spring ephemeral it’s very fragile.

The trillium blooms for a few weeks in the early spring, before the trees grow leaves, so it can get more sunlight. During this time, it collects all the nutrients in needs to survive until the following year.

If you pick the bloom, the plant won’t be able to collect sunlight and nutrients and it may take years to recover — or it may never recover.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

There’s a pervasive myth that it’s against the law in Ontario to pick trilliums.

The reasons for this belief may be because the trillium is Ontario’s official flower, or because picking the bloom can damage or kill the plant, or maybe because the removal of any vegetation is prohibited in Ontario provincial parks (where trilliums are often found).

In 2009, it did almost became illegal to pick trilliums in Ontario. That’s when former Peterborough-Kawartha MPP and rural affairs minister Jeff Leal introduced a private members’ bill called the Ontario Trillium Protection Act.

That legislation would have made it illegal to pick or dig up the white trillium. Doing so would have resulted in a minimum $500 fine. However, although the bill passed first reading, it never became law.

 

4. The trillium became Ontario’s official floral emblem in 1937

On March 25, 1937, the Province of Ontario chose the trillium as its official floral emblem (official flower).

The Floral Emblem Act contains a single line: “The flower known botanically as the trillium grandiflorum and popularly known as the white trillium is the floral emblem of the Province of Ontario.”

During the First World War, there was a movement for Canada to choose a national floral emblem — a flower that could be planted on the graves of Canadian servicemen overseas.

A special committee of botanists to the Ontario Horticultural Association recommended the trillium be selected as the national floral emblem. A national flower was never chosen, but Ontario subsequently adopted the trillium for its own provincial flower.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

5. The trillium has been the Ontario government’s official logo since 1964

A stylized version of the trillium has been the Ontario government’s official logo since 1964, when it was first created by the Progressive Conservative government of John Robarts.

The original trillium symbol and logotype — an “O” for Ontario with a stylized trillium inside it — was designed by Norman B. Hathaway and Wolfgang Letzin of former Toronto design firm Hathaway-Templeton.

An updated version was designed by Ernst Barenscher at Norman B. Hathaway Associates in 1972, at the request of the Progressive Conservative government of Bill Davis.

The Ontario government's trillium logo when it was created in 1964, when it was changed to the much-maligned "three men in a hot tub" version in 2006, and as it appears today.
The Ontario government’s trillium logo when it was created in 1964, when it was changed to the much-maligned “three men in a hot tub” version in 2006, and as it appears today.

Over the next 24 years, the logo pretty much remained the same. Then, in 2006, the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty completely revamped the logo.

The new logo quickly became known as the “three men in a hot tub” logo — once you see it, you can’t unsee it — and was widely criticized both for its design and cost.

In 2019, the Progressive Conservative government of Doug Ford restored the logo to its original design with some variations.

 

6. Trilliums have a symbiotic relationship with ants

The seeds of the trillium are mainly distributed by ants, which are attracted to a fleshy structure attached to the seeds called the elaiosome.

The elaiosome is rich with nutrients, which the ants eat after they carry the seeds back to their nests.

The ants then discard the elaiosome-free seeds, either leaving them inside the earth (which protects the seeds from predators) or by ejecting them from their nests. The seeds eventually germinate and sprout into new plants.

This method of seed dispersal by ants is not unique to trilliums — it’s called myrmecochory and is used by many flowering plant species.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

7. White-tailed deer love to eat trilliums — especially the white ones

As any gardener in cottage country knows, white-tailed deer love to eat flowers and the trillium is no exception.

The large patches of trilliums that appear in Ontario woodlands in early spring make them a favourite food of the deer.

White-tailed deer are especially partial to the white trillium. They generally only eat the larger flowers, leaving smaller ones behind. The deer also help to disperse trillium seeds, but at much greater distances than ants.

In fact, many Ontario provincial parks use annual trillium surveys to understand the population density of white-tailed deer and their effect on the understory.

 

8. It takes a trillium plant up to 10 years to produce its first flower

Trilliums are very slow-growing plants.

The plant’s seeds normally take at least two years to fully germinate, with the plant itself taking between seven to 10 years to reach flowering size.

After the plant produces its first flower, it will bloom annually in early spring, with the bloom lasting for around three weeks.

Trilliums are phototropic plants, meaning that the blooms will bend towards the sun as it moves across the sky.

After the first bloom, a trillium will live another 10 to 13 years — but only if you don’t damage them.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

9. The drooping trillium is an endangered species in Ontario

There are five native trillium species found in Ontario — the white trillium, red trillium, pinted trillium, nodding trillium, and drooping trillium — but only the latter is endangered.

In Canada, drooping trillium only grows in southwestern Ontario in the warmer climate of the Carolinian forest. There were once six known locations in the province, but today there are only two: along the Sydenham River in Middlesex County and along the Thames River in Elgin County.

The greatest threat to the drooping trillium is habitat loss and degradation caused by urban development, or habitat alteration and damage due to recreational activities such as hiking and ATV use.

 

10. Trilliums can be infected by a virus-like bacteria

If you find a trillium with swaths of green colour in its petals, this means the plant is infected by a kind of bacterial parasite called a phytoplasma. Phytoplasmas spread like a virus, usually transmitted by sap-sucking insects or through infected seeds, and will kill the plant after several years.

Phytoplasmas were discovered in 1967 by Japanese scientists, and are the plant and insect versions of mycoplasmas. Mycoplasmas are a genus of pathogenic bacteria that lack a cell wall around their cell membranes. A species of mycoplasma is a significant cause of “walking” pneumonia in humans.

 

An earlier version of this story was published on May 23, 2020.

Ontario reports 3,369 new COVID-19 cases, including 27 in greater Kawarthas region

By kawarthaNOW -

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

With less than three weeks before the stay-at-home order is set to expire, Ontario is reporting 3,369 new cases today, including 1,050 in Toronto and triple-digit increases in 7 other health units. However, the seven-day average of daily cases continues to decrease, falling by 104 today to 3,618.

There are 3,482 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, 6 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa, and 127 new cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.

Hospitalizations continue to slowly decrease, but ICU admissions now stand at a record high of 900. Ontario Hospital Association president and CEO Anthony Dale told CBC News today hospitals are “fighting every day” to avoid implementing a triage protocol — when health-care providers have to decide who receives treatment and who doesn’t.

Ontario is reporting 29 deaths today, with no deaths in long-term care homes and the seven-day average of new deaths unchanged at 27.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 27 new cases to report (including 9 in Peterborough, 8 in Hastings Prince Edward, 8 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Northumberland) and an additional 28 cases resolved, with the number of active cases increasing by 1 to 250.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (1,050), Peel (819), York (286), Ottawa (158), Durham (157), Hamilton (132), Halton (127), and Middlesex-London (107).

There are double-digit increases reported today in Waterloo (90), Niagara (89), Simcoe Muskoka (71), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (42), Windsor-Essex (41), Haldimand-Norfolk (26), Eastern Ontario (21), Sudbury (19), Southwestern (17), Porcupine (16), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (16), Lambton (12), Brant (11), and Hastings Prince Edward (10), with smaller increases in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (9), Northwestern (7), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (7), Grey Bruce (7), and Huron Perth (6).

The remaining 7 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with all health units reporting at least 1 case.

Of today’s new cases, 61% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,431) among people ages 20-39 followed by 913 cases among people ages 40-59 and 627 cases among people 19 and under.

With 3,964 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 90.2% — the 12th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.1% to 7.3%, meaning that 73 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on April 30. The average number of new variants of concern infections caused by a single infected individual has fallen by 0.04 to 0.89.

Ontario is reporting 29 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 27 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).

The number of hospitalizations has decreased by 49 to 2,152, but the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 17 to a record high of 900, with the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 5 to 637.

A total of 46,803 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 2,473 to 26,530.

A total of 5,247,684 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 107,700 from yesterday, with 373,559 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,449 from yesterday.

The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.54% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.02% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 35.62% of the population, an increase of 0.73% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 27 new cases to report, including 9 in Peterborough, 8 in Hastings Prince Edward, 8 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Northumberland. There are no new cases in Haliburton.

An outbreak at Adelaide Place in Lindsay was declared on April 30, and an outbreak at an unidentified child care facility in Quinte West was declared on May 1.

There has been 1 new ICU admission in Hastings Prince Edward,

There are 22 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 12 in Hastings Prince Edward, 5 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Peterborough, and 2 in Haliburton.

An additional 28 cases have been resolved, including 11 in Hastings Prince Edward, 7 in Peterborough, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton.

There are currently 250 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 1 from yesterday, including 84 in Hastings Prince Edward (18 in Quinte West, 47 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 11 in Prince Edward County, 5 in Central Hastings, and 1 in North Hastings), 77 in Peterborough, 45 in Kawartha Lakes, 38 in Northumberland, and 6 in Haliburton.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,231 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,140 resolved with 14 deaths), 738 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (650 resolved with 56 deaths), 820 in Northumberland County (768 resolved with 14 deaths), 103 in Haliburton County (96 resolved with 1 death), and 938 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (844 resolved with 9 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on April 28.

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).

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 1,231 (increase of 9)
Total variants of concern cases: 445 (increase of 3)
Active cases: 77 (increase of 2)
Close contacts: 211 (increase of 11)
Deaths: 14 (no change)
Resolved: 1,140 (increase of 7)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 53 (no change)*
ICU admissions (total to date): 8 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 50,100 (increase of 150)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Trent Champlain Residence: West Towers in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #7 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #8 in Peterborough (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 56,409 (increase of 12,806 as of April 29)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,211 (increase of 1,730 as of April 29)

*As of April 30, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 16 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and a total of 62 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 1,661, including 738 in Kawartha Lakes, 820 in Northumberland, and 103 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)*
Total variants of concern cases: 385, including 130 in Kawartha Lakes, 234 in Northumberland, and 21 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 5 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Haliburton)
Active cases: 89, including 45 in Kawartha Lakes, 38 in Northumberland, and 6 in Haliburton (net decrease of 1)
Probable cases: 7, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland (no change)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 60, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 71, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,514, including 650 in Kawartha Lakes, 768 in Northumberland, and 96 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 180,957 (increase of 427)
Vaccine doses administered: 64,953 (increase of 13,242 as of April 26)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,548 (increase of 140 as of April 26)
Outbreaks: Fenelon Court long-term care home in Fenelon Falls, Summersweet Custom Design & Build Inc. in Haliburton, Transition House shelter in Cobourg, Carressent Care Mary Street in Lindsay, Adelaide Place in Lindsay (increase of 1)***

*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 April 30, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 8 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).

***An outbreak at Adelaide Place in Lindsay was declared on April 30.

 

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.

Confirmed positive: 938 (increase of 8)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 302 (increase of 12)
Active cases: 84 (decrease of 3)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 20 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 9 (increase of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 3 (no change)
Resolved: 844 (increase of 11)
Tests completed: 128,296 (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 60,613 (increase of 746)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,047 (increase of 4)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Prince Edward County, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, QHC Belleville General Hospital, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville, Unidentified child care facility in Quinte West (increase of 1)*

*An outbreak at an unidentified child care facility in Quinte West was declared on May 1

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 466,733 (increase of 3,369)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 69,442 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 3,482); 281 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 6); 772 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 127)*
VOC R(t): 0.89 (decrease of 0.04 as April 27)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,618 (decrease of 104)
Positivity rate: 7.3% (decrease of 0.1%)
Resolved: 421,216 (increase of 3,964), 90.2% of all cases (increase of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 2,152 (decrease of 49)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 900 (increase of 17)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 637 (increase of 5)
Deaths: 8,079 (increase of 29)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 27 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,918 (no change)
Total tests completed: 14,152,641 (increase of 46,803)
Tests under investigation: 26,530 (decrease of 2,473)
Vaccination doses administered: 5,247,684 (increase of 107,700), 35.62% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.73%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 373,559 (increase of 2,449), 2.54% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.02%)***

*While Ontario’s daily update still is not yet reporting this information, Public Health Ontario confirmed on April 23 that 36 cases of the B.1.617 variant, a so-called “double mutation” variant first identified in India, have been detected in Ontario.

**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.

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

COVID-19 cases in Ontario from March 31 - April 30, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from March 31 – April 30, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from March 31 - April 30, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from March 31 – April 30, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from March 31 - April 30, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from March 31 – April 30, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of hospitalizations, the purple line is the daily number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs, and the dotted orange line is a five-day rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from March 31 - April 30, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from March 31 – April 30, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from March 31 - April 30, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from March 31 – April 30, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)

 

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

Port Hope theatre icon Uwe Meyer has passed away

By kawarthaNOW -
Uwe Meyer and his wife Andrea Wigmore Patterson. Meyer passed away peacefully at his home on April 24, 2021 at the age of 71. (Photo courtesy of the family)

Uwe Meyer, former long-time artistic director and general manager of the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope and a prolific playwright, passed away peacefully at his home on April 24. He was 71 years old.

Born in Bremen, Germany in 1950, Meyer began writing plays while studying theatre at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. After graduating, Meyer spent three years working in academia at Brock University and the University of Windsor before embarking on a career as a production manager in theatres across Canada.

In the mid-1980s, Mayer decided to make the move into theatre management, first as artistic director of Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia, Ontario for two years, where he founded the Petrolia Summer Theatre, and then as artistic producer of the Gryphon Theatre in Barrie, Ontario for six years.

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

In 1997, he moved to Port Hope where he met his future wife Andrea Wigmore Patterson and began working as artistic director and general manager of the Capitol Theatre. He continued in the role for 17 years, during which time he founded the Port Hope Festival Theatre.

A member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, Meyer had his first play professionally produced in 1980 and, by the end of his career, had written almost 30 comedies, musicals, children’s plays and pantomimes produced and performed across North America.

His plays include Dating by the Book, The Caramel House, 1-900-DEE-LITE, The Second Time Around, Baby Bonus, Honeymoon for Three, Leapfrog, The “G” String Broke, and Since You Left Us.

As well as being a playwright, Meyer also directed dozens of professional productions, including several of his own while at the Capitol Theatre.

“He had the most fun writing and directing the Christmas naughty and nice Pantos (at the Capitol),” reads his obituary. “He will be fondly remembered for standing on stage at the beginning of every performance and asking the audience where they came from, with the winner who hailed from farthest away being rewarded with a free drink at the bar.”

Advertisement - content continues below

 

 

After retiring, Meyer volunteered as an on-air radio host at Northumberland 89.7 FM in Port Hope, where he created the shows Country Classics and Femme Friday.

“We at the station knew Uwe to be an aficionado of country music and more,” the not-for-profit community station wrote on Facebook after learning of his death. “His shows were always filled with not only great music but friendly banter that was immediately engaging. You couldn’t help but smile and love the guy.”

Meyer was also an avid gardener whose property was featured on the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario’s Port Hope Branch garden tour.

“He will be remembered by everyone who knew him for his intelligence, humour, talent, honesty and kindness,” reads his obituary. “Exit … stage left Uwe!”

A private family gathering will take place post-pandemic. The family requests donations in Meyer’s memory be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Northumberland Hills Hospital, or to the charity of your choice.

1...531532533...1,119Page 532 of 1,119

Become a #kawarthaNOW fan

31,119FollowersLike
25,434FollowersFollow
17,696FollowersFollow
4,532FollowersFollow
3,628FollowersFollow
3,064FollowersFollow

Sign up for kawarthNOW's Enews

Sign up for our VIP Enews

kawarthaNOW.com offers two enews options to help readers stay in the know. Our VIP enews is delivered weekly every Wednesday morning and includes exclusive giveaways, and our news digest is delivered daily every morning. You can subscribe to one or both.




Submit your event for FREE!

Use our event submission form to post your event on our website — for free. To submit editorial content or ideas, please contact us.

EDITOR'S PICKS

SIGN UP FOR OUR ENEWS




© Copyright kawarthaNOW® 1996 - 2025. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission, or republication strictly prohibited. Trademarks owned by kawarthaNOW include kawarthaNOW®, Keep It In The Kawarthas®, Web Sites That Work®, Kawartha Localist™, Know Your Locals™, businessNOW™, musicNOW™, artNOW™, nightlifeNOW™, encoreNOW™, and KNosh™.