Peterborough police asking for the public’s assistance in locating missing 30-year-old Cassandra Alexandre.
Alexandre was last seen last Friday (January 29) at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. It is unknown what clothes she was wearing.
Police are concerned for her well-being.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Peterborough Police Service at 705-876-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.stopcrimehere.ca.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,670 new cases, with 2 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant and no new cases the B.1.351 South Africa variant. The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased by 24 to 1,576.
The total case count for today includes 125 additional cases from Toronto Public Health that were not fully migrated during the transition to Ontario’s Case and Contact Management system. Excluding these cases, today’s actual case count is 1,545.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 4 new cases to report and 10 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 3 to 107.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (667), Peel (317), York (125), and Halton (100).
There are double-digit increases in Waterloo (64), Ottawa (46), Durham (46), Hamilton (45), Simcoe Muskoka (43), Niagara (41), Windsor-Essex (28), Middlesex-London (26), Brant (20), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (19), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (17), Southwestern (16), and Eastern Ontario (11), with smaller increases in Chatham-Kent (8) and Haldimand-Norfolk (8).
The remaining 16 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 5 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 51% are among people 40 and older, with the highest number of cases (663) among people ages 20-39, followed by 512 cases among people ages 40-59 and 259 cases among people 60-79.
With 2,233 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.3% to 92.0%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.1% to 2.5%, meaning that 25 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 4.
Ontario is reporting 45 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 14 in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 52 new daily deaths over the past week.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 58 from yesterday to 1,043, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 2 to 325 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 16 to 225.
A total of 62,710 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 5,721 to 41,561.
A total of 362,749 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 7,694 from yesterday, with 87,831 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 6,854 from yesterday.
There are 2 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 7 from yesterday, including 1 student case and 1 case among an unidentified person. There are 22 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 3 from yesterday, with 13 cases among children and 9 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 4 new cases to report, including 2 in Northumberland, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward. There are no new cases in Peterborough or Haliburton.
There is 1 new hospitalization in Kawartha Lakes.
An additional 10 cases have been resolved, including 4 in Peterborough, 4 in Kawartha Lakes, 1 in Northumberland, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
There are currently 107 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 3 from yesterday, including 59 in Kawartha Lakes, 27 in Peterborough, 16 in Northumberland, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward (1 in Quinte West and 2 in Belleville) and 2 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 556 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (520 resolved with 9 deaths), 477 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (386 resolved with 46 deaths), 380 in Northumberland County (355 resolved with 9 deaths), 50 in Haliburton County (48 resolved with no deaths), and 369 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (361 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 4.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health’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: 556 (no change)
Active cases: 27 (decrease of 4)
Close contacts: 58 (decrease of 6)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 520 (increase of 4)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 41,850 (increase of 100)
Outbreaks: Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Peterborough Retirement Residence (no change)
*As of February 5, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 4 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (an decrease of 1 from yesterday) and 14 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change from yesterday).
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 statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 907, including 477 in Kawartha Lakes, 380 in Northumberland, and 50 in Haliburton (increase of 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)*
Active cases: 77, including 59 in Kawartha Lakes, 16 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 1 in Kawartha Lakes (no change)
High-risk contacts: 108, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 33 in Northumberland, and 15 in Haliburton (net increase of 3)**
Hospitalizations (total to date): 35, including 25 in Kawartha Lakes, 8 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)***
Deaths (including among probable cases): 55, including 46 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland (no change)
Resolved: 788, including 385 in Kawartha Lakes, 355 in Northumberland, 48 in Haliburton (increase of 5, including 4 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 127,998 (increase of 659)
Institutional outbreaks: Hope St. Terrace long-term care home in Port Hope, Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Golden Plough Lodge in Cobourg, Warkworth Place long-term care home in Warkworth, Caressant Care Mary Street retirement home in Lindsay, Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay (two outbreaks), Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden, Extendicare Cobourg long-term care home, Extendicare Cobourg Landmark retirement home (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.
**This total includes an additional 4 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
***As of February 5, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change from yesterday).
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 369 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 3 (no change)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 361 (increase of 1)
Tests completed: 46,664 (no change)
Vaccines administered: 1,096 (no change)
Institutional outbreaks: Trent Valley Lodge long-term care home in Trenton (no change)
Confirmed positive: 275,330 (increase of 1,670)*
7-day average of new cases: 1,576 (decrease of 24)
Resolved: 253,170 (increase of 2,233, 92.0% of all cases)
Positivity rate: 2.5% (decrease of 0.1%)
Hospitalized: 1,043 (decrease of 58)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 325 (increase of 2)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 225 (decrease of 16)
Deaths: 6,438 (increase of 45)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,697 (increase of 14)
Total tests completed: 9,912,023 (increase of 62,710)
Tests under investigation: 41,561 (decrease of 5,721)
Vaccination doses administered: 362,749 (increase of 7,694)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 87,831 (increase of 6,854)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 155 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2); 1 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change)
*Toronto Public Health is reporting 125 additional cases today that were not fully migrated during the transition to to Ontario’s Case and Contact Management system, resulting in a slight overestimation of today’s overall case numbers.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
It poured buckets early on the evening of June 23, 2020 but that was fitting, equating perfectly with my sadness as I said goodbye to my 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier.
That car and I had been through a lot since the spring of 2007, when Mom gifted me Dad’s beloved ride shortly after his passing in late April of that same year. For $80 — the cost of changing the ownership — the Rellingers had a second vehicle, which sure made our family’s life a whole lot easier.
But come last summer, it had sat in the driveway for more than a year, strong of body but weak of pretty much everything else. Vehicle maintenance was never my thing, limited for the most part to emptying the overflowing dashboard ashtray every couple of months and paper clipping the drooping interior roof fabric back in place.
And so a call to the wrecker was made, the promise of $150 coming my way if I could get it there.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the car crusher. I remembered a conversation I had with car-racing driver and filmmaker Jeremy Kelly in 2017 during which I related my ownership of said car and he related his desire to one day buy it should I decide to sell it.
“It’s not every day you hear about a car that has lasted that long and has had such a journeyed kind of life,” Kelly says of his initial interest.
So it was that Kelly, joined by his pals and vehicle restoration and racing buffs Tyler Junkin, Nate Mitchell, and Andy McCann, came by the house that rainy June evening, poured over the car front to back, and then took it away to work their magic.
This Sunday (February 7) at 6 p.m., the fruits of their labour will be evident as “Cease & Desist Episode 5: The Covilier” — a witty take on COVID and Cavalier — premieres on Facebook at facebook.com/dontsayhoon and on the FilmKELLY YouTube channel.
The 43-minute production shot by Kelly, a Sheridan College-trained filmmaker who has worked on numerous projects over the years, chronicles the boys’ initial driveway introduction to the beater, their modifying it to get it car rally-ready, and the events of race day at the Free Flow MX Park and Campground near Belleville.
What’s abundantly clear in the documentary is it wasn’t love at first sight for Junkin, Mitchell, and McCann when they first laid eyes on the four-cylinder subject of Kelly’s desire.
VIDEO: “Cease & Desist Episode 5: The Covilier” teaser (graphic language)
“That style of car is considered cool and classic now,” says Kelly, making me somewhat regret my not taking care of it.
“I saw some promise they didn’t see. That was out of my own naiveté. Those guys have been around the block many times with this car in particular and many others of that era. They kind of knew what was coming, but I saw the potential.”
“It’s not about being the fastest or the most luxurious. It’s about taking a turd and polishing it up and making it something that’s a little more cooler than it is.”
Despite their initial misgivings — I haven’t heard that many f-bombs dropped since I last dusted off Scarface — Kelly says his pals warmed up to the project once they got busy making the necessary modifications.
“We did all the stuff we did to it and it kind of grew on us. You form a kind of attachment. You put some love into it and you have the experience of driving it in that context, racing around the track. It’s like ‘Holy crap, this is actually fun.'”
Post-rally, the Cavalier’s transmission shot all to hell, discussion turned to scrapping it but Kelly says the group consensus was “No, we can’t get rid of it.” And so it’s now in a most familiar position: parked with nowhere to go.
As a side story, there’s some drama around the series name of Cease & Desist.
In late April 2018, Velocity — part of the Discovery’s specialty cable channel network — aired Hoonin’ All Day, Kelly’s 22-minute production documenting how the foursome brought another beater back to life and took it for a spin at Shannonville Motorsport Park. It later competed very well at a King of the Hill event at Peterborough Speedway.
Hooning is a term used primarily in Australia and New Zealand to describe driving a vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner, generally to provoke a reaction from onlookers.
“After we aired on Discovery, I got a five-page cease-and-desist order,” says Kelly, adding it came from Ken Block, a professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division, a U.S.-based motor racing team that competes worldwide.
“I was like ‘What is this?’ The billionaire car racing guy was threatened by four unknown dudes who virtually make no money on this. So we were like ‘OK, I guess we have to change the name.’ We had to take down episodes from Facebook and YouTube and kind of be quiet for a bit. We had a group chat and decided to call it Cease & Desist.”
With a competitive racing background forged mostly at Peterborough Speedway events, Kelly has combined his two passions — auto racing and filmmaking — to keep himself busy. He comes by the former naturally, his grandfather having raced back in the day at Peterborough Speedway and Bell City in Selwyn.
On the film side of things, his credits include a canoe-related documentary he worked on with Tony Buell, a co-production with Rob Viscardis detailing The Weber Brothers’ musical journey, and a 14-part TV series in 2012 about two bad golfers scouring the world for unique golf courses.
COVID pandemic restrictions have limited the work Kelly can do now, but he has been quite busy producing PSAs for local organizations like Peterborough EMS and the OPP along with “tons of corporate videos.”
The past month, however, saw him devote most all of his time to editing this newest episode of Cease & Desist.
“At this point everyone needs to see or hear something that’s not COVID-related and just kind of escape reality for a moment,” says Kelly of what he hopes the take-away will be for viewers.
“It’s a like precursor to things maybe opening up in the summer, and we can actually get together with friends and have some fun. As a filmmaker, I’d love to do this full-time with the boys. They’re so passionate about this stuff.”
In the meantime, the Cavalier that won’t die lives.
On the sale price of $150, I made back what I paid close to 14 years ago plus $70. Not too shabby by any standards.
But more than that, it’ll be fun to watch the car my dad wouldn’t coax past 80 kilometres per hour on the highway being pushed to its limit on the rally track.
I’m not sure Dad would be happy I sold his pride-and-joy for that purpose, but he’d be thrilled I at least made a few bucks.
As for Kelly, the purchase price was more than fair considering the return.
“That $150 has brought me so much joy, so much fun and camaraderie between my buddies and me. I don’t care if I ever get that $150 back.”
That said, he’s working on it, having pocketed $3 in change he found hiding in the car.
Damn.
The federal government is providing $8.5 million in financing for Parkview Homes to complete an affordable housing project in Peterborough.
During a virtual media briefing on Friday (February 5), Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef announced the financing would be used for a three-storey, 27-rental-unit building currently being constructed at 888 Whitefield Drive in Peterborough.
“Today’s announcement means more than $30 million has been invested by the Government of Canada to renovate, subsidize, and build 1,600 housing units in Peterborough-Kawartha,” Monesf said.
Parkview Homes, one of the largest residential homebuilders in the Peterborough area, is receiving the financing through federal government’s Rental Construction Financing initiative, delivered by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The Whitfield Drive development will be energy efficient and will consist of a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom rental units. Three of the units will have a universal design to ensure accessibility.
The initial rental cost for all of the units will fall below a third of Peterborough’s median income.
As part of the Parkview Home’s commitment in borrowing the federal funds, six units will remain at this cost for 11 years, with the cost for an additional 11 units remaining at a third of Peterborough’s median income.
“Housing affordability is a top priority to Parkview Homes and we achieve this objective by building housing at all levels of affordability, from small to family-sized homes within the Peterborough community,” said Paul Dietrich, owner of Parkview Homes.
Construction on the Whitefield Drive development began in July 2019, with “substantial completion expected soon” according to a media release from the federal government.
An award-winning documentary filmmaker who recently relocated to Peterborough-Nogojiwanong is producing a new documentary about refugee journalists in Canada.
Himself a journalist as well as a historian, Dr. James Cullingham’s films with Tamarack Productions have been screened worldwide. His most recent films include Jim Galloway – A Journey in Jazz (2018), In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey (2012), and Lessons in Fear (2005).
Cullingham is now working on his latest documentary, The Cost of Freedom – Refugee Journalists in Canada, scheduled for release later this year.
The Cost of Freedom will profile the individual stories of three refugee journalists — Arzu Yildiz (originally from Turkey), Luis Nájera (originally from México), and Abdulrahman Matar (originally from Syria) — all of whom were forced to flee their countries because of imprisonment and death threats.
Cullingham tells kawarthaNOW that, by sharing these specific human stories, he hopes his film will “open a window on a global crisis” and “raise consciousness” on the global threat to journalism.
A Trent University alumnus, Cullingham has been imagining the film since 2017, but it became a local matter after his move back to Peterborough.
“I hadn’t lived in Peterborough since the 1980s,” Cullingham notes. “Thirty-nine years later, I’m back and I met — courtesy of a very fine filmmaker in Peterborough, Peter Blow — Rob Viscardis and Pawel Dwulit.”
Viscardis and Dwulit jointly run Paradigm Pictures in Peterborough. Viscardis — known for films such as Town of Widows (2019), Last Beer at the Pig’s Ear (2018), and Before We Arrive: The Story of the Weber Brothers (2016) — has signed on as co-producer and post-production coordinator. Dwulit, a photojournalist, cinematographer, and filmmaker, will be the film’s cinematographer.
Viscardi and Dwulit’s involvement with The Cost of Freedom began after Cullingham asked them to film an event at Peter Gzowski College on February 27, 2020. At this event, Cullingham led a panel of discussion with the three refugee journalists the film will profile.
“The three journalists were riveting,” Dr. Cullingham recalls. “It was one of those things that could only happen at Trent University in Peterborough.”
Footage from the event will appear in the finished documentary, a tremendous boost for the project since the pandemic shut everything down — including the film industry — just 10 days after the event.
Although COVID-19 temporarily stalled filming and there is more to be done in the weeks and months ahead, Cullingham says his team is committed to completing the project. They expect the film will be complete by the end of July and released to the public in the fall.
Working on this film is Daniela Leal, a recent graduate of the Cultural Studies program at Trent University, and Shahed Khatio, a film production student currently studying online with George Brown College. Leal is originally from Honduras and has first-hand knowledge of the global threat to journalism. Khatio and her family are Syrian refugees living in Peterborough.
Deborah Palloway, an award-winning documentary film editor, is also committed to the project. She and Cullingham have collaborated on several projects since the 1990s.
Cullingham says it means a great deal to him to have these people working on the project with him.
“It’s gratifying and exciting,” he says. “For 30 years, I’ve worked with a lot of people in Toronto very happily, but it’s great to have developed these relationships and the team here.”
Since the three main characters of the documentary film live in the greater Toronto region, filming will not take place solely in Peterborough. However, Cullingham says the film will be completed here and that all of the post-production will take place locally.
The Cost of Freedom is a timely film, given a recent request by a coalition of press freedom and human rights groups calling on the Canadian government to welcome at least 100 at-risk journalists as refugees annually.
“I think that we Canadians often share a presumption that the world is like Canada,” Cullingham comments. “Canada is an uncommonly safe and secure place to be. Storytellers here, despite all of the challenges, experience nothing like the risk of going to prison and being killed because you’re a journalist.”
According to Cullingham, the three journalists profiled in the film — Luis Nájera, Arzu Yildiz, and Abdulrahman Matar — all either are or want to be Canadian, so by sharing their stories, he is sharing Canadian stories.
Although each would be delighted to get a full-time paying job in journalism, Cullingham explains, this has yet to happen in Canada due to language barriers. Nevertheless, all of them are finding ways to keep their storytelling alive, including through their involvement in this film.
“Getting to know Luis, Arzu, and Abdulrahman has been a real eye-opener and a blessing for me,” Cullingham notes. “They’ve been incredibly generous, patient, and committed.”
Cullingham also says he is grateful to the multiple individuals who have provided much-needed support for the film, as well as organizations including the Symons Trust for Canadian Studies, Peter Gzowski College, New Canadians Centre Peterborough, and Kawartha World Issues Centre.
The film’s development is also being supported through funding from the Canada Council for The Arts.
“We are very grateful to Canada Council for its development support,” Cullingham says. “We are hopeful of further support from broadcasters and cultural agencies going forward.”
The film requires continued financial support and is open to donations from individuals. Any amount would be welcomed.
If you’d like to support the film, contact Tamarack Productions at 416-312-1841 or tamarackp@gmail.com.
As co-producer of the film, Rob Viscardis tells kawarthaNOW that he hopes the Peterborough community will show support for the project, especially since “this is a production happening completely locally at this point between James and our company Paradigm Pictures, so folks would be supporting a local team to tell a global story.”
“The issue at the heart [of the film] affects us all,” Viscardis explains. “They [the refugee journalists] put everything on the line to uncover what they did. The least we can do is help play a part in uncovering their own stories.”
“The issues at the root of this film have massive implications globally so that’s always an attractor for me with a project, but as a filmmaker I am also excited to collaborate with an experienced journalist and filmmaker like James as I continue to develop my career as a filmmaker.”
Cullingham says he realizes not everyone will be able to donate to the film.
“There are other ways of supporting the effort,” he points out. “Stay in touch with the way the community is going to release the film. Maybe people can help in kind rather than in cash when the time comes.”
You can keep an eye on the film’s development on Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s very gratifying personally as a filmmaker who has only lived back in Peterborough for less than two years to have this kind of community response to the film,” Cullingham says. “I appreciate it greatly, and it’s certainly a motivator.”
For more information about Tamarack Productions, visit www.tamarackproductions.com.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,563 new cases, with 46 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant and no new cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant. The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased by 75 to 1,600.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 27 new cases to report and 11 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 15 to 110. There has been 1 new COVID-19 death in Kawartha Lakes.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (584), Peel (265), and York (132).
There are double-digit increases in Hamilton (78), Halton (58), Niagara (58), Simcoe Muskoka (55), Waterloo (51), Ottawa (46), Durham (34), Chatham-Kent (24), Windsor-Essex (24), Middlesex-London (21), Eastern Ontario (20), Southwestern (16), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (12), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (12), Huron Perth (11), Thunder Bay (10), and Lambton (10), with smaller increases in Peterborough (7) and Brant (7).
The remaining 12 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with all reporting at least 1 new case.
Of today’s new cases, 53% are among people 40 and older, with the highest number of cases (534) among people ages 20-39, followed by 478 cases among people ages 40-59 and 241 cases among people 60-79.
With 1,956 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to 91.7%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.7% to 2.6%, meaning that 26 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 3.
Ontario is reporting 88 new COVID-19 deaths today — the highest single-day increase of deaths since January 20, when 89 deaths were reported — including 29 in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 54 new daily deaths over the past week.
Hospitalizations have increased by 35 from yesterday to 1,101, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 13 to 323 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators also decreasing by 13 to 241.
A total of 64,467 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 2,676 to 47,282.
A total of 355,055 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 6,724 from yesterday, with 80,977 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 5,983 from yesterday.
There are 9 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 6 from yesterday, including 8 student cases and 1 staff case. There are 25 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 4 from yesterday, with 14 cases among children and 11 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 27 new cases to report, including 18 in Kawartha Lakes, 7 in Northumberland, and 2 in Peterborough. There are no new cases in Hastings Prince Edward or Haliburton.
There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Kawartha Lakes.
Outbreaks at Extendicare Cobourg long-term care home and Extendicare Cobourg Landmark retirement home were declared on February 3.
An additional 11 cases have been resolved, including 7 in Peterborough and 4 in Kawartha Lakes.
There are currently 110 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 15 from yesterday, including 59 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Peterborough, 15 in Northumberland, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward (1 in Quinte West and 2 in Belleville) and 2 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 556 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (516 resolved with 9 deaths), 473 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (381 resolved with 46 deaths), 378 in Northumberland County (354 resolved with 9 deaths), 50 in Haliburton County (48 resolved with no deaths), and 368 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (360 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 4.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health’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: 556 (increase of 2)
Active cases: 31 (decrease of 5)
Close contacts: 64 (decrease of 3)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 516 (increase of 7)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 41,750 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Peterborough Retirement Residence (no change)
*As of February 4, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (an increase of 1 from yesterday) and 14 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (an increase of 2 from yesterday).
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 statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 901, including 473 in Kawartha Lakes, 378 in Northumberland, and 50 in Haliburton (increase of 25, including 18 in Kawartha Lakes and 7 in Northumberland)*
Active cases: 76, including 59 in Kawartha Lakes, 15 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (increase of 20, including 13 in Kawartha Lakes and 7 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 1 in Kawartha Lakes (decrease of 2 in Kawartha Lakes)
High-risk contacts: 105, including 47 in Kawartha Lakes, 36 in Northumberland, and 15 in Haliburton (net decrease of 3)**
Hospitalizations (total to date): 34, including 24 in Kawartha Lakes, 8 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no change)***
Deaths (including among probable cases): 55, including 46 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
Resolved: 783, including 381 in Kawartha Lakes, 354 in Northumberland, 48 in Haliburton (increase of 4 in Kawartha Lakes)
Tests completed: 127,339
Institutional outbreaks: Hope St. Terrace long-term care home in Port Hope, Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Golden Plough Lodge in Cobourg, Warkworth Place long-term care home in Warkworth, Caressant Care Mary Street retirement home in Lindsay, Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay (two outbreaks), Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden, Extendicare Cobourg long-term care home, Extendicare Cobourg Landmark retirement home (increase of 2)****
*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.
**This total includes an additional 4 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
***As of February 4, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient hospitalized with COVID-19 (a decrease of 1 since yesterday).
****Outbreaks at Extendicare Cobourg long-term care home and Extendicare Cobourg Landmark retirement home were declared on February 3.
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 368 (no change)
Active cases: 3 (no change)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (decrease of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 360 (no change)
Tests completed: 46,664 (no change)
Vaccines administered: 1,096 (no change)
Institutional outbreaks: Trent Valley Lodge long-term care home in Trenton (no change)
Confirmed positive: 273,660 (increase of 1,563)*
7-day average of new cases: 1,600 (decrease of 75)
Resolved: 250,937 (increase of 1,956, 91.7% of all cases)
Positivity rate: 2.6% (decrease of 0.7%)
Hospitalized: 1,101 (increase of 35)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 323 (decrease of 13)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 241 (decrease of 13)
Deaths: 6,393 (increase of 88)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,683 (increase of 36)
Total tests completed: 9,849,313 (increase of 64,467)
Tests under investigation: 47,282 (increase of 2,676)
Vaccination doses administered: 355,055 (increase of 6,724)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 80,977 (increase of 5,983)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 153 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 46); 1 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change)
*On February 1, Toronto Public Health migrated its COVID-19 data to to Ontario’s Case and Contact Management system. As data quality checks and remediation activities continue this week, fluctuations in case count may occur.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
Environment Canada has issued a winter weather travel advisory for the southern Kawarthas region for Thursday (February 4) overnight into Friday morning.
The advisory is in effect for southern Peterborough County including Lakefield and the city of Peterborough, southern Kawartha Lakes including Lindsay, and all of Northumberland County.
Snow is expected to move into the area from the west just after midnight and continue until early Friday morning.
At any location, the heaviest snowfall is most likely for the first two or three hours after onset. Lighter snowfall is expected afterwards.
Total snowfall amounts of 5 to 10 cm are expected by early Friday morning, with the bulk of the precipitation likely coming in the overnight hours.
Road conditions are expected to rapidly deteriorate once the snow arrives. Untreated roads may suddenly become snow covered and slippery. Motorists should allow for extra time to reach their destination.
What do skating, cross-country skiing, and cycling have in common? They are all ways people can enjoy being outside in winter.
If you think that the third item doesn’t fit in with the other activities on the list, please read on. Bicycling is a delightful form of travel and recreation in winter too.
Many people unfamiliar with riding a bike during winter in Peterborough express concern that snow, temperature, and road conditions make it a challenging endeavour. Those same people may be surprised to learn that Peterborough’s driest days are in the winter. According to weather data for our region, our dry days run from December 2nd to March 31st, with today (February 4th) being our driest day.
Understanding how to help people overcome the barriers they face with cycling in winter is important to encouraging more participation.
Building a community conversation about winter riding is a significant part of the Winter Wheels program at B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop. Through this engagement, cyclists share their ideas on managing and overcoming the unique characteristics of winter.
For many, technical skills and confidence are key to winter riding. B!KE’s new video “Slippery Handling Skills” (below) provides advice on navigating winter streets and trails. This video features tips on how to turn, break, and work with your gears when faced with snowy and icy conditions.
VIDEO: Slippery Handling Skills
Across the globe, the movement towards year-round bike-riding is growing, including in wintery locales like Oulu, Finland, home to the most enthusiastic winter cyclists. With our balmy winter conditions and a little know-how, Peterborough-area cyclists can also become full-time practitioners.
Beyond overcoming personal barriers to winter cycling, there are things our community can do to support more people to ride bikes in winter.
Right now, as a community, Peterborough citizens are reflecting on how we get from point A to point B through the public consultation necessary to update our municipal transportation and cycling master plans.
Master plans direct the design and development of our built environment. Municipal leaders need to hear from all perspectives, including from those who ride bikes or want to ride bikes in winter. Visit www.connectptbo.ca to provide your input.
For meaningful advice on how cities can make winter bike riding a possibility for more citizens, Tom Babin, author of Frostbike, is worth a listen. Tom’s recent YouTube video (below) highlights three things our cities can do to encourage more people to cycle in winter.
VIDEO: Three things your city can do to make winter cycling and bike commuting better
Here are Tom’s suggestions and some reflections:
Separated bike lanes
The first item on Tom’s list is to install separated bike lanes. This type of bike facility is almost always contentious. Road space is limited. However, studies show that separated bike lanes are a benefit to all road users: drivers have more clarity and confidence about where to expect bike traffic; pedestrians feel safer with more distance between them and vehicle traffic; and cyclists benefit due to protected laneways.
The City of Peterborough has begun the installation of separated bike lane infrastructure. Currently, only small sections are complete. Though they seem piecemeal at this time, these sections are part of a bigger system to come.
Separated bike lanes will vastly improve the bicycle riding experience in our city; research tells us this is especially so for new riders, women, children, the elderly. According to Tom it is also a great way to improve the joy and ease of riding bikes year-round.
Snow clearing
The second thing Tom suggests to improve the winter riding experience is snow clearing.
While it is possible to ride through snow, your average rider wants a clear road just like your average driver. We all agree that a clear road, trail, or bike lane is easier and safer to travel on.
Peterborough is doing a great job with this so far, with routes like the Rotary Trail taking very high priority on our snow clearing schedule. While snow can pile up in our on-road bike lanes (and other awkward spots) Peterborough generally does a great job of snow clearing and prioritizing our active transportation network, making it easier to ride.
Embrace winter
Finally, Tom informs us that the third action we can take to encourage winter riding is to build a culture that embraces winter. This is achieved through placemaking, a concept that encourages people to collaboratively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as central to a community. Educational programming also helps people choose to embrace winter rather than hide from it.
B!KE has been working alongside the City of Peterborough to support placemaking and education in our Winter Wheels program. Since launching the program in 2017, B!KE has helped over 100 cyclists embrace the season by helping them to secure the equipment, skills, and confidence to support winter riding.
One new winter rider put it succinctly when they said, “I thought I hated winter; it turns out I just hate winter driving”.
Getting outdoors and learning how to participate in winter might be the most important thing we can learn from each other.
People choose to ride bikes for a variety of reasons; cycling has benefits for our health, environment, and economy. But most people who choose to ride a bike do so for the sense of fun and freedom it brings them.
If you live in the Peterborough area, you are bound to encounter winter — learning how to take joy in all the seasons will help you navigate our snowy community. We are lucky to live in a city where people can choose to ride bikes no matter the season! Let’s keep encouraging each other along the way.
For more information about B!KE, visit communitybikeshop.org.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,172 new cases, with no new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant or the B.1.351 South Africa variant. The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased by 71 to 1,675.
Due to the recent migration of data from Toronto Public Health to Ontario’s Case and Contact Management system, the province says fluctuations in case counts may occur.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report and 3 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 4 to 95. There have been 2 new COVID-19 deaths in Kawartha Lakes and 1 new death in Peterborough.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (444), Peel (199), and York (110).
There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (58), Middlesex-London (46), Durham (42), Windsor-Essex (41), Waterloo (39), Hamilton (26), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (26), Simcoe Muskoka (24), Halton (24), Niagara (20), Thunder Bay (17), and Eastern Ontario (14), with smaller increases in Haldimand-Norfolk (9) and Southwestern (7).
The remaining 17 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 4 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 51% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (437) among people ages 20-39, followed by 367 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 1,745 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to 91.5%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 1.3% to 3.3%, meaning that 33 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 2.
Ontario is reporting 67 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 29 in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 50 new daily deaths over the past week.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 126 from yesterday to 1,066, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 5 to 336 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 1 to 254.
A total of 52,418 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 12,258 to 44,606.
A total of 348,331 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 3,716 from yesterday, with 74,994 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,937 from yesterday.
There are 15 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 7 from yesterday, including 9 student cases and 6 staff cases. There are 29 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 10 from yesterday, with 13 cases among children and 16 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report, including 7 in Peterborough, 3 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward. There are no new cases in Northumberland or Haliburton.
There have been 2 new COVID-related deaths in Kawartha Lakes, including 1 at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road in Lindsay. There have now been 9 deaths at the long-term care home since an outbraek was first declared on January 9.
There is also 1 new COVID-related death in Peterborough, along with 1 new hospitalization
An additional 3 cases have been resolved, in Peterborough. The outbreak at The Regency retirement home in Lakefield was declared resolved on February 3.
There are currently 95 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 4 from yesterday, including 46 in Kawartha Lakes, 36 in Peterborough, 8 in Northumberland, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward (1 in Quinte West and 2 in Belleville) and 2 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 554 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (509 resolved with 9 deaths), 455 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (377 resolved with 45 deaths), 371 in Northumberland County (354 resolved with 9 deaths), 50 in Haliburton County (48 resolved with no deaths), and 368 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (360 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent 3 deaths were reported in Kawartha Lakes (2) and Peterborough (1) on February 3.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health’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: 554 (increase of 7)
Active cases: 36 (increase of 3)
Close contacts: 67 (decrease of 4)
Deaths: 9 (increase of 1)
Resolved: 509 (increase of 3)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (increase of 1)*
Total tests completed: Over 41,700 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Peterborough Retirement Residence (decrease of 1)**
*As of February 3, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 4 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (a decrease of 3 from yesterday) and 12 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
**The outbreak at The Regency retirement home in Lakefield was declared resolved on February 3.
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 statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 876, including 455 in Kawartha Lakes, 371 in Northumberland, and 50 in Haliburton (increase of 3 in Kawartha Lakes)*
Active cases: 56, including 46 in Kawartha Lakes, 8 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no net change)
Probable cases: 3 in Kawartha Lakes (no change)
High-risk contacts: 108, including 65 in Kawartha Lakes, 25 in Northumberland, and 15 in Haliburton (net decrease of 14)**
Hospitalizations (total to date): 34, including 24 in Kawartha Lakes, 8 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no change)***
Deaths (including among probable cases): 54, including 45 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland (increase of 2 in Kawartha Lakes)
Resolved: 779, including 377 in Kawartha Lakes, 354 in Northumberland, 48 in Haliburton (no net change)
Institutional outbreaks: Hope St. Terrace long-term care home in Port Hope, Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Golden Plough Lodge in Cobourg, Warkworth Place long-term care home in Warkworth, Caressant Care Mary Street retirement home in Lindsay, Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay (two outbreaks), Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden (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.
**This total includes an additional 3 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
***As of February 3, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 2 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (a decrease of 1 since yesterday).
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 368 (no change)
Active cases: 3 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 1 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 360 (no change)
Tests completed: 46,664 (increase of 11)
Vaccines administered: 1,096 (no change)
Institutional outbreaks: Trent Valley Lodge long-term care home in Trenton (no change)
Confirmed positive: 272,097 (increase of 1,172)*
7-day average of new cases: 1,675 (decrease of 71)
Resolved: 248,981 (increase of 1,745, 91.5% of all cases)
Positivity rate: 3.3% (decrease of 1.3%)
Hospitalized: 1,066 (decrease of 126)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 336 (decrease of 5)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 254 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 6,305 (increase of 67)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,647 (increase of 29)
Total tests completed: 9,784,846 (increase of 52,418)
Tests under investigation: 44,606 (increase of 12,258)
Vaccination doses administered: 348,331 (increase of 3,716)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 74,994 (increase of 2,937)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 106 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (decrease of 3); 1 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change)
*On February 1, Toronto Public Health migrated its COVID-19 data to to Ontario’s Case and Contact Management system. As data quality checks and remediation activities continue this week, fluctuations in case count may occur.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
Kawartha Lakes police are thanking a Lindsay man who literally helped them track down an elderly man.
On Tuesday afternoon (February 2), police received a call from a concerned citizen who had observed an elderly man with a cane walking on the ice of the Scugog River.
Concerned for the man’s safety, police began searching the Lindsay Street North area of the Scugog River where the man was last seen.
Access to the river in the area was blocked, making it difficult for officers to find any trace of the man.
While conducting the search, officers spoke with Scott Moggach, who was in the area practising flying his new drone and offered to help.
Using the drone, Moggach was able to locate the man’s tracks in the snow — leading police to the elderly man’s home, where he was located safe and sound.
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