Those looking for an encouraging sign that the local rate of COVID-19 infection is showing improvement need look no further than the decision to reopen local schools on Monday, January 25th.
During a Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Friday (January 22), medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra said the decision to reopen local schools was made after consultation with Ontario Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams.
“Our weekly incidence rate continues to decline, our testing positivity rate has dropped to 1.1 per cent,” said Dr. Salvaterra, adding the data “supports a return to the classroom.”
“If the situation in our region changes, we will take appropriate action.”
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Dr. Salvaterra added additional measures will be undertaken to keeps student, teachers, and school staff safe. These include mandatory masking of students in grades 1 to 3, meaning all students from grades 1 to 12 are now required to wear a mask.
“Masks are highly recommended but not mandatory for kindergarten students,” added Dr. Salvaterra.
As encouraging as the reopening of schools is, Dr. Salvaterra strongly cautions against people letting down their guard, reminding that the province’s stay-at-home order remains in full effect until February 11th.
January, she reminded, has seen the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases locally in one month, at 152 and counting — a significant increase over December’s 137 positive cases.
On a sombre note, Dr. Salvaterra confirmed that a 90-year-old community resident “not connected to a congregate living setting or long-term care facility” died Thursday (January 21), bringing to seven the number of local COVID-related deaths since the pandemic’s outbreak.
“We don’t have certainty of where this person acquired their infection … it’s a bit of an unknown for us,” said Dr. Salvaterra, adding “We’re pursuing additional information to see if we can make a link. We haven’t been able to make a link with any certainty.”
That said, she pointed out what appears to be a slow but gradual flattening of the curve in the region.
As for outbreaks, a new one involving “a few” patient cases was declared Thursday (January 21) at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre in units A2 and B2, designated for stroke rehabilitation. This is the second outbreak at the hospital, the first being recorded back in early April 2020. At this point, how COVID was transmitted to the patients remains under investigation.
Two other outbreaks are ongoing: one at Regency Retirement in Lakefield, where two resident cases were detected, and the other at Centennial Place Long-Term Care in Millbrook, involving one resident case as well as a staff case. Meanwhile, an ongoing outbreak at Fairhaven long-term care in Peterborough cleared on Thursday (January 21).
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Overall local COVID-19 numbers show that as of Friday morning (January 22), there were 46 active COVID-19 cases in Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake and Hiawatha region with 80 close contacts of positive cases being monitored.
Since the pandemic’s outbreak, Peterborough Public Health has reported a total of 499 cases of which 446 have been resolved. To date, 40,800 residents have been tested.
As for the imminent arrival of vaccines and planned first dose immunization of residents, staff, and essential caregivers at eight long-term care homes in the region, Dr. Salvaterra said that is on track to be done by the self-imposed February 15th deadline.
Also present for Tuesday’s briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien, Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, Peterborough Board of Health chair and Selwyn Mayor Andy Mitchell, and Peterborough Police Services Chief Scott Gilbert, who confirmed no new fines have been levied for the violation of COVID-19 protocols since three people ticketed this past weekend.
Police are seeking the owner or operator of this charcoal-grey four-door Toyota Matrix hatchback with black rims in the death of 40-year-old Corey Johnston on January 14, 2021 in Peterborough. (Police-supplied photo)
Peterborough police are asking for the public’s help in locating a second vehicle that was in the area when a pedestrian was struck and killed in Peterborough last week.
Corey Johnston, 40, of Peterborough was killed in the incident, which took place on George Street North near the Holiday Inn at around 8:30 p.m. last Thursday (January 14).
As part of the investigation, police are looking to identify a second vehicle that was in the area at the time of the incident.
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The charcoal-grey four-door hatchback with black rims was seen travelling northbound on George Street, then continuing northbound on Water Street before turning westbound onto King Street, then southbound on George Street before turning westbound onto Sherbrooke Street.
Police are asking the owner or operator of the vehicle to contact them.
Anyone from the public who is able to identify the owner or operator of the vehicle is asked to contact Constable Pilling at 705-876-1122 ext 254, or to submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at stopcrimehere.ca.
Police are seeking the owner or operator of this charcoal-grey four-door hatchback with black rims in the death of 40-year-old Corey Johnston on January 14, 2021 in Peterborough. (Police-supplied photo)
The Peterborough Wastewater Treatment Plant. (Photo: City of Peterborough)
The City of Peterborough is advising residents who draw their water from the Otonabee River downstream from Peterborough to boil their water on Monday, January 25th.
The boil water advisory does not affect municipal tap water supplied to residents of the City of Peterborough.
From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Monday, the Peterborough Wastewater Treatment Plant will be discharging partially treated water into the river during planned maintenance on equipment at the facility.
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Only one of the six stages in the water treatment process — the ultraviolet disinfection stage — will be bypassed during the maintenance work.
The discharged water will still be treated through all other processes, including screening, grit removal, primary clarification, aeration/biological treatment, and final clarification.
However, residents downstream of Peterborough who draw water from the river are advised to take necessary precautions and boil their water.
Caressant Care McLaughlin Road is a 96-bed long-term care home in Lindsay. (Photo: Google Maps)
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 2,632 new cases today — a total that includes 102 cases in Toronto that were not previously recorded on January 18 due to a technical issue. Excluding those previous cases, there are 2,530 new cases today. The seven-day average of daily cases across the province has now decreased by 99 to 2,751.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 46 new cases to report and 11 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 34 to 170. Most of the new cases in the region today are in Kawartha Lakes, due to an outbreak at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay. There is 1 new COVID-related death to report in Peterborough, and an outbreak has been declared at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (807, including 102 cases from January 18 previously not reported due to a technical issue), Peel (412), York (245), Ottawa (162), and Waterloo (118).
There are double-digit increases in Durham (92), Windsor-Essex (92), Niagara (90), Middlesex-London (76), Simcoe Muskoka (70), Hamilton (69), Halton (52), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (49), Lambton (45), Eastern Ontario (32), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (31), Southwestern (19), Huron Perth (18), Brant (13), with smaller increases in Sudbury (9), Haldimand-Norfolk (7), Peterborough (6), and Chatham-Kent (6).
The remaining 11 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.
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Of today’s new cases, 50% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,004) among people ages 20-39, followed by 782 cases among people ages 40-59. With 2,990 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.3% to 87.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased since yesterday by 0.6% to 4.3%, meaning that 43 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on January 20.
Ontario is reporting 46 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 33 in long-term care homes. Hospitalizations have decreased by 65 from yesterday to 1,533, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 7 to 388, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 3 to 293.
A total of 70,256 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 3,908 to 52,871. A total of 253,817 doses of vaccine have now been administered, with 15,899 daily doses administered and 40,225 total vaccinations completed (i.e., both doses administered).
Due to the remote learning period during the state of emergency, there will be no data to report for schools in the greater Kawarthas region until in-person learning resumes on January 25th. There are 32 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, an increase of 6 from yesterday, with 16 cases among children and 16 cases among staff.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 46 new cases to report, including 35 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Peterborough, 3 in Northumberland, 2 in Haliburton, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.
Most of the new cases in the region today are in Kawartha Lakes, due to an outbreak at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay. As of January 21, there are 18 confirmed cases among residents and 15 confirmed cases among staff, with additional test results pending. The health unit states that “full outbreak control measures are in place” at the home.
There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Peterborough. No details have been released by the health unit. An outbreak has been declared at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, involving 1 patient on the A2/B2 inpatient unit.
An additional 11 cases have been resolved, including 4 in Peterborough, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward, 2 in Northumberland, and 2 in Kawartha Lakes. The outbreak at Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough was declared resolved on January 21.
There are currently 170 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 34 from yesterday, including 53 in Kawartha Lakes, 46 in Peterborough, 40 in Northumberland, 25 in Hastings Prince Edward (12 in Quinte West, 11 in Belleville, and 1 in Prince Edward County), and 6 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 499 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (446 resolved with 7 deaths), 377 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (301 resolved with 36 deaths), 353 in Northumberland County (307 resolved with 6 deaths), 45 in Haliburton County (39 resolved with no deaths), and 364 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (335 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on January 21.
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: 499 (increase of 4) Active cases: 46 (decrease of 1) Close contacts: 80 (increase of 3) Deaths: 7 (increase of 1) Resolved: 446 (increase of 4) Hospitalizations (total to date): 21 (increase of 1)* Total tests completed: Over 40,800 (increase of 100) Outbreaks: The Regency retirement home in Lakefield, Centennial Place long-term care home in Millbrook, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (decrease of 1, increase of 1)**
*As of January 21, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 10 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, with fewer than 5 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive. The hospital is also reporting an outbreak involving 1 patient on the A2/B2 inpatient unit.
**An outbreak at Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough was declared resolved on January 21. An outbreak at Peterborough Regional Health Centre was declared on January 21 as the result of 1 patient with COVID-19 on inpatient units A2/B2.
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 statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 775, including 377 in Kawartha Lakes, 353 in Northumberland, and 45 in Haliburton (increase of 40, including 35 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)* Active cases: 99, including 53 in Kawartha Lakes, 40 in Northumberland, and 6 in Haliburton (increase of 36, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 1 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton) Probable cases: 4 in Kawartha Lakes (increase of 2 in Kawartha Lakes) High-risk contacts: 154, including 72 in Kawartha Lakes, 56 in Northumberland, and 12 in Haliburton (net decrease of 11)** Hospitalizations (total to date): 29, including 20 in Kawartha Lakes, 8 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)*** Deaths (including among probable cases): 42, including 36 in Kawartha Lakes and 6 in Northumberland (no change) Resolved: 647, including 301 in Kawartha Lakes, 307 in Northumberland, 39 in Haliburton (increase of 4, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland) Institutional outbreaks: Hope St. Terrace long-term care home in Port Hope, Fenelon Court in Fenelon Falls, Island Park Retirement Residence in Campbellford, Maplewood long-term care home in Brighton, Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Tower of Port Hope, Canadian Centre for Addictions in Port Hope, Golden Plough Lodge in Cobourg, Warkworth Place long-term care home in Warkworth (no change)
*Most of the new cases in Kawartha Lakes are related to an outbreak at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road in Lindsay. 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 14 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
***As of January 20, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 3 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, a decrease of 1 since yesterday.
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, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 364 (increase of 2) Active cases: 25 (decrease 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: 335 (increase of 3) Tests completed: 38,413 Institutional outbreaks: Hastings Manor Beech Villa in Belleville, Crown Ridge long-term care home in Quinte West (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 247,564 (increase of 2,632)* Resolved: 215,887 (increase of 2,990, 87.2% of all cases) Positivity rate: 4.3% (decrease of 0.6%) Hospitalized: 1,533 (decrease of 65) Hospitalized and in ICU: 388 (decrease of 7) Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 293 (decrease of 3) Deaths: 5,614 (increase of 46) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,307 (increase of 33) Total tests completed: 9,124,841 (increase of 70,256) Tests under investigation: 52,871 (increase of 3,908) Vaccinations: 15,899 daily doses administered, 253,817 total doses administered, 40,225 total vaccinations completed (both doses)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from December 21, 2020 – January 20, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from December 21, 2020 – January 20, 2021. The red line is the number of tests completed daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from December 21, 2020 – January 20, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving 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 moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from December 21, 2020 – January 20, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
In summer of 2017, filmmaker Suzanne Crocker (bottom right) and her family started their year-long quest to feed themselves from food gathered, grown, and hunted close to their home in the Yukon. In "First We Eat", which screens at the 2021 ReFrame Film Festival, Crocker explores their journey and the complexity of improving local food security in the far north. (Photo: Alex Hakonson)
Each week, GreenUP provides a story related to the environment. This week’s column is by GreenUP Communications and Marketing Specialist Leif Einarson.
The first-ever virtual 2021 ReFrame Film Festival takes place from January 22 to 29 and features almost 50 documentaries of various lengths.
The aim of the festival is to inform and engage our community in social and environmental topics through film.
Below are selections from interviews with three of the filmmakers whose films are screening during the festival. Full transcripts of each interview are available at greenup.on.ca/reframe-2021-interviews/.
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Olivia Mater on “Starborn”
Olivia Mater is the filmmaker behnd the short film “Starborn”, a haunting and poetic reflection of our current struggles as interpreted 50 years in the future by a grandmother speaking to her grandchildren. The film screens at the virtual ReFrame Film Festival, which starts Friday, January 22 and runs to Friday, January 29. (Photo courtesy of Olivia Mater)
Olivia Mater is an emerging filmmaker and a recent graduate from the Indigenous Studies program at Trent University.
Tell me about the setting of your film: where and when does it take place?
The film takes place 50 years in the future. The setting of the film is my parents’ backyard, on the homelands of the Saugeen Anishinaabeg. A grandmother is weaving a story for her grandchildren. [They are] gathered around a fire to hear the stories of [today], now, 50 years in their past.
We usually think of memory as something that only looks backwards, but your film asks us to imagine memories of the future. Why is that important to you?
As a settler here, that way of looking at time and looking at the world has been taught to me by the Indigenous teachers I have had in my life, and specifically Joanne Argue [at Trent University].
She was constantly beckoning us to think about time in a non-linear way, and think about what it means to live and exist while looking forwards and backwards at once. Every action we do now affects the ones who are not here yet.
We are also part of a lineage of ancestors who dreamed worlds into being so we could be. Our responsibility is to do the same.
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Suzanne Crocker on “First We Eat”
Suzanne Crocker is an award-winning filmmaker and retired family doctor. In “First We Eat”, she documents her family’s year-long commitment to feeding themselves from food found, hunted, and grown in and around her Yukon community. The film screens at the virtual ReFrame Film Festival, which starts Friday, January 22 and runs to Friday, January 29. (Photo: Alex Hakonson)
Suzanne Crocker is an award-winning filmmaker living with her family of five in Dawson City, Yukon.
Why did you decide to eat 100 per cent local food for an entire year? Why not an incremental commitment to eat more local, or a commitment over a shorter period of time?
We are on the traditional territory of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. I was inspired that Indigenous folks ate 100 per cent locally for thousands and thousands of years prior to colonization. Even a hundred or so years ago, when settlers first came to this area, Dawson was apparently able to produce 97 per cent of our food. Now 97 per cent of our food is trucked in from thousands and thousands of kilometres away.
My goal was to put food sovereignty to the test here in the north. I really wanted to know if we could still do this in this era. Rather than just research this academically or bring in a bunch of experts to talk about food sovereignty in the north, I thought one of the best ways would be to try it.
A lot of people are accustomed to a culture of rushing and convenience. How did those habits or tendencies change during that year?
There is this irony in life that the more modern conveniences we have in our life that are meant to save us time, the less time we seem to have.
There are some silver linings to slowing down in the kitchen, to actually making food and cooking. It can be a very meditative time.
VIDEO: “First We Eat” trailer
Can you share your reflections on the labour that was involved in getting your food for that year, and the implications of that labour and the financial costs of food more broadly in your community and around the world?
Speaking to financial costs, taking the labour costs out of the picture for a moment, I did track what it cost to purchase our food that year from local farmers [and found] it was more costly to eat 100 per cent local, by about 25 per cent.
What I also came to recognize that year was the cost to produce food. When we were buying things in the store that were less expensive — somewhere along that food chain from seed to plate — that cost was coming out at someone else’s expense. It is important to recognize that, if we are able, we should support and pay for the true cost of food.
Of course, not everyone is able to do that. It is important that those of us who are able, that we do. It is important that those people in positions of bigger procurement and buying power, also start promoting and sourcing their food locally.
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Karen O’Krafka on “Headwaters to Hearts: Education in Action”
GreenUP’s Wonders of Water program is centre stage in the ReFrame Film Festival short “Headwaters to Hearts: Education in Action”. In this photo, students at Ste. Anne’s Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough can be seen transforming a section of their school yard to support the local watershed. (Photo: Anne Corkery)
Karen O’Krafka coordinates GreenUP’s Wonders of Water program. She shares her thoughts on the GreenUP film “Headwaters to Hearts: Education in Action” and the project it features: a student-led project to transform the flood-prone area of a Peterborough school into a rain garden.
What is one lasting impact, for you, of the project and the film that came out of it?
This [Wonders of Water] project was especially poignant. I remember doing a sub-watershed tour with those leadership students on March 12, 2020; the day before the provincial lock-down came into effect. That was powerful.
They talk a lot [in the film] about that day, about the tour, about getting that really good sense of where the headwaters of Jackson Creek begin. They talk about ending the day where Jackson Creek flows into the Otonabee with a Sacred Water Ceremony with Curve Lake Elder Dorothy Taylor.
If ever we had to plan how to send kids into a turbulent and vulnerable time — not that we ever want to do that — but if we did, this is a beautiful way to do it.
For details about the ReFrame Film Festival, and to purchase all-access passes or festival 5-packs (where you can choose five films to watch), visit my.reframefilmfestival.ca.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a sponsor of the 2021 ReFrame Film Festival.
The Haliburton, Kawartha Pine Ridge District (HKPR) Health Unit has completed a COVID-19 vaccine program and plans to submit it to Ontario’s health ministry later this week.
“We are ready to go as soon as we’ve got a vaccine available, with a focus on the residents, staff, and essential caregivers in long-term care,” the acting medical officer of health, Dr. Ian Gemmill, said during a virtual media briefing on Wednesday (January 20).
According to Dr. Gemmill, the program is based on the health unit’s past immunization plan. However, they have spent the last few weeks reviewing and revising it to be more specific to COVID-19.
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“It’s based on our previous experience of mass immunization, and the experience of others who have been running mass immunization in high-instance areas, who have already worked with coronavirus,” he said.
The program includes a plan for vaccine distribution to long-term care homes and high-risk retirement homes — the health unit’s priority when they receive the vaccine supply expected in early February. Healthcare workers will also be offered the vaccine as it becomes available.
“The next in line after long-term care homes, healthcare workers, and home-care patients will be other essential workers,” explained Dr. Gemmill. “People who have to work to keep our society going during this pandemic.”
The health unit will then distribute the vaccine to at-risk older adults, followed by all older adults, followed by the general population.
While Dr. Gemmill said he hopes to begin the HKPR area’s first phase of vaccine distribution in early February, this is subject to change as supplies change.
Retired general Rick Hillier, chair of Ontario’s vaccine distribution task force, announced yesterday there is a shortage of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine due to a production issue in Belgium, and there will be no shipments to Canada next week.
Currently, two vaccines have been approved for use in Canada: the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine. Dr. Gemmill said the Moderna vaccine is “probable for this area given the shortage of the Pfizer.”
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“It’s too bad that we’re having these supply issues,” said Dr. Gemmill, “but what I’m asking people is to be patient because the commitment, I know, from all of our government, is that the vaccine will be in arms as quickly as we can get the vaccine in place. We are going to make sure that happens in this area.”
“We’ve been told that by March, we won’t have to be worrying about the supply,” he added.
In the meantime, Dr. Gemmill assured the HKPR Health Unit is prepared to distribute the vaccine as soon as supply becomes available.
“We have a plan in place, and once the vaccine is ready to go, we are ready to go.”
Dr. Gemmill said the key principles in their completed immunization plan are efficiency, “once we get the vaccine to get it into arms as fast as possible,” and accessibility, “which means people don’t have to drive for hours to get their dose of vaccine.”
“Then we are also, of course, being guided by, and must adhere to, the priority list given by local direction,” he added. “But within that, we will be looking at local risk. If we don’t have enough vaccine for all the long-term care homes, we will be looking at the ones at the highest risk first.”
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There are many aspects involved in preparing to distribute a vaccine, according to Dr. Gemmill.
“We’re talking to healthcare providers, many who have offered to help us to immunize,” he said. “We’ve talked to municipalities about what venues we can use. For security, we’ve talked to our colleagues in the police force. We’ve been talking to our indigenous community at Alderville about how to design it for that community as well.”
As for vaccine distribution venues, Dr. Gemmill says the health unit is looking into large buildings such as arenas.
“We want to ensure we do this in a way that secures safety. So, for instance, people are not exposed to coronavirus as they’re waiting to get their vaccine.”
Dr. Gemmill said the health unit’s shift to vaccine planning is “a bright light.”
“One month ago, we had no vaccine. That meant that we couldn’t do anything. Restrictions in place can hold back the spread, but they can’t be in place forever and, therefore, we need the vaccine to protect the population so we can get back to normal.”
As of January 20th, there are 63 active cases of COVID-19 in the region served by the health unit, including 20 in the City of Kawartha Lakes, 39 in Northumberland County, and four in Haliburton County. There have been eight COVID-related deaths in the region so far this year, including four in Kawartha Lakes and four in Northumberland.
All elementary and secondary school students in the greater Kawarthas region will be returning to in-person learning on Monday, January 25th.
Ontario education minister Stephen Lecce issued a statement about school re-openings late Wednesday afternoon (January 20).
“On the advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the government is allowing seven public health units and over 100,000 students to return to class on Monday, January 25,” Lecce states. “Getting students back into class is our top priority.”
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For students returning to in-person learning, masks will now be mandatory inside schools for all students, including those in Grades 1 to 3 (masks are recommended but not mandatory for Kindergarten students). Masks will now also be required outdoors where physical distancing of at least two metres cannot be maintained.
The government will also be introducing additional safety measures, including province-wide targeted asymptomatic testing and enhanced screening.
Schools in the following public health units will be permitted to resume in-person learning on Monday:
Grey Bruce Health Unit
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit
Peterborough Public Health
Renfrew County and District Health Unit
All school boards in the greater Kawarthas region are affected by this announcement but, as some of the school boards span multiple public health units, not all schools within every school board will be resuming in-person learning. However, all schools within the greater Kawarthas region will be resuming in-person learning on January 25th.
Below are the details for each school board in in the greater Kawarthas region.
Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board
All elementary and secondary schools will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th. Transportation to schools will resume as usual on Monday.
Trillium Lakelands District School Board
All elementary and secondary schools within the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th, with bus service also resuming. Elementary and secondary schools within the District of Muskoka will continue with remote learning.
Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board
All elementary and secondary schools within the city and county of Peterborough and Northumberland County will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th, with bus service also resuming. Elementary and secondary schools within the Municipality of Clarington will continue with remote learning.
Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board
All elementary and secondary schools within the city and county of Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th, with bus service also resuming. Elementary and secondary schools within the Municipality of Clarington will continue with remote learning.
Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Centre-Est de l’Ontario
All elementary and secondary schools outside of Ottawa will resume in-person learning on Monday, January 25th. Elementary and secondary schools in Ottawa will continue with remote learning.
Environment Canada has issued a winter weather travel advisory for Thursday afternoon (January 21) for the northern Kawarthas.
The advisory is in effect for northern Peterborough County including Apsley, northern Kawartha Lakes including Fenelon Falls, and all of Haliburton County.
Locally heavy snow squalls are forecast to develop Thursday afternoon.
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While these snow squalls are not expected to linger over any one area very long, heavy snow and reduced visibility caused by blowing snow will make travel difficult at times.
Up to 10 cm of new snowfall can be expected by the time the snow squalls move south of the area Thursday evening.
Travellers should consider changing their travel plans accordingly.
Public health nurse Simone Jackson wearing personal protective equipment as she prepares to open a swab to test a patient for COVID-19 in Peterborough Public Health's clinic. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough Public Health)
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 2,655 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases across the province decreasing by 43 to 2,850.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 14 new cases to report and 27 additional cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 13 to 136.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (925), Peel (473), York (226), Windsor-Essex (179), Niagara (129), and Waterloo (101).
There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (86), Hamilton (75), Simcoe Muskoka (71), Durham (70), Middlesex-London (65), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (56), Halton (51), Southwestern (20), Thunder Bay (17), Eastern Ontario (16), Haldimand-Norfolk (16), Porcupine (14), Chatham-Kent (13), Lambton (12), and Huron Perth (11), with smaller increases in Peterborough (9) and Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (7).
The remaining 11 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 5 health units reporting no new cases at all.
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Of today’s new cases, 50% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,003) among people ages 20-39, followed by 800 cases among people ages 40-59. With 3,714 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.6% to 86.9%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased since yesterday by 1.8% to 4.9%, meaning that 49 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on January 19.
Ontario is reporting 89 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 42 in long-term care homes. Hospitalizations have decreased by 28 from yesterday to 1,598, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 5 to 395, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 4 to 296.
A total of 54,307 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 12,213 to 48,963. A total of 237,918 doses of vaccine have now been administered, with 13,784 daily doses administered and 32,361 total vaccinations completed (i.e., both doses administered).
Due to the winter break and the remote learning period during the state of emergency, there will be no data to report for schools in southern Ontario until at least January 26. There are 26 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 24 from yesterday, with 12 cases among children and 14 cases among staff.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 14 new cases to report, including 7 in Peterborough, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Northumberland. There are no new cases to report in Haliburton.
None of the new cases reported today in licensed child care settings are in the greater Kawarthas region.
An additional 27 cases have been resolved, including 10 in Peterborough, 10 in Northumberland, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
There are currently 136 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 13 from yesterday, including 47 in Peterborough, 39 in Northumberland, 26 in Hastings Prince Edward (10 in Quinte West, 14 in Belleville, and 1 in Prince Edward County), 20 in Kawartha Lakes, and 4 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 495 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (442 resolved with 6 deaths), 342 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (299 resolved with 36 deaths), 350 in Northumberland County (305 resolved with 6 deaths), 43 in Haliburton County (39 resolved with no deaths), and 363 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (332 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Northumberland on January 17.
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: 495 (increase of 7) Active cases: 47 (decrease of 3) Close contacts: 77 (decrease of 14) Deaths: 6 (no change) Resolved: 442 (increase of 10) Hospitalizations (total to date): 20 (no change)* Total tests completed: Over 40,700 (increase of 50) Outbreaks: Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough, The Regency retirement home in Lakefield, Centennial Place long-term care home in Millbrook (no change)
*As of January 20, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 10 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, with fewer than 10 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive. The hospital is not providing exact numbers of patients.
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 statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 735, including 342 in Kawartha Lakes, 350 in Northumberland, and 43 in Haliburton (increase of 4, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)* Active cases: 63, including 20 in Kawartha Lakes, 39 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (decrease of 11) Probable cases: 2 in Kawartha Lakes (decrease of 1 in Kawartha Lakes) High-risk contacts: 165, including 78 in Kawartha Lakes, 57 in Northumberland, and 14 in Haliburton (no change)** Hospitalizations (total to date): 29, including 19 in Kawartha Lakes, 9 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)*** Deaths (including among probable cases): 42, including 36 in Kawartha Lakes and 6 in Northumberland (no change) Resolved: 643, including 299 in Kawartha Lakes, 305 in Northumberland, 39 in Haliburton (increase of 16, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland) Institutional outbreaks: Hope St. Terrace long-term care home in Port Hope, Fenelon Court in Fenelon Falls, Island Park Retirement Residence in Campbellford, Maplewood long-term care home in Brighton, Caressant Care McLaughlin Road in Lindsay, Tower of Port Hope, Canadian Centre for Addictions in Port Hope, Golden Plough Lodge in Cobourg, Warkworth Place long-term care home in Warkworth (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 18 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
***As of January 19, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 4 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19.
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, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 363 (increase of 3) Active cases: 26 (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: 332 (increase of 1) Tests completed: 38,410 Institutional outbreaks: Hastings Manor Beech Villa in Belleville, Crown Ridge long-term care home in Quinte West (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 244,932 (increase of 2,655) Resolved: 212,897 (increase of 3,714, 86.9% of all cases) Positivity rate: 4.9% (decrease of 1.9%) Hospitalized: 1,598 (decrease of 28) Hospitalized and in ICU: 395 (decrease of 5) Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 296 (increase of 4) Deaths: 5,568 (increase of 89) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,274 (increase of 42) Total tests completed: 9,054,585 (increase of 54,307) Tests under investigation: 48,963 (increase of 12,213) Vaccinations: 13,784 daily doses administered, 237,918 total doses administered, 32,361 total vaccinations completed (both doses)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from December 20, 2020 – January 19, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from December 20, 2020 – January 19, 2021. The red line is the number of tests completed daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from December 20, 2020 – January 19, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day moving 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 moving average of is a five-day moving average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from December 20, 2020 – January 19, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
At the new online marketplace set up by the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council, you can purchase works by local artists who are members of the arts council, such as 'Ginko Leaf Branch', a metallic wall sculpture by Paul and Beverly Williams. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Arts Council and the artists)
Since March, the pandemic has devastated income opportunities for visual artists and artisans who depend on shows, festivals, fairs, and studio tours to connect with their audiences and to sell their work.
We tend to think of visual artists and artisans as isolated, solitary practitioners but so much of their work — and indeed their livelihoods — depend on our ability to gather in groups.
“It’s been tremendous,” says Margaret Cunningham, media liaison for the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council, of the impacts COVID-19 has had on local artists.
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“Our artists have missed the public events where they can meet their customers face to face, where they can share their talents — their goods that they sell and show. It’s that interpersonal connection with the consumers that they’ve missed tremendously.”
Many artists have had to change the ways they grow and connect with their audiences by turning towards online outreach and sales.
However, for many artists, the transition to a digital presence has been difficult, taking their time and energy away from what they were born to do: create art.
Lindsay artisan woodworker James Lukow, a member of the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council, at work in his studio. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Arts Council and the artist)
That’s why the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council is supporting visual artists and artisans with its new strategic digital plan.
“The purpose of this digital strategy is to give the artists that opportunity to showcase their art in yet another location and another venue among a very targeted, focused group of members, associates, partners, and affiliates,” Cunningham explains.
The Kawartha Lakes Arts Council’s strategic digital plan includes a logo and brand refresh, and the creation of a new website with a digital sales and marketing platform for members at www.kawarthalakesartscouncil.com, which offers a year-round marketplace of arts and cultural products and services.
The initiative is a vital lifeline for local artists who have lost opportunities to connect with their audiences and sell their work due to the pandemic.
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Kawartha Lakes Arts Council members will now have a platform to increase their digital presence and, ultimately, their sales.
“Everyone has been missing out on all that outreach that they’re normally used to,” adds Cunningham.
The initiative will also offer crucial online support and online sales training for artists with arts council memberships, which will help to break down barriers for many artists who haven’t yet been able to sell their work securely online.
“The online web supplier will be walking the artists through the process,” says Cunningham of the digital training opportunities. “For those that aren’t used to it [digital marketing and sales], it can be fairly onerous and complicated, so we’re trying to mitigate that divide.”
“We’re making it easy for those that don’t know how to move online and we’re also giving the tools to those who do know how so they can just get on with it,” she adds.
‘A River Runs Through’, an elemental art piece by Daniel Marlatt available for purchase through the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council’s online marketplace. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Arts Council and the artist)
The arts council’s digital initiative was born from a crisis. Though it is a direct response to an emergency that seeks to serve the needs of the community, it also has the potential to benefit members year-round long after the pandemic has ended (it will end!).
“It will become the new normal, another way for artists to present who they are and what they do,” says Cunningham of online sales. “It’s an evolution and it’s here to stay, so we’ve just got to get on the bandwagon; some artists need to adjust to that.”
Fortunately, the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council is here to help local artists make that adjustment.
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“The intent of this is just to open everybody’s eyes and show that we can do this — and to keep it as simple as possible,” says Cunningham.
‘Beauty of the Beets’, an ink-on-paper work by Lesley Drummond available for purchase through the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council’s online marketplace. (Photo courtesy of Kawartha Lakes Arts Council and the artist)
If you’re an artist looking to expand your digital presence and sales, you can access these vital supports by becoming a member of the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council.
If you’re a community member wondering how you can support local artists, you can go online and buy art made by local artists today.
The initiative, which has received funding from both the private and public sectors, was made possible with the support of community partners including LLF Lawyers LLP, DLF Pickseed, Economic Development of City of Kawartha Lakes and Barton Creative Co., and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
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