After issuing a snow squall watch for the northern Kawarthas region on Monday morning (March 1), Environment Canada has expanded the watch to include the rest of the Kawarthas and has issued a special weather statement for strong winds as well.
The snow squall watch and special weather statement is in effect for the city and county of Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, and Northumberland County.
Snow squalls are expected later on Monday afternoon and into the evening until about 9 p.m.. Brief periods of heavy snow and blowing snow will accompany the squalls and the afternoon commute could be affected.
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In addition, strong west to northwesterly winds gusting up to 80 km/h will develop on Monday afternoon and continue into the early evening.
The strong winds, which will diminish later on Monday evening, may throw loose objects, cause tree branches to break and damage property.
Power outages are also possible.
This story has been updated to include the snow squall watch issued by Environment Canada.
Peterborough artists Brian Nichols and John Marris have been facilitating community art making during the pandemic, including for people facing marginalization and alienation. Pictured is artwork at One City Peterborough's open studio, located at 541 Water Street in Peterborough, which is open on a drop-in basis to community members between 2:30 and 4 p.m. every Monday afternoon. (Photo: Sarah McNeilly / kawarthaNOW.com)
“I am here as an artist,” Brian Nichols emphatically states through his mask, while stopping mid-pace, on both feet, as if to punctuate his statement. “I’m here as a volunteer.”
With a nod, the artist, volunteer, and psychotherapist springs back into action, energetically fluttering about the studio once more.
It’s the first day the drop-in open studio at One City Peterborough has reopened since the most recent provincial-wide lockdown, and the energy in the room is palpable.
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The new studio space at One City Peterborough, which first opened in October 2020, is buzzing with excited artistic experimentation. Located at 541 Water Street in Peterborough, the studio is open on a drop-in basis to community members between 2:30 and 4 p.m. every Monday afternoon.
Light pours through the large windows onto colourful works of art displayed on the mantle, tables, and walls. That foreboding sense of dread we’ve all grown so accustomed to can’t help but give way to pure joy inside the small studio.
Were it not for the masked participants partaking in the occasional six-foot-shuffle — that awkward physical-distance dance we’ve all shared with unwitting partners over the past year — one could almost forget, if only for a fleeting moment, that we are living in times of crisis.
A freshly made piece of art at One City Peterborough’s open studio. (Photo: Sarah McNeilly / kawarthaNOW.com)
This is not a typical art class. There is no teacher standing at the front of the room imparting their knowledge onto passive recipients. Rather, it’s a non-hierarchical environment where the small group can safely gather to actively make art together, and learn about themselves in the process.
“It feels even more important during COVID,” says Tammy Kuehne, warming room coordinator for One City Peterborough, which is focused on housing, food security, community safety, and inclusion. The organization is an amalgamation of Warming Room Community Ministries and Peterborough Reintegration Services.
“The need for spaces where people can connect with each other in person, still being safe, is crucial,” Kuehne adds. “We’ve had a lot of people really excited to learn that we’re opening back up.”
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Now more than ever we all need community self-expression and creativity, but for those who have faced marginalization and alienation — mental health challenges, homelessness, illness, disability, and poverty — community art making represents a vital lifeline during the isolating conditions of the pandemic.
Throughout the pandemic, both Nichols and fellow local artist John Marris have been hard at work finding ways to deliver the community arts programming they facilitate, respectively, with various not-for-profits.
Prior to the most recent lockdown, Nichols had been facilitating the open studio at One City Peterborough for Circles of Support & Accountability (CoSA) — a restorative justice program — since October.
Prior to the most recent lockdown, Peterborough artist Brian Nichols had been facilitating the open studio at One City Peterborough for Circles of Support & Accountability (CoSA), a restorative justice program. Pictured is some of the CoSA artwork at the One City Peterborough open studio. (Photo: Sarah McNeilly / kawarthaNOW.com)
Throughout most of the winter lockdown, Marris has been offering art-making sessions for young residents in a bubbled household at YES Shelter for Youth and Families. He also managed to offer outdoor art-making sessions with YES in the summertime.
Peterborough artist John Marris has been offering art-making sessions for young residents at YES Shelter for Youth and Families.(Photo: John Marris / Facebook)
In January, Marris and local artist Wendy Trusler moved online the community art making workshops they had been running with mental health patients at Peterborugh Regional Health Centre so they could safely continue their important work.
This past fall, Marris and Nichols were also able to continue the ‘You Can Make It Art’ workshops at The Mount Community Centre, though only for residents of the centre. Previously, the workshops had been available on a drop-in basis to the broader Peterborough community, after Nichols launched the program in 2018.
Marris and Nichols have made it their mission to provide those facing marginalization with something the artists believe to be as vital as food, shelter, water, and air.
Art is neither a luxury nor a pursuit reserved only for the cult of the expert. Self-expression is an integral part of being human.
“These community art projects take us back to the fundamental need to express ourselves and explore ourselves in healthy and productive ways,” Marris writes for a presentation he recently delivered before the Arts, Culture Heritage Advisory Committee for The City of Peterborough.
“They help us develop skills and confidence and self-belief. They teach us how to be present, to find focus, and to know we have the right to express ourselves — to be the authors of our world.”
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For both Nichols and Marris the impetus to create, and to encourage others to do so, is anchored in the two artists’ introspective and philosophical investigations of presence, respectively.
“I need to find things that take me into that moment of presence,” explains Marris during a telephone interview. “What I’ve discovered is that making art, working with play, and making art with other people has become this way to be absolutely present in the moment.”
As for Nichols, his background in psychotherapy certainly contributes to his approach to community art-making. Most participants with whom he works have experienced grief or trauma in some form. However, his process is also born from a place of vulnerability and empathy from his own experiences.
In 2018, The Mount Community Centre hosted ‘You Can Make It Art’ drop-in art making workshops for the general community. The workshops resumed this past fall, but only for residents of the centre. (Photo: John Marris)
In 2018, after a diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (a rare autoimmune disease) forced Nichols to leave his psychotherapy practice, he felt a sense of urgency to make art and to encourage community art-making. Since then, his artistic output has been as prolific as his community art-making initiatives.
“It’s been an incredible journey to figure out how to do the work,” Nicols says. “And it’s really subtle and easy, but difficult to grasp, how it’s not teaching, how it’s not simply making art — it’s about connection.”
“What is present is a new pain and the absence, for me, is often hope and a sense of future,” he replies when asked how presence and absence figure into his process. “To help others embrace the new pain, without trying to minimize it — we’re not just the pain but that’s hugely a part of our existence — without moving to hope and without any sense of future. What we have is now — being in the now — which is that sense of presence.”
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Art making is, in many ways, world making. There exists an essential connection between the real and the imagined. An artist’s created world is necessarily separate from, yet connected to, the world in which we live.
“I think living is that whole process of world making,” Nichols acknowledges. “To live authentically is to create both your own interior and exterior world.”
Through art, Marris and Nichols offer people not only the opportunity to be the creators of their own worlds, but also to create an inclusive and even emancipatory community of art makers, connected by their shared presence in the present.
Community art making at The Mount Community Centre. (Photo: John Marris)
As such, their practices — art making, world making, and the gift of presence — transform the One City Peterborough studio into a sanctuary for all.
To support the important work Nichols and Marris are doing in the Peterborough community, you can make a donation to One City Peterborough at www.onecityptbo.ca/donate or to YES Shelter for Youth and Families at yesshelter.ca/help/help-yes/donate.
Atelier Ludmila Gallery, in the Commerce Building at 129-1/2 Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough, will be exhibiting Marris’ most recent body of work, Material Dialogue. The show opens on the First Friday Art Crawl on March 5th from 6 to 10 p.m. It will be exhibited until Sunday, March 28th. Fifty per cent of all sales from the show will be donated to YES Shelter for Youth and Families.
March is coming in like a lion, at least for the northern greater Kawarthas region.
Environment Canada has issued a snow squall watch for Haliburton County and North Hastings for Monday morning and afternoon (March 1).
A relatively narrow but intense snow squall is forecast to develop on Monday morning, moving across the area later in the morning and through the afternoon. Locally heavy snowfall will occur with this snow squall, resulting in a quick 5 to 10 cm of new accumulation.
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Strong northwesterly winds gusting up to 60 km/h will also occur Monday afternoon. These strong winds will combine with the heavy snow to result in reduced visibility in blowing snow and difficult travel conditions over portions of the area.
The snow squall is expected to move south of the region by Monday evening.
Motorists are advised to exercise caution. Snow squalls cause weather conditions to vary considerably; changes from clear skies to heavy snow within just a few kilometres are common. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,062 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 4 to 1,104.
Ontario is reporting 20 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 528, as well as 2 new cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, for a total of 27, and 1 new case of the P.1 Brazilian variant, for a total of 3.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report and an additional 10 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 3 to 96. However, these numbers do not include cases in Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton as updates are not available on Sundays.
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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (259) and Peel (201).
There are double-digit increases in York (86), Waterloo (60), Halton (47), Hamilton (45), Southwestern (43), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (42), Ottawa (31), Brant (31), Lambton (26), Windsor-Essex (25), Durham (23), Thunder Bay (22), Simcoe Muskoka (20), Niagara (18), Sudbury (16), Northwestern (14), and Middlesex-London (13), with smaller increases in Peterborough (7) and Haldimand-Norfolk (6).
The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 60% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (395) among people ages 20-39, followed by 275 cases among people ages 40-59 and 242 cases among people 19 and younger.
With 1,029 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.3% from yesterday to 2.4%, meaning that 24 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 27.
Ontario is reporting 20 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 17 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 1 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 53 from yesterday to 627, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 13 from yesterday to 289, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 3 to 185.
A total of 49,185 tests were completed yesterday, pushing the number of tests completed since the pandemic began to over 11 million, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 9,671 to 18,318.
A total of 687,271 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 19,167 from yesterday, with 262,103 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,131 from yesterday, representing 1.78% of Ontario’s population. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report, including 10 in Peterborough and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 10 cases have been resolved, including 9 in Peterborough and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
Current numbers for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton are unavailable as the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit does not issue an update on Sundays.
There are currently 96 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 3 from yesterday, including 44 in Peterborough, 22 in Northumberland, 16 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 9 in Belleville, 3 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), and 14 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 645 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (592 resolved with 9 deaths), 537 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (481 resolved with 55 deaths), 441 in Northumberland County (408 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (51 resolved with no deaths), and 414 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (392 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent 2 deaths were reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 23.
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: 645 (increase of 10)* Variants of concern cases: 1 (no change) Active cases: 44 (increase of 3) Close contacts: 172 (increase of 26) Deaths: 9 (no change) Resolved: 592 (increase of 9) Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)** Total tests completed: Over 43,450 (increase of 50) Outbreaks: Buckhorn Day Care and Nursery School, Empress Gardens retirement home, Severn Court Student Residence (no change) Vaccine doses administered: 1,136 (no change)
*As of February 28, the health unit is reporting 23 positive cases related to an outbreak at Severn Court Student Residence, some of which are not reflected in today’s total case count.
**As of February 26, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays. These numbers are from February 27.
Confirmed positive: 1,029, including 537 in Kawartha Lakes, 441 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 3 in Northumberland)* Cases with N501Y mutation: 12, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland (no change)** Active cases: 36, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes and 22 in Northumberland (decrease of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Probable cases: 1 in Northumberland (no change) High-risk contacts: 87, including 52 in Kawartha Lakes and 32 in Northumberland (decrease of 11, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland)*** Hospitalizations (total to date): 44, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 15 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no change)**** Deaths (including among probable cases): 66, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes and 11 in Northumberland (no change) Resolved: 940, including 481 in Kawartha Lakes, 408 in Northumberland, 51 in Haliburton (increase of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 142,855 (increase of 517) Outbreaks: Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Warkworth Place 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.
**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.
***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 26, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 414 (increase of 2) Active cases: 16 (no net change) Deaths: 6 (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: 392 (increase of 1) Tests completed: 65,932 (increase of 5,065) Vaccines administered: 2,186 (no change) Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 300,816 (increase of 1,062) Total COVID-19 variant cases: 528 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 20); 27 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 2); 3 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 1) 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,104 (decrease of 4) Resolved: 283,344 (increase of 1,029, 94.2% of all cases) Positivity rate: 2.4% (increase of 0.3%) Hospitalizations: 627 (decrease of 53)* Hospitalizations in ICU: 289 (increase of 13) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 185 (increase of 3) Deaths: 6,980 (increase of 20) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 17 (increase of 1) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,864 (decrease of 1) Total tests completed: 11,045,153 (increase of 49,185) Tests under investigation: 18,318 (decrease of 9,671) Vaccination doses administered: 687,271 (increase of 19,167) People fully vaccinated (two doses): 262,103 (increase of 1,131), 1.78% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
*More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from January 28 – February 27, 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 January 28 – February 27, 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 January 28 – February 27, 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 January 28 – February 27, 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)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from January 28 – February 27, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
A COVID-19 outbreak originating from social gatherings at the privately owned Severn Court Student Residence has resulted in a dramatic increase of cases in the Peterborough region, including 30 presumed cases of more transmissble COVID-19 variants of concern. (Photo: Severn Court Management Company)
A major COVID-19 outbreak at the Severn Court Student Residence in Peterborough has resulted in 23 positive cases detected as of noon on Sunday (February 28).
During a Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Sunday, medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra said the outbreak is rooted in a “gathering” held last Saturday (February 20) at the six-building complex at 555 Wilfred Drive near Fleming College’s Sutherland Campus.
Nineteen of the 23 people who have tested positive are residents at Severn Court, while the remaining four are Trent University students who had attended the gathering. Those four are now self-isolating at Trent’s Otonabee College.
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Dr. Salvaterra has issued a Section 22 order that closes the student residence to visitors and requires by law that all those living at the 200-student complex self-isolate.
Fleming president Maureen Adamson, who was also at the briefing, announced that all in-person instruction at the college’s Sutherland Campus has been suspended immediately for at least the next two weeks — a move that affects some 700 students.
“What concerns me most is the index case has screened positive for a (COVID-19) variant of concern,” said Dr. Salvaterra. “We are still awaiting the results of genomic sequencing but we are presuming this to be a variant of concern. We’re not sure which one yet, but we now we are dealing with a highly contagious strain of the COVID-19 virus.”
Speaking to the timeline of the outbreak, Dr. Salvaterra said the first positive case in a student who resides at Severn Court was identified on Thursday (February 25). Several high-risk contacts were subsequently identified and a second positive case was affirmed the following day.
Severn Court Student Residence is located in a neighbourhood directly across from Fleming College in Peterborough. Approximately 200 students live in six separate buildings at the student housing complex. (Photo: Severn Court Management Company)
“It was here that we learned there had been a gathering on February 20th held at the Severn Court property, and we learned that there were students from both Fleming and Trent University in attendance. We are still gathering more information on that event.”
On Saturday (February 27), the health unit identified more high-risk contacts as positive cases, at which point an outbreak was declared. By today (Sunday) at noon, an additional 13 cases had been identified as positive.
“We’ve issued a stay-at-home order for all the (Severn Court) residents regardless of whether they are a case or contact. That means no school and no work — they can only leave the building for food or medication.”
The four Trent students that tested positive are virtual learners and “there has been no on-campus exposure”, Dr. Salvaterra said.
As for the prospect that organizers of the gathering will be ticketed, Dr. Salvaterra said “That’s a potential outcome” but noted information is still being gathered.
“At this point we don’t have enough information to take any action, but if that changes we certainly can and will.”
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While admitting to being “disappointed” by the holding of the event that led to the outbreak, Dr. Salvaterra said it’s not a surprise this happened.
“I realize how difficult it’s been for some people to remain distant and carry out all of the public health measures,” she said. “People are becoming more comfortable with the idea that we’re in the middle of a pandemic. COVID maybe isn’t as frightening as it once was.”
“We can’t go back to normal,” Dr. Salvaterra added. “We are not able to gather and socialize the way we did. I’m disappointed but it’s not unexpected. We just need to focus now on trying to contain this as quickly as possible.”
“My worry is we’re going to have many people become ill before they’ve had the benefit of getting the vaccine.”
Along with the outbreak associated with the Severn Court Student Residence, two other outbreaks continue — one that was reported just this past Friday (February 26) at Empress Gardens Retirement Residence at 131 Charlotte Street at Water Street)in downtown Peterborough, and the other at the Buckhorn Nursery and Day Care Centre that was reported February 16th.
The latest information is there are 17 cases associated with the Buckhorn outbreak — six involving staff members and 11 involving children.
Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating a fatal collision in Roseneath on Saturday night (February 27) that resulted in the death of a 62-year-old man.
According to a media release from the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), at around 9:40 p.m. on Saturday, an OPP officer was driving his police vehicle eastbound on County Road 18 in Roseneath responding to a call.
Just east of Roseneath Landing Road, the officer observed another vehicle coming towards him. The officer pulled over the police vehicle, and then proceeded to make a U-turn. A short time later, the officer came across that same vehicle in a ditch on the north side of County Road 18.
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The vehicle had struck a tree and the 62-year-old male driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
The SIU has assigned two investigators, two forensic investigators, and one collision reconstructionist to the case. To date, one officer has been designated as the subject officer.
A post-mortem is scheduled for Monday (March 1) in Kingston.
The SIU is urging anyone who may have information about this investigation to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529. The unit is also urging anyone who may have any video evidence related to this incident to upload that video through the SIU website at www.siu.on.ca.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault, or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians.
Severn Court Student Residence at 555 Wilfred Drive in Peterborough provides off-campus student housing primarily to Fleming College students, as well as students of Seneca College Aviation and Trent University. (Photo: Severn Court Management Company / Facebook)
Peterborough Public Health has declared a COVID-19 outbreak on Saturday (February 27) at Severn Court Student Residence in Peterborough.
Six cases have been confirmed so far at the 555 Wilfred Drive complex, which provides off-campus student housing primarily to Fleming College students, as well as students of Seneca College Aviation and Trent University. Approximately 200 students live in six separate buildings at the housing complex.
The index case has screened positive for a variant of concern, the health unit reports. Based on initial investigations, several of the exposures occurred during a private gathering that took place on Saturday, February 20th.
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Medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra has issued a Section 22 Order closing the housing complex to visitors and requiring all residents to self-isolate.
“This outbreak is very concerning not only because it involves a variant of concern and could lead to many more cases and high-risk contacts, but because it was also completely preventable,” said Dr. Salvaterra. “In spite of this difficult situation, Severn Court Management Company has been incredibly responsive and are working very hard to help us contain the spread of the virus.”
The health unit is asking anyone who visited Severn Court between Saturday, February 20th and Saturday, February 27th to self-isolate and get tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms, and is asking everyone is asked to stay away from the housing complex until further notice.
Peterborough Public Health is also working closely with Trent University and Fleming College.
The health unit says the specific variant of concern is not yet known while the sample undergoes further testing to identify its genomic sequence.
Contract tracing continues and further updates will be issued as more details become available.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,185 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 6 to 1,108.
Ontario is reporting 31 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 508, as well as 11 new cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, for a total of 25.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 15 new cases to report and an additional 9 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 2 to 93.
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Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (331), Peel (220), and York (119).
There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (67), Hamilton (59), Thunder Bay (55), Waterloo (52), Brant (41), Durham (36), Simcoe Muskoka (35), Halton (32), Windsor-Essex (26), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (15), Lambton (13), Middlesex-London (13), Niagara (13), and Southwestern (11), with smaller increases in Sudbury (7), Eastern Ontario (7), Huron Perth (7), and Haldimand-Norfolk (6).
The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 5 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 60% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (441) among people ages 20-39, followed by 297 cases among people ages 40-59 and 268 cases among people 19 and younger.
With 984 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.2% from yesterday to 2.1%, meaning that 21 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 26.
Ontario is reporting 16 new COVID-19 deaths today, with 1 new death in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 16 new daily deaths over the past week, a decrease of 2 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 3 from yesterday to 680, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 8 to 276, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 11 to 182.
A total of 59,416 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 7,513 to 27,989.
A total of 668,104 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 24,339 from yesterday, with 260,972 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,958 from yesterday, representing 1.77% of Ontario’s population. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
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In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 16 new cases to report, including 7 in Peterborough, 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 3 in Northumberland. There are no new cases in Kawartha Lakes or Haliburton.
An outbreak at Severn Court student residence in Peterborough was declared on February 27. An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville was declared on February 25.
An additional 9 cases have been resolved, including 4 in Hastings Prince Edward, 3 in Peterborough, 1 in Northumberland, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes.
There are currently 93 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 2 from yesterday, including 41 in Peterborough, 22 in Northumberland, 16 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 9 in Belleville, 3 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), and 14 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 635 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (585 resolved with 9 deaths), 537 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (481 resolved with 55 deaths), 441 in Northumberland County (408 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (51 resolved with no deaths), and 413 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (391 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent 2 deaths were reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 23.
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: 635 (increase of 7)* Variants of concern cases: 1 (no change) Active cases: 41 (increase of 4) Close contacts: 146 (decrease of 6) Deaths: 9 (no change) Resolved: 583 (increase of 3) Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)** Total tests completed: Over 43,400 (increase of 100) Outbreaks: Buckhorn Day Care and Nursery School, Empress Gardens retirement home, Severn Court student residence (increase of 1)*** Vaccine doses administered: 1,136 (no change)
*On its website, Peterborough Public Health is reporting 8 new cases in the last 24 hours. However, in the health unit’s data tracker, the total number of confirmed cases has only increased by 7, with 3 cases resolved, resulting in the number of active cases increasing by 4 to 41.
**As of February 26, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
***An outbreak at Severn Court student residence in Peterborough was declared on February 27.
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports from Monday to Saturday, excluding Sundays and statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 1,029, including 537 in Kawartha Lakes, 441 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 3 in Northumberland)* Cases with N501Y mutation: 12, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland (no change)** Active cases: 36, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes and 22 in Northumberland (decrease of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Probable cases: 1 in Northumberland (no change) High-risk contacts: 87, including 52 in Kawartha Lakes and 32 in Northumberland (decrease of 11, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland)*** Hospitalizations (total to date): 44, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 15 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no change)**** Deaths (including among probable cases): 66, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes and 11 in Northumberland (no change) Resolved: 940, including 481 in Kawartha Lakes, 408 in Northumberland, 51 in Haliburton (increase of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 142,855 (increase of 517) Outbreaks: Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Warkworth Place 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.
**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.
***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 26, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 413 (increase of 5) Active cases: 16 (no net change) Deaths: 6 (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: 391 (increase of 4) Tests completed: 60,867 (no change) Vaccines administered: 2,186 (no change) Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (increase of 1)*
*An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville was declared on February 25.
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 299,754 (increase of 1,185) Total COVID-19 variant cases: 508 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 31); 25 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 11); 2 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change) 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,108 (decrease of 6) Resolved: 282,315 (increase of 984, 94.2% of all cases) Positivity rate: 2.1% (decrease of 0.2%) Hospitalizations: 680 (decrease of 3) Hospitalizations in ICU: 276 (decrease of 8) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 182 (decrease of 11) Deaths: 6,960 (increase of 16) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 16 (decrease of 2) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,865 (increase of 1) Total tests completed: 10,995,968 (increase of 59,416) Tests under investigation: 27,989 (decrease of 7,513) Vaccination doses administered: 668,104 (increase of 24,339) People fully vaccinated (two doses): 260,972 (increase of 2,958), 1.77% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from January 27 – February 26, 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 January 27 – February 26, 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 January 27 – February 26, 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 January 27 – February 26, 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)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from January 27 – February 26, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day moving average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
Watson & Lou co-owners Erin Watson and Anna Eidt literally jump for joy after recently reopening the doors of their downtown Peterborough shop to in-person shoppers. Their creative hub, which helps local artists and makers reach a wider audience year-round, continues to also offer online shopping, curbside pickup, and free local delivery. (Photo courtesy of Watson & Lou)
The pandemic has been a devastating hit for many local business owners, artists, and makers. Lockdowns and restrictions have put those working in an already fragile industry in an increasingly precarious position.
This story is one of an ongoing series by kawarthaNOW in support of locally owned businesses.
Keeping local businesses, artists, and makers afloat during a tough time means stimulating the local economy and ensuring they are around post-pandemic to offer unique and sustainable products. Plus, by spending money locally, you support the livelihood of workers right within your community.
Watson & Lou at 383 Water Street in Peterborough is a one-stop shop where you can do exactly that. According to Anna Eidt, who co-owns the downtown creative hub with her business partner Erin Watson, over 75 per cent of their local creative goods are made in Peterborough and the Kawarthas.
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“We need people to invest in us so we can keep investing in all the local artists and makers that work with us,” Eidt tells kawarthaNOW. “I think it’s becoming more mainstream for people to think about where their stuff is made, where the materials are coming from, who is making it, and what they’re getting paid.”
Eidt and Watson’s business has been dealing with the same challenges most are facing throughout the pandemic. Lockdowns and physical distancing have meant less walk-in traffic and thus less revenue. Eidt says the most recent lockdown, which closed their doors to in-person shopping, was particularly challenging even though Watson & Lou has a robust online shop.
“Running an online shop and running an in-person shop are very different jobs,” Eidt notes. “Often with one-of-a-kind handmade goods, people want to see them and touch them and experience them before making a purchase. That experimental aspect of the shop had been missing from the customer experience.”
More than 75 per cent of the creative goods at Watson & Lou are made in Peterborough and the Kawarthas by local artists and makers. (Photo courtesy of Watson & Lou)
The lockdown was also difficult, Eidt says, since she and Watson missed having face-to-face interactions with their customers.
Eidt and Watson are thrilled in-person shopping is again available now that the province-wide lockdown is over, but they are also continuing to offer curbside pickup and free local delivery for orders over $20.
“I would argue our online ordering system is just as easy as the larger companies,” Eidt points out. “We are keeping our curbside pickup and free local delivery going because we’ve learned that the best scenario is to diversify how people can obtain Watson & Lou goods.”
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You can order Watson & Lou merchandise — including everything from prints and ceramics to all-natural body products and small furniture pieces — for curbside pickup or delivery through their website at www.watsonandlou.com. Online orders can be shipped anywhere in Canada for a flat rate of $12, or for free if your order is above $100.
For those who prefer to visit the Water Street store, Eidt assures Watson & Lou is going above and beyond with their COVID-19 safety measures to make sure in-person shopping is a safe experience for everyone involved.
“We are sanitizing ourselves, the front door, and all commonly touched surfaces,” Eidt explains. “We make sure that we are wearing masks at all times in the building. We have four customers maximum at a time. Even though our space is fairly big, we decided to air on the side of caution.”
Watson & Lou in downtown Peterborough offers unique creative items, many hand-made by local artists and makers, that you just can’t find anywhere else. (Photo courtesy of Watson & Lou)
Watson & Lou is an excellent example of a locally owned business that gives back to the greater Peterborough community, not only by stocking local suppliers but by promoting charitable initiatives.
For a week last March, after the onset of the pandemic, Watson & Lou donated five per cent of their online sales to The Theatre on King, an intimate black-box theatre in downtown Peterborough that has been unable to operate since the pandemic began.
“From a personal and business perspective, all facets of the arts and our downtown are important to us for personal enrichment, but also if we want businesses to do well, we have to have all kinds of offerings available to downtown,” Eidt explains.
“Performance arts spaces which simply cannot operate safely right now are even more precarious than under normal circumstances. We thought that we should do our best to channel at least something to some performance venues.”
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In addition, if you order online from Watson & Lou, there’s a tip option during checkout that goes directly to YES Shelter for Youth and Families. In January, customers donated $150 for the shelter.
“It’s just an easy way to channel money to them while you’re getting a gift,” says Eidt.
Another pivot for Watson & Lou throughout the pandemic has been transforming their workshop space into a vintage room. Here, five different vendors are set up to sell quality handmade vintage items.
“We feel like it’s a natural extension of what we do because it’s eco-friendly, and there’s a lot of quality handmade goods back there,” Eidt notes. “We’re really excited to have that sort of extended retail space to help a few vintage collectors in town.”
Watson & Lou has temporarily converted its workshop space, idle during the pandemic, into additional retail space for vintage vendors. For those missing the crafting workshops, Watson & Lou sells a collection of crafting kits, such as a D.I.Y. embroidered doll starter kit pictured on the shelf. (Photo courtesy of Watson & Lou)
The vintage room takes place in a space that has been empty since the onset of COVID-19. Pre-pandemic, Watson & Lou held craft-related workshops in this space — an offering they hope to bring back, but only when it is completely safe to do so.
“We don’t want to put people at risk by having even small workshops,” Eidt explains.
“Luckily, we have a really beautiful collection of crafting kits, and people have been making use of those. We’ve heard many customers have been doing video chats with each other while trying out their kits. It seems like the spirit of the workshops is being kept alive, and that warms our hearts.”
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Eidt says both she and Watson have felt the community’s support throughout COVID-19 and appreciate the concerted effort by many people to purchase locally instead of at the online giants.
“That’s why we are still here throughout January and February, because people made that effort,” Eidt says.
She encourages the community to continue making this effort, and to choose local when you have the option.
COVID-safe in-person shopping is available again at Watson & Lou, or you can shop online if you prefer. Curbside pickup and free local delivery available, and oline orders can be shipped anywhere in Canada for a flat rate of $12, or for free if your order is above $100. (Photo courtesy of Watson & Lou)
“Before clicking to buy something that you need that’s coming from overseas, just spend an extra couple of minutes to see if you can get that thing locally,” she urges, adding that you’re more likely to find something unique at Watson & Lou.
“Think about gifts that are going to be special and longer-lasting instead of disposable,” Eidt says. “Hopefully, we can provide those options.”
Watson & Lou is located at 383 Water Street in downtown Peterborough and is open Monday to Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. You can visit www.watsonandlou.com to shop online and to place orders for pickup or delivery. You can also follow Watson & Lou on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Before a teleconference with Ontario municipal leaders and mayors on February 26, 2021, Ontario Premier Doug Ford comments on Health Canada's approval of AstraZeneca's two COVID-19 vaccines. Later in the day, the province announced changes to the colour-coded levels for nine public health unit regions, including placing Thunder Bay and Simcoe-Muskoka into lockdown status. (CPAC screenshot)
For the time being, the three health units in the greater Kawarthas region are remaining in their existing colour-coded levels under Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework.
Two weeks after lifting the provincial lockdown, the Ontario government has reevaluated public health measures for each of the province’s 34 health units and is moving nine regions to new levels.
However, the three health units in the greater Kawarthas region are staying where they are. Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit remains in ‘Orange-Restrict’, Peterborough Public Health in ‘Yellow-Protect’, and Hastings Prince Edward in ‘Green-Prevent’.
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Under the changes announced on Friday (February 26), Ontario is activating its “emergency brake” response in Thunder Bay District Health Unit and Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit, moving the two regions to ‘Grey-Lockdown’ to immediately interrupt transmission and contain community spread.
The announcement came hours after Premier Doug Ford commented on Health Canada’s approval of AstraZeneca’s two COVID-19 vaccines, prior to a teleconference with Ontario municipal leaders and mayors on the province’s vaccine distribution plan.
“While we continue to see the number of cases and other public health indicators lowering in many regions across the province, the recent modelling shows us that we must be nimble and put in place additional measures to protect Ontarians and stop the spread of COVID-19,” said health minister Christine Elliott.
The decision to apply the “emergency brake” in Thunder Bay and Simcoe-Muskoka, made in consultation with the local medical officers of health, is due to a rapid worsening in key public health indicators, including a spike in new cases over the past few days in Thunder Bay as well as a high presence of variants in Simcoe-Muskoka that continue to increase. As of February 23, there has been a total of 170 confirmed cases of a variant of concern in Simcoe-Muskoka.
“With COVID-19 variants continuing to spread in our communities, it is critically important that everyone continues strictly adhering to all public health and workplace safety measures to help contain the virus and maintain the progress we have made to date,” Elliott said.
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Based on the latest data, the following public health regions will move from their current level in the framework to the following levels effective Monday, March 1st at 12:01 a.m.:
Grey-Lockdown
Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit
Thunder Bay District Health Unit
Red-Control
Niagara Region Public Health
Orange-Restrict
Chatham-Kent Public Health
Middlesex-London Health Unit
Southwestern Public Health
Yellow-Protect
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit
Huron Perth Public Health
Green-Prevent
Grey Bruce Health Unit
In Peel Public Health, Toronto Public Health, and North Bay Parry Sound District, the shutdown measures and the stay-at-home order will continue to apply until at least Monday, March 8th, with final decisions to be based on key public health indicators and consultation with the local medical officers of health.
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