Medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra emphasizing the importance of physical distancing during a media briefing at Peterborough Public Health on March 23, 2020. (Photo: Peterborough Public Health)
Peterborough Public Health announced on Thursday (July 30) that two new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the Peterborough area — the first new cases reported since June 20.
Both of the infected people are in their 20s and currently live in the City of Peterborough. The health unit says the two cases are linked, with the first case having been exposed to a positive case outside the area.
“Confirming more new cases isn’t unexpected and serves as a strong reminder that even when weeks pass without a positive case, we all must remain vigilant in following public health measures, especially as people travel more and the economy reopens,” says Peterborough medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra.
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Both infected individuals are self-isolating and all close contacts have been identified and are being followed up by public health nurses.
Peterborough Public Health has conducted a risk assessment and has determined there is no further risk to the public from these two cases, as long as the two infected people continue to self-isolate.
Dr. Salvaterra is urging local residents to continue adhering to public health measures, including physical distancing of two metres, frequent hand washing, minimizing travel, staying home when sick, and self-monitoring for symptoms.
As previously announced, a mandatory face covering directive comes into effect in the Peterborough area on Saturday, August 1st to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement at a media conference at Father Leo J. Austin Catholic Secondary School in Whitby on Thursday (July 30), along with deputy premier and health minister Christine Elliott, education minister Stephen Lecce, associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe, along other politicians.
Publicly funded schools in Ontario were closed on March 14th due to the COVID-19 pandemic, three days before Ontario declared a state of emergency and closed all non-essential workplaces.
“We’re going to get our kids back to school in a way that looks and feels as much as it used to,” Ford said. “Five days a week, five hours of instruction a day, with lunch and breaks in-between. Parents, we want you to know, that on September 8th, you can drop your child off at school, knowing that every possible measure is being taken to keep our children safe.”
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Ford said that the government’s plan has been informed by guidance from public health experts and emerging health data.
Public health measures that will be put into place include:
Mandatory masks for staff and cloth masks for students from grade 4 to 12, with exceptions for those with medical conditions. For the youngest students, masks will be optional.
Cohorting of students in both elementary and secondary schools to limit contact with other students and staff.
Expanding testing in schools.
Frequent cleaning of school buses.
Additional health and safety training for all educators, including vocational and supply teachers.
Personal personal equipment (PPE) for all educators and staff.
Ford also announced $309 million in funding would be made available immediately to hire 500 new public health nurses to be embedded in schools and 900 custodians to enhance cleaning, and to purchase required PPE and cleaning supplies to keep students and staff safe.
Ford said every school will have to follow provincial guidance in the event of a breakout.
On July 30, 2020, Premier Doug Ford announced that Ontario schools will reopen on September 8, 2020, with health and safety measures in place to protect students and staff. (CPAC screenshot)
Education minister Stephen Lecce said all publicly funded elementary schools will reopen province-wide in September five days a week.
Lecce also said that most secondary schools will reopen under a adapted model that limits the size and the interaction of “cohorts” — groups of 15 students who will alternate between attending class in-person and online. Secondary schools with “lower risk profiles” will be able to reopen with a full return to in-person classroom instruction five days a week, Lecce said.
“We will continue to respect the choice and authority of parents,” Lecce added. “The choice of whether to enrol their children for in-school instruction, the choice of determining when and if they feel comfortable with their child’s re-entry to school during the year, and the expectation and delivery of live online teacher-led synchronous learning for their child when they’re not in school.”
Teachers will also be able to decide whether or not they wish to go back to class.
Lecce said that medical and pediatric experts have advised the government the pandemic has had “profound mental health impacts” on the province’s children.
“Now, more than ever, reopening schools is crucial to the social and emotional development of Ontario’s students,” Lecce said. “It’s also crucial to allowing parents to return to work and to support Ontario’s economic recovery.”
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The government will be implementing enhancing screening and contact tracing, Lecce said, including a targeted surveillance testing program for secondary students that will be supported by the embedded public health nurses.
For special education, the government is asking school boards to ensure that students with exceptionalities are in class five days a week, and will be investing an additional $10 million to support hiring more educational assistants and equipment.
The government is also adding another $10 million in mental health supports for students, on top of $10 million already announced in June.
Lecce also said any students who displays any symptoms of COVID-19, even if they are mild, will not be allowed to be in class.
A one-metre physical distancing rule will be in place for both elementary and secondary schools, in conjunction with the mandatory mask policy.
Students in the earliest grades are not required to wear a face mask because evidence shows that children in that age range may not be able to wear a mask properly, Lecce said, rendering them ineffective.
Associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said that mandatory masking for students in Grade 4 and up is being required in the school setting because two metres of physical distancing can’t be maintained. She said that the embedded public health nurses will need to train staff and children on how to properly wear and remove a mask.
Dr. Yaffe said it’s up to parents whether they want younger children to wear a mask.
As for mandatory testing for all teachers, Dr. Yaffe said that it is not be an effective use of resources. She pointed out that testing is only one component of a COVID-19 management strategy.
“If you test somebody today, you only know if they are infected today,” she explains. “In fact, if you’re testing in a population that doesn’t have much COVID, you’ll get false positives almost half the time. That is, the person actually doesn’t have COVID, they have something else, they may have nothing. It will just complicate the picture.”
“On the other hand, if we have evidence of a case, even a suspect case, in a school, all the contacts of that case — be it a child or a teacher — would be tested, regardless of whether they’re symptomatic or not. That’s something we’ve learned with COVID, it’s very important to do that. That is when we might be identifying people are asymptomatic and infected, that need to stay home and wait until they’re cleared by public health.”
“Doing testing on all the teachers would be a huge amount of resources taken away from the need for quick access to testing when somebody may be symptomatic. We also need to do screening for symptoms, and everyone needs to be educated about the symptoms to look for, and not go to work if you’re sick and not go to school if you’re sick.”
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The Ontario government also announced a plan to allow licensed child care centres across Ontario to open at full capacity starting on Tuesday, September 1st.
EarlyON Child and Family Centres will also be permitted to reopen with in-person programming along with before- and after-school programs for school-aged children which will be permitted to operate with standard ratios and maximum group size requirements. All of these programs will be subject to health and safety protocols to keep children safe.
Requiring all child care staff to wear masks at all times, effective September 1st. Enhanced health and safety procedures will remain in place, and in some instances will be strengthened, including:
Requiring all child care staff to wear masks at all times, effective September 1.
Ensuring frequent cleaning of child care centres.
Screening of children and staff before entering a child care facility.
Maintaining attendance records for rigorous contact tracing and coordination with local public health authorities.
Ensuring frequent hand washing and proper hand hygiene for children and staff.
Establishing clear and rigid case management protocols in the event a staff member or child becomes ill, or tests positive for COVID-19.
This story has been updated with additional details from the media conference.
The water we drink undergoes many filtration and purification processes at the water treatment plant in Peterborough before it is pumped to our taps. It is tested 20,000 times per year or once every 30 minutes to ensure it is safe for us to consume. (Photo: Benjamin Hargreaves / GreenUP)
This is the final article in our three-part series on water conservation during droughts.
Each week, GreenUP provides a story related to the environment. This week’s story is by Jenn McCallum, Water Programs Coordinator at GreenUP.
Another vitally important aspect in our preservation and conservation of this resource is the treatment process — the topic of our final instalment.
With daytime temperatures recently soaring into the mid-30s, one of the recommendations for staying healthy in this heat is to drink lots of water, even before you are thirsty. Since the human body is composed of 50 to 60 per cent water, staying hydrated is important to keep one’s brain, blood, and skin functioning properly.
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Here in the City of Peterborough, the water treatment plant provides us with reliable, safe, high-quality drinking water that flows right from our taps. To better understand where our drinking water comes from and how it is treated and tested, I connected with John Armour, the water quality specialist at Peterborough Utilities.
“Our drinking water comes from the Otonabee River, part of the Otonabee region watershed system,” Armour says
A watershed is an area of land where all of the water flows into the same waterbody. For example, Jackson Creek is part of the Otonabee region watershed because it eventually flows into the Otonabee River, just south of downtown.
“The Otonabee River flows south from Katchewanooka Lake in Lakefield,” Armour explains. “The Otonabee is part of a watershed that is influenced by lakes including Clear, Stony, Chemong, and Buckhorn Lake.”
Jackson Creek feeds into the Otonabee River, making it a part of the expansive Otonabee region watershed. (Photo: Benjamin Hargreaves / GreenUP)
In other words, water from the Otonabee River originates in these lakes. It then flows down into Katchewanooka in Lakefield and south into Peterborough, where the water treatment [lant is permitted to remove up to 104 million litres per day from the river for treatment.
“Due to educational programs such as the Children’s Water Festival, lawn watering restrictions, and public awareness, the water removed from the Otonabee watershed has been significantly reduced over the past two decades,” Armour notes.
Approximately 26.7 million litres of water were processed per day at the water treatment plant in 2019, for an annual total of 9.7 billion litres of water consumed. This was a five per cent decrease from 2018, when the water treatment plant processed 10.2 billion litres of water.
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For comparison, an Olympic-size swimming pool contains 2.5 million litres of water, so 9.7 billion litres of water in 2019 amounts to nearly 4,000 Olympic-size swimming pools’ worth of water. This means that the average City of Peterborough resident consumes nearly 118,000 litres of water per year, or 322 litres per day.
We can help limit this usage by allowing our lawns to go dormant by not watering them, using a rain barrel to capture precious rainwater, and only watering vegetation in the early morning or late evening to reduce evaporation.
Doing these things is important to help limit the stress on the treatment plant’s filtration process during dry spells. When the Otonabee River water enters the water treatment plant, there is a screen to prevent fish or other large items from entering the facility. Afterwards, Armour explains, “solids in the water are settled out using coagulation, flocculation, and sedimentation.”
A young girl looks out over the picturesque Otonabee River just upstream from Peterborough’s water treatment plant. After drawing water from the Otonabee River, the City of Peterborough processes and tests it to ensure the water is safe for drinking straight from your tap. (Photo: Leif Einarson / GreenUP)
Coagulation is the process of adding a chemical (alum) to clump particles (for example, clay particles) together. Flocculation is the process of removing these clumped particles. Sedimentation allows other debris, like pebbles, to settle out of the water.
Combined, these three processes remove the solids that are dispersed throughout the raw river water.
“These solids are removed from the water as the first part of the process of removing pathogens, including the Cryptosporidium parasite,” says Armour. Cryptosporidium in humans causes diarrhea and is highly contagious. Removing it as part of the drinking water treatment process is important to human health.
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The next stage of treatment involves filtering the water through carbon and sand to remove algae, dirt, and small animals like snails or beetles.
The water is then disinfected to remove any remaining parasites in the water. One parasite that is removed from the water is the bacterium Escherichia coli, commonly referred to as E. coli. E. coli lives naturally in the intestines of animals, including humans, but when ingested it can cause us to become sick. Removing E. coli as part of the water treatment process helps to ensure that our drinking water is safe to consume.
“The final stage of treatment has fluoride added as mandated by the medical officer of health,” explains Armour.
Fluoride in our water helps to protect our teeth from cavities, which is why it is required according to public health directives. One third of the fluoride in our drinking water comes naturally from the Otonabee River, according to Peterborough Public Health.
In the summer of 2019, students from local schools enjoy the annual Children’s Water Festival. Educational events like the festival have helped to increase public awareness about the importance of water conservation and, along with lawn watering restrictions, have contributed to significantly reduced amounts of water being removed from the Otonabee region watershed. (Photo: Benjamin Hargreaves / GreenUP)
To ensure the continued safety of our drinking water, the water treatment plant tests our water 20,000 times per year — this amounts to once every 30 minutes.
“Our drinking water is tested as mandated by Ontario Regulations 169/03 under the 2002 Safe Drinking Water Act,” says Armour. “Our water is tested on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis depending on the water quality parameter. We have monitoring systems that are continually operating and providing data to our knowledgeable treatment operators who are onsite 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
With all of this in mind, I have a new appreciation for the Otonabee River as the source of our drinking water, and for all of the staff who work hard to treat and test our drinking water to ensure its safety and reliability.
To John Armour and his colleagues, I raise a glass of icy cold, clear, tap water!
We hope you have enjoyed our three-part series on water conservation in times of drought. Share all of your water saving actions with us on social media @ptbogreenup. If you are letting your lawn go dormant, have a front yard rain barrel, and/or are using drought-tolerant plants, you are eligible to have your garden recognized through the GreenUP Water Wise program. Check out greenup.on.ca/waterwise for more information.
Peterborough City Hall is located at 500 George Street in downtown Peterborough. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
Both Peterborough City Hall and the Provincial Offences Office will reopen to the public on Tuesday, August 4th, with public safety measures in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The safety measures at City Hall include plexiglass barriers installed at customer service desks as well as public health protocols such as physical distancing and increased cleaning.
The city is asking visitors to wear a non-medical face covering while inside City Hall and to use hand sanitizer when entering and exiting the building. There will be information on self-screening, including asking visitors not to enter the building if they feel unwell or have been in contact with someone who has or is suspected of having COVID-19.
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Visitors are also asked to come by themselves and not bring other people inside (except for support persons). To reduce the potential spread of the virus, electronic payment is preferred.
City Hall hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except on statutory holidays when it will be closed.
The city is also encouraging people to continue to access city services online at www.peterborough.ca or by phone at 705-742-7777.
On Thursday (July 30), the city will be launching a new appointment scheduling tool at www.peterborough.ca/appointments so residents can book in-person services. This will help to spread out the number of residents and visitors accessing the same services at the same time.
Appointments are required for matters related to active transportation, building services, marriage licences and other Clerk’s Office services including commissioning, geomatics/mapping, housing services, human resources, mayor and members of council, planning and development services, and waste management (garbage and reycling). City staff will try to safely accommodate people who don’t know of the appointment requirement and arrive without an appointment.
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The tax office will be open for in-person services for tax payments or inquiries and parking ticket payments on a drop-in basis, or by telephone 705-742-7777 ext. 1865 or by email at tax@peterborough.ca. Online payment of parking tickets is available at www.peterborough.ca/parking.
Entrance to City Hall will be through the main front foyer that is on the west side of the building facing George Street for all business — except for infrastructure and planning services, which includes building, planning, housing, geomatics and infrastructure — which will be entered though the north wing entrance off George Street. Visitors that require a barrier-free entrance are invited to use the main entrance. All other entrances will remain closed at this time.
The Provincial Offences Office at 99 Simcoe Street will also reopen to the public on Tuesday, August 4th with modified in-person service hours from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except on statutory holidays when the office will be closed.
Only one person at a time will be allowed in lobby for in-person matters, with all others required to wait outside while maintaining two metres of physical distance. Hand sanitizer to be used before approaching the front counter, and the preferred method of in-person payment for all fines is credit or debit card.
Residents are encouraged to continue to pay fines and make inquiries using online and phone services available Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by phone at 705-742-7777 ext. 2099 and by email at poacourt@peterborough.ca. Fines can be paid online at www.peterborough.ca/poa.
The courts will remain closed for all types of trial matters and walk-in guilty pleas until at least the middle of September.
Kelly and Martin Carbajal opened La Mesita Restaurante in downtown Peterborough in November 2017, shortly after the couple married. When their restaurant was shut down to due the pandemic, the Carbajals gave back to the community by securing sought-after items such as flour, yeast, and toilet paper from their suppliers and delivering them to family, friends, and customers. Now they're partnering with next-door neighbour The Garnet on a joint patio that benefits both businesses. (Photo: Martin Carbajal / Facebook)
When Martin and Kelly Carbajal opened La Mesita Restaurante in downtown Peterborough in November 2017, they knew full well that they were up against it.
As a recipe for long-term business success, the family-owned and operated restaurant sector has always been, and remains, a dubious proposition. Nearly all lists of businesses most likely to falter rate restaurants at or very near the top.
As Martin succinctly puts it, “Failure is the F word in the restaurant business.”
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Undaunted, the Carbajals went all in, preparing and serving authentic Mexican cuisine at their brick ‘n’ mortar location at 229 Hunter Street West after several years serving customers at farmers’ markets in both Lakefield and Peterborough.
“We weren’t super busy to start but we had a steady influx of customers,” recalls Martin, a Mexican native who came to Canada in 2006, bringing with him culinary skills he has honed since age 12.
“It was more like word of mouth for us. When people came, they loved it. They got hooked and they came often. We opened in winter. For a restaurant to open in winter and still be here almost three years later, that doesn’t normally happen. We’ve had fabulous support from our regular followers at the market as well as the community.”
La Mesita’s first full year of operation was an undisputed success. Not only did the restaurant’s clientele and catering business grow but big time recognition came in the form of the Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2018 from the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce.
“A great surprise,” Martin reflects. “The business community is very tight and it normally takes longer for people to be considered part of it.”
2019 saw La Mesita’s upward curve continue and 2020 promised much of the same. Then came early March and the first rumblings of something called COVID-19. As tough times ahead became more of a certainty, the Carbajals were forced to have a “difficult conversation” heard at countless businesses throughout the region and beyond.
Martin Carbajal came to Canada in 2006 from Mexico City, where he had been cooking since he was 12 years old. Prior to opening La Mesita Restaurante, he ran La Mesita Catering, offering salsas and spreads, burritos, and Mexican food at the Peterborough and Lakefield farmers’ markets. While the catering side of the business is still dormant because of the pandemic, the restaurant is serving customers on a larger patio thanks to a joint arrangement with their next-door neighbour, The Garnet. (Photo: La Mesita Catering)
“We chose not to close because we couldn’t — we didn’t have a choice,” says Martin. “We said if we lose the restaurant, we know we can do it again. We had done it once. We know we have the support. But we didn’t know what to expect. Nobody did.”
“We had to lay off our staff,” he adds. “I was the only one working in here. We reduced our hours. We did take-out and delivery and had curbside pickup but sales dropped drastically. On one day alone we had 12 cancellations. Weddings and other events (they were catering) disappeared in a single day.”
But remembering well the many kindnesses and support provided them some two and a half years earlier, the Carbajals looked to give back in a big way and did exactly that. They secured then-hard-to-find items such as flour, yeast, and toilet paper from their suppliers and delivered them to family, friends, and customers.
“The emails we received from people thanking us for doing that were emotional, humbling, and overwhelming,” says Martin.
“We just felt we needed to take care of a community that has taken care of us. It was a way for them to help us and for us to help them. It’s not about us. It’s about everybody around us. We have to take care of each other.”
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As it turned out, that giving spirit provided a huge boost to La Mesita in the form of a mutually beneficial partnership with The Garnet, their pub neighbour on Hunter Street West.
“In order for them to open their patio (in accordance with the province’s recovery plan) they needed to have food, so we opened a joint patio with them. We supply the food and we have a patio twice the size of what it would have been. It’s a really good relationship that has helped them get open again.”
The La Mesita-Garnet patio can seat 30 people when at capacity. Meanwhile, stage three of the recovery plan allows La Mesita to seat another four people inside. In addition, the Carbajals have now brought back the two employees they had to lay off and even hired an additional two.
VIDEO: La Mesita Restaurante and The Garnet open a joint patio
Exciting things are happening on the patio! Come check out Dillon at The Garnet for a cold one and get your tacos with us! It’s the best deal ever!
Noting “life has thrown so many different things” at him, Martin acknowledges staying afloat as a business during the pandemic has been, and remains, a formidable challenge. The fact that he has family members in COVID-ravaged Mexico has added greatly to his and Kelly’s worry.
“Every day is a gift and we should never take the next day for granted,” says Martin, adding “We would love to think that things are moving forward and getting better but we don’t know so we don’t assume.”
“We’re very happy the government is doing all these grants and loans. Some people took them, which is great, but we have been able to reopen with no debt. We fought as hard as we could to keep ourselves in that spot. We didn’t apply for any kind of grants or loans. We didn’t know, from one day to the next, whether we would be open. We sure as heck didn’t want a huge loan hanging over our head.”
In accordance with COVID-19 protocols and Peterborough Public Health advice, customers’ temperatures are checked before they enter La Mesita and hand sanitizer is present.
“I’m very grateful that they (local public health officials) have done what they needed to do,” notes Martin, who still marvels over the “adventures” he has had since the days he helped out at the family taco stand in Mexico City.
Martin Carbajal pictured in a video in front of his restaurant at 229 Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough in 2018, when he was nominated for the Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce’s Business Excellence Awards. He went on to win the award. (Screenshot: Peterborough Chamber of Commerce)
“Life has thrown at me so many different things at me, so many opportunities,” he says, that list including work aboard a cruise ship and, of course, co-owning his own restaurant which opened just a few months after he and Kelly married.
“Never stop and never give up,” says Martin of the lessons life has taught him — lessons that he has called upon heavily during the unprecedented challenge offered by the pandemic.
“And never accept the status quo. Always strive for more.”
And in the true ‘We’re all in this together’ spirit that is COVID’s greatest foe, Martin has a message that can’t be read or heard enough … and it starts with two words all-too-often absent from our collective vocabulary during times of upheaval.
“Thank you for coming out and supporting us and helping us keep our doors open.”
Premier Doug Ford thanks the people of Ontario for their efforts at preventing the spread of COVID-19 during a Queen's Park media conference on July 29, 2020, when he announced that Toronto and Peel Region can proceed to stage three of the province's reopening and the establishment of an independent commission into COVID-19 and long-term care. (CPAC screenshot)
Here is an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting only 76 new cases of COVID-19 — the lowest day-over-day increase since March 22. The number of hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and people on ventilators also continues to decrease. In the last day, the vast majority of the public health units have reported five or fewer cases in their regions.
The continued decrease in new cases, after a brief spike last week, prompted Premier Doug Ford to announce on Wednesday (July 29) that two of the three regions remaining in stage two — Toronto and Peel Region — can proceed to stage three of the province’s reopening on Friday, leaving only Windsor-Essex in stage two.
“When you look at 28,000 tests and we came out with (76) cases, that’s impressive and I want to thank the people of Ontario, you guys are absolute champions,” Ford said during a media conference at Queen’s Park.
“But we can’t take our eye off the ball for a second,” Ford was quick to add. “It will come back and bite us on the backside, the second wave, like we’ve never seen before. By no means is this over. I emphasize, do not — do not — have parties. Do not have these big gatherings, because we’re risking everything.”
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As for the greater Kawarthas region, the news is also positive. There are no new COVID-19 cases in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Haliburton, or Hastings and Prince Edward counties. One additional case in Kawartha Lakes has now been resolved.
Since the pandemic began, there have been 95 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (93 resolved with 2 deaths), 175 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (154 resolved with 32 deaths), 25 in Northumberland County (24 resolved with no deaths), 13 in Haliburton County (12 resolved with no deaths), and 43 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County (38 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported on May 7 by Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.
Province-wide, there have been 38,986 confirmed cases, an increase of 76 from yesterday’s report, with 34,741 cases (89.1% of all cases) resolved, an increase of 173. There have been 2,769 deaths, an increase of 1, with 1,793 deaths reported in long-term care homes (no change from yesterday). A total of 2,114,263 tests have been completed, an increase of 27,308 from yesterday, with 18,268 tests under investigation, an increase of 5,349.
This report is based on data supplied by the province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), as well as any additional information supplied by health units. This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
Confirmed positive: 95 (no change, last positive case was on June 20) Active cases: 0 (no change) Deaths: 2 (no change) Resolved: 93 (no change) Total tests completed: Over 21,000 (increase of 600) Institutional outbreaks: None (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 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 213, including 175 in Kawartha Lakes, 25 in Northumberland, 13 in Haliburton (no change) Probable cases: 1 (increase of 1) Hospitalizations: 14 (no change) Deaths: 32 (no change) Resolved: 190, including 154 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, 12 in Haliburton (increase of 1, in Kawartha Lakes) Institutional outbreaks: None (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 reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays. These numbers are from July 24; the next report will be available on July 29.
Confirmed positive: 43 (no change, last positive case was on May 18) Deaths: 5 (no change) Hospitalized: 0 (no change) Hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change) Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change) Recovered: 38 (no change) Total tests completed: 17,453 (increase of 494) Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 38,986 (increase of 76) Resolved: 34,741 (increase of 174, 89.1% of all cases are resolved) Hospitalized: 91 (decrease of 4) Hospitalized and in ICU: 28 (increase of 3) Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 17 (decrease of 1) Deaths: 2,769 (increase of 1) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 1,793 (no change, 64.8% of all deaths) Total tests completed 2,114,263 (increase of 27,308) Tests under investigation: 18,268 (increase of 5,349)
New COVID-19 cases in Ontario from June 28 – July 28, 2020. 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 June 28 – July 280, 2020. 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)
The male gypsy moth is brown with jagged markings on its wings and feathered antenna. Females are white and do not fly. (Photo: Invasive Species Centre)
If you’ve noticed a lot of brown moths fluttering about and leaves on your trees filled with holes or completely eaten, you’re not alone.
As local naturalist Drew Monkman wrote in a July 10th column on his website, “our forests are under attack” by gypsy moths — with the insect’s larvae consuming the leaves of oaks, maples, birches, and other trees.
On Wednesday (July 29), the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) announced that its phones “have been ringing off the hook with calls regarding gypsy moths”. The Invasive Species Centre of Canada also confirms reports from across southern and eastern Ontario of unusually high numbers of gypsy moths.
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According to GRCA, the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) is an invasive species brought to North America from Europe in the mid-19th century. The moths escaped during a failed silkworm breeding experiment in Massachusetts in 1869. While they were first detected in Ontario in 1969, widespread defoliation did not occur until 1981.
Male gypsy moths are brown with jagged markings on their wings and feathered antenna. Females are white and do not fly. The caterpillars are around six centimetres long and are covered with grey bristles with two rows of distinctive blue and red dots. The caterpillars venture out of their hiding places at night wFhen they are safe from predators and eat all of the leaves in their path.
A single gypsy moth caterpillar can consume an average of one square meter of leaves. With sudden increases in gypsy moth populations (explosions of insect populations are called “irruptions”), tree stands can be defoliated in a matter of days.
A gypsy moth caterpillar, with its two rows of distinctive blue and red dots. (Photo: J.E. Appleby / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
While it can be disturbing to see trees stripped bare of leaves, they will likely survive. According to GRCA, it takes 50 per cent defoliation or more over repeated years to cause mortality of healthy trees.
However, infected trees will need time to recover and may grow slower or have a smaller crown the following year — particularly during a drought year, when trees are already under a great deal of stress. You can help the trees recover by preventing a recurrence of gypsy moth caterpillars, and by giving your trees extra water during dry spells.
If you want to protect a large number of trees from the gypsy moth, GRCA says you can obtain a biological insecticide called BTK (Bacillus thuringiensis serotype kurstak). The insecticide is not toxic to humans or wildlife, as it is a bacterium that targets the moth’s caterpillars.
A male and female gypsy moth. (Photo: John H. Ghent / USDA Forest Service)
However, local naturalist Drew Monkman cautions against the insecticide’s use, saying it will also kill the caterpillars of moths and butterflies of all species, including monarchs.
In any case, it must be applied when caterpillars are feeding, which happens in June.
Instead, for protecting your own trees, Monkman recommends one or more of the following:
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Spray the infected leaves with a mixture containing equal parts of water, soap, and vegetable oil.
Use a hose to dislodge the caterpillars from the leaves and then collect them when they try to climb back up the tree.
Wrap burlap around tree trunks to make a trap, as some of the caterpillars will crawl down from the canopy during the day and hide in the material. You can then drop the burlap in a pail of soapy water to kill the caterpillars.
Destroy any egg masses you find. The eggs are left to overwinter and hatch in the following spring. You can find egg masses on the underside of branches and on the trunks of trees (use a putty knife or other scraping tool to dislodge the egg mass, and then drop it into soapy water for 24 hours).
A gypsy moth egg mass attached to the trunk of a tree. The egg mass is covered with brown hairs from the female’s abdomen. You should scrape off any egg masses you find and soak them in soapy water, as they are left to overwinter and hatch in the spring. (Photo: Milan Zubrik / Forest Research Institute – Slovakia)
The Invasive Species Centre of Canada also suggests collecting and destroy any female gypsy moths (they are easy to catch as they do not fly).
The good news is that, as with most insect irruptions, the gypsy moth population may return to normal next year. Gypsy moth populations typically reach outbreak levels every seven to 10 years before eventually collapsing.
However, you can help to ensure your trees aren’t affected again next year by taking the above steps now to interrupt the insect’s breeding cycle.
The Peterborough Singers, led by founder and conductor Syd Birrell (pictured), is reinventing its 2020-21 season as a "bridge year". The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the 100-voice choir to cancel its in-person concerts, so choir members are now coming together in small COVID-safe groups so they can continue to enjoy choral singing. Some of the performances may be released online, along with virtual choir performances such as the choir's version of the Simon & Garfunkel song "Bridge Over Trouble Water". (Photo: Jason Ryan)
The Peterborough Singers have just released another video performing as a virtual choir, this time a moving version of Paul Simon’s iconic 1970 tune “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.
The choir’s selection of the Simon & Garfunkel song is symbolic given the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the choir to cancel its concerts. The 100-voice choir, led by founder and conductor Syd Birrell, has had to reinvent its 2020-21 season as a “bridge year” until audiences can once again enjoy the choir’s performances in person.
In the past four months, the choir has held rehearsals using the Zoom video-conferencing platform, and created other virtual performances including the Tragically Hip song “Bobcaygeon”.
The choir recorded that performance in April in support of Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, which saw a large number of its residents die as a result of COVID-19.
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As well, the organization formed a COVID-19 recovery committee to explore the option of safe small-group singing, the results of which are posted on the Choirs Ontario website.
The choir decided that, rather than risk disappointing both choir and audience members by announcing a typical concert season only to face likely cancellation, it would take a different approach.
As a result, choir members have been coming together in small groups (observing all COVID-19 safety protocols) to sing a variety of repertoire, from madrigals and Broadway to opera choruses and music of the Renaissance.
VIDEO: “Bridge Over Troubled Water” performed by members of the Peterborough Singers
“Some of these sessions may find a digital home for audience enjoyment, but the primary consideration is the emotional well-being of choir members,” states a media release from The Peterborough Singers. “That and ensuring the 27-year history of the Peterborough Singers continues in the future.”
As soon as the pandemic situation allows it, the Peterborough Singers will resume in-person concerts.
“The choir looks forward, when the time is right, to continuing its tradition of presenting top soloists (past performers include Daniel Taylor, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Benjamin Butterfield, Suzie LeBlanc, Brett Polegato, and Measha Brueggergosman) and commissioning works by Canadian composers (past commissions include music by Serouj Kradjian, Len Ballantine, Paul Halley, and Mark Sirett).”
“As well, beloved Peterborough Singers’ traditions such the annual performance of Handel’s Messiah will return.”
Scanning electron micrograph of Escherchia coli (E. coli) bacteria. (Image: NIAID)
West Harbour in Cobourg is closed for swimming effective immediately.
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit has advised the Town of Cobourg to shut down swimming at West Harbour and to post “no swimming” signs immediately due to high Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria readings found in the water.
The latest beach and harbour water quality report sampled on Sunday (July 26) show bacteria levels above 1,000 E. coli, which exceeds the provincial standard of 200 E. coli.
“There is always a level of risk when swimming in natural bodies of water that are not treated for bacteria,” said Bernard Mayer, manager of health protection and environmental health at the HKPR District Health Unit. “Public swimming is not recommended as it may increase your risk of developing minor skin, eye, ear, nose or throat infections or stomach illness.”
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As a result of a combination of extended high temperatures, very little rain, and high concentrations of water fowl in the West Harbour basin, the most recent E. Coli bacteria tests results are now indicating levels that require West Harbour to close immediately.
Beginning on Wednesday (July 29), town staff will be fencing off West Harbour and posting signs warning swimmers of the high E. coli levels.
The HKPR District Health Unit and Town of Cobourg staff both sample water once a week to monitor bacteria levels. The Town of Cobourg will advise the community once bacteria levels come back down to a safe level.
If you have been swimming in West Harbour and experience symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, you should seek medical attention.
West Harbour was previously closed in late June due to high E. coli levels.
Award-winning makeup FX artist Rhonda Causton displays one of her popular baby orcs in her Omemee studio. When the film industry shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rhonda began to create and sell her creations online to keep busy. She says she's actually making a better living now than from her film work. (Photo: Sam Tweedle / kawarthaNOW.com)
On a stormy Sunday afternoon, I find myself in a secluded out-of-the-way workshop lined with shelves of prosthetic moulds, severed heads and limbs, demon corpses, and alien creatures.
I’m visiting Reel Twisted FX, located in Omemee, where owner and operator Rhonda Causton has turned her special effects studio into the most unusual adoption agency. For a price, horror and fantasy fans can bring home their very own babies of a different kind — baby gorillas, orcs, and vampires!
Made out of the same materials Rhonda uses in her career as a special effects and makeup artist for film, these realistic and bizarre — yet unsettlingly cute — creatures have been gaining Rhonda a new-found attention and helping her keep both busy and financially stable at a time where the big-budget film industry is still not quite up and running.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic created havoc and uncertainty throughout the world’s artistic industries, professionals in all disciplines have been forced to improvise to continue to make a living Well known for her makeup and prop work in both local and national film circles, Rhonda’s baby monsters have kept her business alive and thriving during the entire pandemic.
Ironically, the project began long before the outbreak started, when she gained attention online last Christmas for her version of Baby Yoda, the breakout star of Disney’s Star Wars series The Mandalorian.
“Before COVID hit I made a couple of Baby Yodas,” Rhonda says, pulling out a few of her leftover Yodas off a back shelf for me to look at. Primarily made out of silicone, the realism of the familiar creature that became an internet sensation in 2019 surprises me.
One of Rhonda Causton’s Baby Yodas, which got her baby monster business rolling after the internet went wild over the character from Disney’s 2019 Star Wars series “The Mandalorian”. Rhonda is now focusing her efforts on more original and unique baby creatures. (Photo: Mandy Rose)
“They got some attention, but I didn’t think too much of it,” Rhonda recalls. “Then my husband and I went to Vietnam on vacation and when we came back, everything was shut down. I didn’t know what I was going to do. All the film projects I had been booked for had been cancelled. I knew how to make little creatures, so I thought maybe I’d make a few and see how they sell. Well, people started buying my creations left, right, and centre.”
Through Reel Twisted FX’s Etsy page, Rhonda began to fill orders internationally for her creations. However, she quickly abandoned the Baby Yodas for other creatures.
“I don’t want to make things that you can buy anywhere,” Rhonda says. “That’s why I stopped making the Baby Yodas. Why would I make more Baby Yodas when you can buy one on Amazon for $60? But it has to be something that inspires me. Somebody asked me to make a Chucky doll, but I had no interest in making a Chucky doll.”
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The most breathtaking of her creations are the newborn gorillas. They are so realistic that, while I was looking at photos of the completed creations, it was hard at first to determine if they were real or the dolls. Rhonda painstakingly inserts individual hairs into the doll, which weighs the same as a real baby ape. They aren’t for the casual collector — Rhonda has been selling her baby gorillas online for $1,800 US.
“I’ve always loved gorillas,” Rhonda admits. “Gorillas in the Mist is one of my favourite movies, and I got inspired by watching it again. I decided to make one, and they seem to be popular. I’ve sold four of them in the last few weeks.”
However, Rhonda’s most popular creatures are the baby orcs. Popular in franchises like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings, these small goblin-like creatures sell for $550 US each and make up the majority of Rhonda’s orders.
A nearly completed newborn gorilla. Omemee makeup FX artist Rhonda Causton painstakingly inserts individual hairs into the doll, which weighs the same as a real newborn ape. The completed creation costs $1,800 US. (Photo: Mandy Rose)
“I started making baby orcs because people kept asking me if I had ever made one,” Rhonda says, as she looks over a line of orcs in various degrees of completion. “I started looking at pictures of orcs from World of Warcraft, and I didn’t like any of them. They just looked like angry older babies with a lot of human features, so I decided to create my own.”
Selling her creations primarily to buyers in the US and England, Rhonda has created a cottage industry that has not only allowed her to stay creative during the pandemic, but is more financially lucrative than her regular film work. However, not everyone appreciates her creations — especially her vampires.
Rhonda Causton’s prototype for her baby orc, a popular goblin-like creature in franchises like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings. These creations sell for $550 US each and make up the majority of Rhonda’s online orders. (Photo: Sam Tweedle / kawarthaNOW.com)
“I also made Strigoi baby vampires which have a stinger tongue that comes out,” Rhonda explains. “I was surprised about some of the comments on these when I advertised they were for sale on online baby doll collector forums. Some of the comments were terrible.”
“One person told me that I had to remove it immediately from the forum because it was an abomination,” she laughs. “Clearly, they didn’t like horror movies.”
Rhonda has always passionate about film and sculpture. After studying her unique craft at Toronto’s School of Makeup Art, she was hired right out of school to work for special effectsartist Paul Jones.
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“I went to school in Toronto and learned how to make prosthetics and how to apply them,” Rhonda says. “I graduated in 2010 and I went to work at Paul Jones’ studio right away. He’s best known for doing the Resident Evil movies. He was working on Silence Hill: Revelations and he was really behind. So I was brought in for an interview and I showed him some of the work I had done in school and some of my previous sculptures. He hired me.”
“I was working in his shop for weeks but I was so green when it came to working on films that he had me going from station to station helping with seam work and running foam latex. But he must have liked me because he had me in for another film called Up in Cottage Country. He didn’t have time to do it, but he set me up working in his shop.”
A monster head prop from the film “Making Monsters”, which garnered Omemee makeup FX artist Rhonda Causton three nominations. The horror film may be coming to Netflix in the fall. (Photo: Sam Tweedle / kawarthaNOW.com)
Working in both independent films as well as big-budget Hollywood productions, Rhonda gained attention last year for her work on the 2019 indie horror film Making Monsters. Pointing out a detached demon head on one of her studio shelves, Rhonda has big hopes for the future of the film.
“Hopefully Making Monsters will be on Netflix in the fall,” Rhonda says. “It’s still making the rounds on the film festival circuit. It’s won a ton of awards, and I’ve been nominated three times for best makeup and special effects.”
Rhonda showed me an album filled with photos from recent films she has worked on that have stalled in post-production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The photos of aliens, corpses, demons, and zombies cannot be released to the public as the films have not yet been released, but it’s a portfolio of the impressive work that Rhonda has become well known for.
While smaller independent films have begun to resurface, large-scale film production still seems to be far off.
“Although the industry is slowly opening back up, they have no protocols in place when it comes to the new social distancing regulations or in regards to what I’ll have to wear,” Rhonda says. “The only thing that did come out through the union is that I need to take a course on COVID certification.”
However, until the film industry recovers, Rhonda is busy and happy creating her baby monsters. Although garish, her monsters are a strange symbol of the enduring spirit of creativity by artists during times of crisis.
“These are something to keep me busy until movie works starts back up, and it’s going really well,” Rhonda says. “Now I’m suddenly making more money than I was before COVID.”
For a closer look at Rhonda’s creations, and more of her work, visit her Etsy site at www.etsy.com/ca/shop/ReelTwistedFX. Note: Rhonda won’t be taking any new orders until the beginning of August so she can finish working on her current orders, but you can read some of the rave reviews buyers have left on her Etsy site.
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