If you want to help protect and save turtles in the Kawarthas, pick up the new 2021 Turtle Guardians calendar.

Turtle Guardians is a conservation and citizen science program of Haliburton-based The Land Between, a national charity that works to conserve and enhance the cultural, natural, and economic features of a significant region in central Ontario that extends from Georgian Bay to the Ottawa Valley.

The Land Between is known as an “ecotone” — a transition area beteween the ecosystems of the St. Lawrence Lowlands, the Canadian Shield, and the Boreal Forest that contains elements from these ecosystems as well as entirely unique features. More than one-third of all of Ontario’s turtles live in The Land Between.

Founded by Leora Berman — who received the Roland Michener Conservation Award from the Canadian Wildlife Federation in 2019 — The Land Between charity and Turtle Guardians have been working since 2006 to save turtles and turtle habitats, by installing turtle crossing signs, mapping and conserving wetlands, supporting turtle-related science, and installing underpasses to prevent turtles from being killed or injured on roads.

Turtle Guardians is a program that brings together children, adults, and communities to help turtles. It provides educational opportunities and tools to help participants identify turtles and turtle habitats, as well as online reporting so The Land Between can can install turtle crossing signs and monitor populations and habitats.

Designed by Jaime Kearnan, the 2021 Turtle Guardians calendar includes fun-filled turtle photos and educational quotes. It’s available at turtleguardians.com/product/2021-turtle-guardian-calendar/ for an early bird price of $15 (regularly $19.95).

All proceeds from the sale of the calendar will support the installation of turtle tunnels and specialized fencing to direct turtles under roads in Haliburton Highlands, the excavation and incubation of turtle eggs under permits, monitoring roads, and caring for turtles.

For more information, including how to become a Turtle Guardian or donate, visit www.turtleguardians.com.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the southern Kawarthas region for strong wind gusts of 70 to 80 km/h on Sunday (November 15).

The special weather statement applies to southern Peterborough County, southern Kawartha Lakes, and all of Northumberland County.

A strengthening low pressure system is forecast to track across northeastern Ontario on Sunday, with winds strengthening throughout the day.

The highest winds are expected to be ushered in with the passage of a cold front, where southwest winds gusting up to 80 km/h are forecast.

This front will move through southwestern Ontario beginning Sunday morning and through the Toronto to Barrie corridor in the afternoon.

Local power outages are possible. Strong winds may toss loose objects or cause tree branches to break.

Wind will slowly ease Sunday night into Monday morning.

With Ontario’s top public health officials now projecting up to 7,000 daily COVID-19 cases in Ontario by the end of December, the Ontario government is lowering the thresholds of its colour-coded system for public health unit regions and moving additional health units into more restrictive levels.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement on Friday afternoon (November 13) at a media conference along with health minister Christine Elliott and Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams.

“Yesterday, our top doctors and health experts provided us with updated modelling, and what we saw was alarming,” Ford said. “If we don’t take action, if we don’t change course in a big way, Ontario’s on track for 6,500 new cases per day.”

“That’s 6,500 more people who will catch this awful virus each and every day, and based on current projections, intensive care units could be overwhelmed in six weeks. The impact on our hospitals would be absolutely devastating. As Premier, I can’t accept that and I won’t accept that.”

For each of the five levels in its colour-coded system, the government will be lowering the thresholds that determine when a public health unit is moved into a more restrictive level. Since it released the colour-coded system on November 3rd, the government has been criticized that the thresholds were set at too high a level.

With the November 13th announcement, the thresholds will be lowered for weekly incidence rates, positivity rate, effective reproductive number (Rt), outbreak trends, and the level of community transmission.

As a result, the public health units for Toronto, Hamilton, Halton, and York will move into the Red-Control level.

Brant County, Durham, Eastern Ontario Health Unit, Niagara, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, and Waterloo will move into the Orange-Restrict level.

Huron Perth, Middlesex-London, Sudbury, Southwestern Public Health, and Windsor-Essex will move into the Yellow-Protect level.

The changes take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday (November 16), except for Toronto, which will move into the Red-Control level at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday (November 14).

The remaining health units in Ontario, including the three health units in the greater Kawarthas region (Peterborough Public Health, Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Public Health, and Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit), remain in the Green-Prevent level.

The government’s decision to modify the framework comes one day after updated modelling projections presented at a media briefing on Thursday afternoon (November 12) by Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, along with Adalsteinn Brown, dean of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and Dr. Dirk Huyer, Ontario’s chief coronor and coordinator of the province’s COVID-19 response.

In a slide presentation during the media briefing, Brown compared Ontario’s COVID-19 situation to that of European countries.

When the data for the presentation was pulled together, Brown said, Ontario’s seven-day daily growth rate was at three per cent, already surpassing the growth rate in Germany that resulted in a four-week partial lockdown in that country on November 2nd. By the end of December, Ontario would exceed the growth rate in France — already in lockdown — with between 3,000 and 4,000 daily cases by the end of December.

“When we built these models a few days ago, three per cent was a reasonable way of capturing the average seven-day growth in total number of cases,” Brown explained. “Seven-day growth is actually probably closer to about four per cent right now, so it’s climbing up.”

At a five per cent daily growth rate, Ontario would see between 6,000 and 7,000 daily cases by the end of December — exceeding the growth rate in Germany, France, and the UK, and approaching the growth rate in the Netherlands.

Brown emphasized that even small changes in the rate of growth result in large changes in the number of cases, and that Ontario’s growth rate could actually be higher than five per cent — resulting in even more than 7,000 daily cases.

“The three-day rate of growth a few days was about five per cent — it’s now six per cent,” Brown said. “So if the last few days is a reasonable point of extrapolation, it’s fair to say that the five per cent is a current, or maybe slightly optimistic, scenario.”

In addition to the growth rate, Brown said the number of cases in long-term care homes continues to accelerate, with a substantial increase in cumulative mortality — with 71 deaths in the past seven days.

“As case rates climb, we expect mortality to climb as well,” Brown said.

PDF: Update on COVID-19 Projections in Ontario – November 12, 2020
Update on COVID-19 Projections in Ontario - November 12, 2020

When it comes to hospitalizations, there has been a 61 per cent increase over the past three weeks, and a 167 per cent increase over the past six weeks.

“It is still a relatively low number of hospitalization compared to the total number of hospital beds in the province,” Brown noted. “But it’s important to keep in mind as well that our hospitals run very close to capacity at all times.”

Brown said there is some good news — the average length of stay in hospital for patients with COVID-19 has declined, especially for patients receiving ventilation in intensive care units (ICUs).

However, Brown added that the ICU occupancy in any of the modelling scenarios will exceed 150 beds within two or three weeks — the threshold for reducing access to care for non-COVID patients.

“Before the end of December though — within about six weeks — almost all of our scenarios take us well over 200 ICU beds being occupied, and in the worst-case scenario we get up close to 450 ICU beds occupied with COVID-19 patients.”

Brown said this would place significant limitations on the health system’s ability to react to additional patient needs and access to care.

After Brown’s presentation, Dr. Dirk Huyer provided information on outbreaks and community transmission during the second wave of COVID-19 in Ontario.

He said there were 29 new outbreaks reported on November 12, including 18 outbreaks in the vulnerable sector and the school sector, six in the public-facing sector including retail and other settings where the public attend, and five in workplaces.

There has been a 57 per cent increase in the number of outbreaks over the past week, at 168, with 632 outbreaks over the past month. Outbreaks have been reported in 22 of Ontario’s 34 public health units, expanding beyond the vulnerable sector and schools.

“It’s important to remember that, while outbreaks are something that’s identifiable, it’s 10 per cent of the cases,” Huyer said.

Huyer added that, while outbreaks are not representative of community transmission, they provide a proxy of community spread in social settings.

Data provided by the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table shows that 40 to 60 per cent of cases are due to community transmission, but the source of the infection is unknown. However, evidence shows social gatherings in public and private settings must be responsible, including settings as indoor dining at restaurants.

“The increased number of cases and the increased number of contacts make it very challenging to be able to identify the source,” Huyer said.

“Because trying to understand the complexities of case management, with many people that you intersect with, makes it very difficult to sort backwards and try to figure out where the transmission actually occurred, and then also challenging to be able to contact and connect with all of those who might have been in contact in a high-risk situation, which is important to stop the spread.”

Huyer added that many of the outbreaks have been associated with specific social gatherings, including Halloween parties, weddings, and places of worship, where people get infected and then spread the virus in other settings.

In his concluding remarks, Dr. Williams said that, after eight months of the pandemic, Ontarians are tired of the restrictions and want to get together with others, but social gatherings are feeding the spread of the virus.

“This is a critical time for our province. We know how difficult these past few months have been for everyone — Ontario’s communities, businesses, and families. But the challenge is we need to get these numbers down, to protect the health and safety of Ontarians and to protect our health care system from being overwhelmed, especially as we enter respiratory virus season and flu season.”

Williams said “time is of the essence” when it comes to taking action to address the growth rate.

In response to a reporter’s question, Brown said the growth rate would continue as projected if existing restrictions were not modified.

When another reporter asked if additional restrictions should be implemented in the province’s hotspots, Brown’s answer was straightforwards.

“If the goal is to reduce the number of cases, and the goal is to reduce the impact on the health system, then yes.”

The COVID-19 assessment centre at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) is expanding to double its capacity and to assess patients with moderate respiratory symptoms who might otherwise go to the hospital’s emergency department.

According to a media release from the hospital on Friday (November 13), the expansion in the capacity and scope of the assessment centre is in response to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for “an anticipated seasonal surge in patient volumes in our community.”

The expanded centre will double the medical assessment and testing capacity to accommodate as many as 200 people every day, and will divert away from the emergency department those patients with moderate respiratory symptoms who require a physician assessment.

While the assessment centre will be moving into a larger space, it will still be in the same location at the northwest corner of the hospital. It will also provide improved accessibility for patients, the hospital states.

To accommodate the move into the new space, the centre will be closed next Tuesday (November 17) and will reopen the following day at noon.

The booking process and screening criteria will remain the same at the expanded centre.

The PRHC assessment centre is for people who have COVID-19 symptoms and need to be assessed by a doctor. Contact the centre directly by phone at 705-876-5086 to determine whether an appointment is required. This phone line is staffed daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

People with severe COVID-19 symptoms should call 911 or go to the hospital’s emergency department.

People with mild COVID-19 symptoms, or who meet the other criteria for COVID-19 testing, and don’t need to be assessed by a doctor can book an appointment at the testing centre at Northcrest Arena (100 Marina Blvd., Peterborough).

For people without COVID-19 symptoms, testing is available by appointment at Shoppers Drug Mart (741 Lansdowne St. W., Peterborough).

For more information on testing options in Peterborough, visit www.prhc.on.ca/about-us/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/.

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

For the third day in a row, Ontario is reporting a record increase of COVID-19 cases, with 1,575 new cases today — breaking yesterday’s record of 1,426 new cases. This is the seventh straight day of more than 1,000 new daily cases, with the average number of daily cases over the past week now standing at 1,299.

At a media conference at Heddle Shipyards in Hamilton, Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Ontarians to follow public health advice, including staying home if you’re sick and avoiding large gatherings.

“We’re seeing the numbers all over the world, all over Canada, and right here in Ontario — they’re climbing, and they’re going in the wrong direction,” Ford said. “It’s concerning, it’s alarming, and we have to stay on high alert.”

“I’m asking people to be responsible,” Ford added. “We’ve now learned that eight sick people all attended two separate weddings. No-one is immune to this virus, but a small chance to see friends and family led to 17 confirmed cases. When we do the contact tracing and follow-up, some of these people have been in contact with 50 people. Do the math — that’s 850 people.”

“This is how the virus spreads when we don’t follow simple public health advice,” Ford added. “We’ve implemented new protocols to keep people safe, protocols that allow us to celebrate life’s special moments like weddings, but they depend on each of us doing our part. If you’re sick, please stay at home and get tested. Keep two metres apart. Wear a mask. And please don’t gather in large groups. I know we’re all tired of this pandemic, but we need to stay strong, we need to stick together. That’s how we’ll get through this.”

Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (472), Peel (448), and York (155), with smaller increases in Ottawa (91), Durham (61), Waterloo (58), Halton (54), Windsor-Essex (39), Hamilton (30), Niagara (27), Middlesex-London (23), Simcoe Muskoka (20), Southwestern Public Health (14), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (14), Chatham-Kent (13), Eastern Ontario Health Unit (12), Huron Perth (10), and Sudbury (8).

The remaining 16 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with only 5 health units reporting no new cases at all.

Of today’s cases, 51% are among people 40 years of age and older, but the highest number of cases (533) are among people ages 20 to 39. With 917 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has dropped by 0.4% to 83.8%. The positivity rate has decreased by 0.8% to 4.3%, meaning that 43 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on November 11.

For the tenth day in a row, there has been a double-digit increase in the number of deaths, with 18 new deaths reported today, 12 of which were in long-term care facilities. Hospitalizations have increased by 7 to 431, with 10 more patients with COVID-19 in ICUs and 5 more patients on ventilators.

A total of 39,559 tests were completed yesterday, and the backlog of tests under investigation has increased by 7,517 to 41,977.

There are 103 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 95 from yesterday, with 51 student cases, 14 staff cases, and 38 cases among unidentified individuals. There are 10 cases in licensed child care settings, a decrease of 9 from yesterday, with 5 cases among children and 5 cases among staff.

In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 2 new cases to report in Peterborough, 2 new cases in Hastings and Prince Edward counties, and 1 new case in Northumberland (a previous case transferred from another health unit).

There is 1 new death in Peterborough, after a second resident at Fairhaven long-term care facility who tested positive for COVID-19 died.

Two additional cases have been resolved in Northumberland, and an additional case resolved in Haliburton (all cases in Haliburton are now resolved).

There are no new cases in Kawartha Lakes or Haliburton, and none of the reported new cases in Ontario schools and child care settings are in the greater Kawarthas region.

There are currently 17 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, including 12 in Peterborough, 3 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Northumberland.

Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 166 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (150 resolved with 4 deaths), 188 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (168 resolved with 32 deaths), 53 in Northumberland County (51 resolved with 1 death), 22 in Haliburton County (22 resolved with no deaths), and 84 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (76 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on November 12.

Province-wide, there have been 89,784 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,575 from yesterday, with 75,220 cases resolved (83.8% of all cases), an increase of 917. There have been 3,293 deaths, an increase of 18 from yesterday, with 2,099 deaths in long-term care homes, an increase of 12 from yesterday. The number of hospitalizations has increased by 7 to 431, with 10 additional patients with COVID-19 in ICUs and 5 additional patients on ventilators. A total of 5,516,370 tests have been completed, an increase of 39,559 from yesterday, with 41,977 tests under investigation, an increase of 7,517 from yesterday.

The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 4 p.m. the previous day. Health unit data is more current, and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day.

Peterborough Public Health

Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends.

Confirmed positive: 166 (increase of 2)
Active cases: 12 (increase of 1)
Close contacts: 9 (decrease of 1)
Deaths: 4 (increase of 1)
Resolved: 150 (no change)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 10 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 35,350 (increase of 100)
Institutional outbreaks: Fairhaven (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 Friday, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 263, including 188 in Kawartha Lakes, 53 in Northumberland, 22 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)*
Active cases: 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland (net decrease of 2)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
High-risk contacts: 22, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (decrease of 2)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 15, including 11 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Deaths: 33 (no change)
Resolved: 241, including 168 in Kawartha Lakes, 51 in Northumberland, 22 in Haliburton (increase of 3, including 2 in Northumberland and 1 in Haliburton)
Institutional outbreaks: Warkworth Long Term Care (no change)

*One previously identified case for a neighbouring health unit has been assigned to Northumberland County based on where the person resided when they were identified as a case.

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 from Monday to Friday, excluding statutory holidays.

Confirmed positive: 84 (increase of 2)
Active cases: 3 (increase of 2)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Hospitalized (total to date): 7 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU (total to date): 2 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 2 (no change)
Resolved: 76 (no change)
Total tests completed: 6,933 (increase of 121)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 89,784 (increase of 1,575)
Resolved: 75,220 (increase of 917, 83.8% of all cases)
Hospitalized: 431 (increase of 7)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 98 (increase of 10)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 62 (increase of 5)
Deaths: 3,293 (increase of 18)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 2,099 (increase of 12)
Total tests completed: 5,516,370 (increase of 39,559)
Tests under investigation: 41,977 (increase of 7,517)

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

An outbreak of COVID-19 at Fairhaven Long-Term Care in Peterborough has resulted in the death of a second resident in just two days, and the isolation of five additional residents who have tested positive for the virus.

During the weekly Peterborough Public Health briefing held Thursday (November 12), Fairhaven executive director Lionel Towns confirmed all of the infected residents, who reside in the Westview 2 Area, are isolated in Fairhaven’s Great Room — which was converted earlier into an isolation unit sealed off from the rest of the facility.

“Fairhaven has lost two of our residents which has devastated our staff and, of course, their families during this already bleak period,” said Towns.

“Out of an abundance of caution, all residents in the Westview 2 Area are in isolation and all of our support staff are cohorted with this home area. For the remainder of the home, there is a strict plan of cohorting of staff. Our goal is stop the spread not just within the Westview 2 Area but also the other home areas.”

“We’re not expecting any more (positive cases) but there could be,” Towns added. “We feel we’re on the right track to capping the number but the virus is incredibly heinous. We’re trying now to protect people based on when they could have been exposed.”

The effect of the pandemic, and now the outbreak, on both Fairhaven staff and residents is clear, said Towns.

“They’re scared and they’re tired of the pandemic, wishing they were out of the isolation that they’re feeling and going back to pre-pandemic times. They’re missing interactions with each other and their families. It’s very tough on them. There’s no way of sugarcoating it. There’s a lot of fear.”

In an email sent Wednesday morning to residents’ families, Towns noted “the terrible darkness” in the aftermath of the death of a second Fairhaven resident Tuesday night, crediting his staff for their “immense bravery and dedication” as they care for residents day to day.

“We went through several months of nothing and now we’re in the middle of one (an outbreak),” added Towns.

“Everybody’s a bit numb. We felt we had prepared extremely well. There was a lot of confidence amongst staff and our residents and their families. Frustrating is too weak a word.”

“We’ve had to look at the situation and try to move two steps forward and implement plans to ensure people are safe depending on what we think could happen.”

In addition to the five active Fairhaven resident cases, a caregiver also tested positive. Towns confirmed that individual is not a Fairhaven employee but provided no further details.

Westview 2 is the same unit that was visited by the caregiver, who tested positive on October 31st, prompting Peterborough Public Health to declare an outbreak at the home.

The two deaths that have resulted from this outbreak bring to four the number of COVID-related deaths in Peterborough Public Health’s catchment area of Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake, and Hiawatha.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday (November 11), the region has seen a total of 164 total positive cases — an increase of 12 since last week. There are a total of 11 active cases, including the eight associated with the Fairhaven outbreak. In addition, public health staff are currently following 10 close contacts who are at higher risk of contracting the virus due to their contact with an infected person.

While Peterborough Medical Officer of Health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra admits to being “worried” in regards to the Fairhaven outbreak, she expressed her “full confidence in Fairhaven.”

“They (Fairhaven staff) have always taken infection prevention control very seriously. There is optimism that we can bring this under control but, at same time, recognizing the extreme vulnerability of these residents.”

A 40-year-old Peterborough man has been arrested and charged with several charges including uttering threats after a nationwide police investigation.

The man is accused of sending threats through email to various libraries, schools, and hotels across Ontario and in Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday (November 9 and 10).

Peterborough police began an investigation after receiving information the emails were being sent from an address in Peterborough.

At around 10:10 p.m. on Tuesday morning, investigators executed a search warrant on a Rubidge Street residence.

As a result of the investigation, 40-year-old Joshua Kimble of Rubidge Street was arrested and charged with eight counts of conveying a false message, eight counts of public mischief, and two counts of uttering threats to cause death and or bodily harm.

Kimble was held in custody and attended court on Wednesday. He was remanded in custody and will appear in court again on Friday, November 13th.