The Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay. (Photo: Google Maps)
The number of active COVID-19 cases in the City of Kawartha Lakes has spiked following the confirmation of additional cases in an outbreak at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay over the weekend, according to a media release from the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
Of the increase of 88 confirmed cases in Kawartha Lakes over the weekend, 67 are related to the outbreak. As of Tuesday (May 25), there are 122 inmates and nine staff who have tested positive for COVID-19.
“Our staff are working closely with the health services staff within the facility to help prevent any further spread,” says local medical officer of health Dr. Natalie Bocking in the media release.
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“We have seen these measures implemented in outbreaks in other correctional facilities in the province and they have helped prevent any further spread and helped bring the outbreaks to a close,” Dr. Bocking adds. “Coupled with increased infection and prevention control measures being implemented by the facility, we hope to see these individuals recover and no further cases, “.”
The health unit first declared an outbreak at the facility last Monday (May 17), after six inmates in various areas of the facility were confirmed positive for COVID-19. The outbreak was then declared facility-wide as additional inmates and staff were confirmed positive.
The health unit says its laboratory testing has detected mutations consistent with a COVID-19 variant, but the specific variant lineage is yet to be confirmed. The type of variant is determined by whole genome sequencing, and it can take several weeks before results are available.
The first step in Ontario's reopening plan, now scheduled to begin on June 11, will include allowing outdoor dining with a maximum of four people per table. Outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed and non-essential retail will be able to reopen at 15 per cent capacity. (Stock photo)
When the current province-wide stay-at-home order expires June 2, what follows will go one of two ways: that order will be extended or step one of the Ontario government’s ‘Roadmap to Reopen’ will come into effect well ahead of schedule.
That was the word from Peterborough’s medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra during a Peterborough Public Health media briefing held Tuesday (May 25).
“There isn’t going to be a limbo period — it will either be an extension of the stay-at-home order if more time is required or an introduction of step one,” said Dr. Salvaterra, noting if certain indicators, such as the number of daily cases and number of hospitalizations, remain too high, the order will be extended.
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“There’s a bit of wiggle room there. Depending on how well we do with controlling the pandemic, there’s some flexibility as to when we can move to step one, keeping in mind you need two weeks post-immunization to get any protection from the vaccine,” she added.
Step one of Ontario’s re-opening plan, which requires a minimum of 60 per cent of Ontario adults to receive their first dose of vaccine, is scheduled to begin the week of June 14. It allows for larger outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, outdoor dining to resume with up to four people per table, and non-essential retail to reopen at 15 per cent capacity.
“The provincial requirement of 60 per cent vaccinated for step one to start had been reached as of May 22, so the target provincially is there,” Dr. Salvaterra said. “Now it’s a matter of some time for that to take effect, but also to watch those indicators.”
Step one would be in effect for at least 21 days before the move to step two, which would expand outdoor gatherings to up to 25 people, allow for outdoor sports and leagues to resume, allow personal care services to resume, and more.
At present, 56 per cent of Peterborough region residents have received at least their first dose of vaccine. Dr. Salvaterra sees no roadblocks to the 60 per cent target being met locally by June 2.
Meanwhile, local infection numbers have shown improvement since last week. As of Monday (May 24) at 4:30 p.m., the number of active cases in Peterborough city and county and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations was reported as 89 — a decrease of 20 since the previous Friday. Meanwhile, the number of close contacts of positive cases being monitored by public health staff has dropped as well and is now at 324, 50 less than what was reported Friday.
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“We had a great long weekend with only single-digit increases in new cases each day,” said Dr. Salvaterra. “Hopefully this means that the third wave has crested, although it’s too soon to say as we have yet to see the effect of the long weekend’s activities. But, at this point, it’s looking promising.”
Two cases have been reported this week but that represents just one day. Still, last week’s 67 new cases was down substantially from the previous week’s 96 new cases. With one week left in May, the total new cases count for the month stands at 230, still well down from April’s new case count of 353.
There are currently six active outbreaks, the most recent at Fairhaven. It is the sixth outbreak at the Dutton Road long-term care home reported since the pandemic began.
“They (Fairhaven staff) have been busy testing and I’m happy to report that there have no resident cases to date with the only cases so far in (two) staff,” said Dr. Salvaterra. However, as reported by Fairhaven on its website, one resident has tested positive and is in isolation in at the home.
Dr. Salvaterra attributes the ongoing outbreak challenge at Fairhaven to the size of the home’s staff.
“(A large staff) means more opportunity for people to be infected,” she explained. “It may be just a bit of bad luck as well. They’ve worked so hard at Fairhaven. Sometimes it has felt unfair to come out of an outbreak and go back into another one so quickly. It’s also reflected in the fact that the definition of outbreak for long-term care homes is very low. You just need one person to test positive. Because of that we’ve been declaring outbreaks much sooner than we had in the past.”
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On the vaccination front, Dr. Salvaterra says appointments are being expanded to evenings as well as weekends.
“We have 1,400 available appointments today online for clinics scheduled for June 15 and 17,” she said, noting anyone 12 years old or older in now eligible to receive their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
“We are also hoping to have more appointments open up, potentially at PRHC (Peterborough Regional Health Centre) for later this week. We will be loading more appointments as we get vaccine supplies confirmed.”
Area residents are directed to phone the provincial call centre at 1-833-943-3900 to book their COVID vaccination appointments when they are in the age group that has become eligible. The line is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week. Eligible residents can also book their appointments online by visiting ontario.ca/bookvaccine.
As for those awaiting word on their second dose, Dr. Salvaterra said the current focus remains “on getting as many people as possible” vaccinated with their first dose.
“We still have thousands of people here who haven’t had their first dose,” she said. “We are expecting the province to share its (second dose) plan with us this week. We will begin administering second doses once we have a plan and as we get supply. The province is working on the booking system to allow the changes required for second dose appointments. We’ll know a lot more soon.”
Also commenting during Tuesday’s briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien, Peterborough County Warden J. Murray Jones, and Peterborough board of health chair and Selwyn mayor Andy Mitchell.
A detail from David Bateman's intriguingly entitled "Area Closed For Maintenance And Cleaning Due To Fecal Mishap (Found haiku – West Edmonton Mall Waterpark)*, one of 10 of his paintings on display at Atelier Ludmila Gallery in downtown Peterborough until May 30, 2021. (Photo: Laurel Pluck, Artistic Director/Curator of Atelier Ludmila Gallery)
Peterborough native David Bateman is an internationally recognized artist whose work spans across multiple disciplines. He is one of Canada’s most highly regarded performance artists, a prolific visual artist, and a published poet, playwright, and short fiction writer.
His debut novel Dr. Sad (University of Calgary Press) was released in July of 2020. Bateman also holds a PhD in English literature with a specialization in creative writing from the University of Calgary and has taught at numerous post-secondary institutions across Canada.
While Bateman’s impressive body of work has taken him across the country and around the world, the now Toronto-based artist always finds a way to return to his hometown of Peterborough-Nogojiwanong.
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“I was born in St. Joseph’s Hospital surrounded by a bunch of nuns, which is always nice,” Bateman says with a chuckle. “I lived in Peterborough, in the same house in the Brookdale area, pretty much full-time until I was about 20.”
“Peterborough was a very different place for me in the ’60s and ’70s than it is now, but there was always a great art scene,” he recalls. “I left Peterborough for school and different jobs and ended up being more rooted in Toronto. But I’ve always come back — I’ve always had a very strong connection to this place.”
Bateman’s most recent homecoming, a 10-painting solo exhibition called Abstract Impersonations, currently hangs at Atelier Ludmila Gallery, on the second floor of Commons Building at 129-1/2 Hunter Street West in downtown Peterborough, until May 30.
Now based in Toronto, artist David Bateman was born and raised in Peterborough. He is one of Canada’s most highly regarded performance artists, a prolific visual artist, and a published poet, playwright, and short fiction writer whose debut novel “Dr. Sad” was published in 2020. (Photo: David Bateman / Facebook)
Influenced by abstract expressionism and lyrical expressionism, the paintings are quintessentially Bateman-esque in their use of colour, vigorous and expressive technique, and text — often passages from Bateman’s own acclaimed poetry.
“I don’t know that I’ve consciously cultivated a style,” says Bateman of his work. “Certainly, my writing has been described as a kind of Euphuism, which is a lush style filled with different kinds of figurative language, like alliteration, metaphor, and simile. John Lyly is a well-known example of that style.”
“Euphuism is often associated with a queer centre, even though at that time queer and homosexual didn’t exist in those terms,” he adds. “Some of those impulses come through in the paintings. There’s a kind of lyrical content.”
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Discussing processes in his artist’s statement for Abstract Impersonations, Bateman references a Helen Frakenthaler quotation, which reads, “I’d rather risk an ugly surprise than rely on things I know I can do.”
The quotation calls to mind a work by theorist Giles Deleuze called ‘Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation’, in which Deleuze, among other things, analyzes how chance becomes pictorial. Before beginning a work, Bacon was known to randomly mark his blank canvases with “chance strokes”, which would then determine how the painting would take form. This practice, according to Deleuze, allowed Bacon to “defy the terrible cliché” insofar as it allowed the painter to manipulate chance — to utilize an accident.
Bateman approaches much of his work in a similar fashion. In particular, ‘The Saints’, a series of paintings in Abstract Impersonations, embody his often-serendipitous method.
“I just put the canvases on the floor and splattered paint,” he explains. “And I thought that would be a base coat, but then I got this image — this abstract information. I didn’t know if I loved them or hated them, but I just started brushing and wiping paint onto them.”
David Bateman’s “The Saints 1″ (24″ by 36”, acrylic on canvas), one of 10 of his paintings on display at Atelier Ludmila Gallery in downtown Peterborough until May 30, 2021. (Photo: Laurel Pluck, Artistic Director/Curator of Atelier Ludmila Gallery)
“Later, a friend saw them, as I describe in my artist’s statement, and said that she saw saints in them — she had been reading a book about saints — so that’s what I called them,” he says.
Discipline notwithstanding, all of Bateman’s work offers viewers and audiences a level of accessibility that can only be described as generosity. The artist creates profound works, exploring serious topics such as gender, queerness, class and privilege, and HIV, with self-reflexivity and a playful sense of humour.
“My father, who passed away suddenly when I was 20, is certainly where my sense of humour comes from,” he recalls. “He fought in the second World War, and he would always make very dark, yet very funny jokes.”
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Bateman’s playful comedic style is certainly apparent in Abstract Impersonations. One painting, inspired by a found haiku at West Edmonton Mall Waterpark featured in Bateman’s 2007 poetry collection Impersonating Flowers (Frontenac Press), is particularly hilarious. It’s called ‘Area Closed for Maintenance And Cleaning Due To Fecal Mishap’.
“It’s like what Oscar Wilde said about The Importance of Being Earnest: ‘It has a philosophy that we should treat all the trivial things in life seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.’ I love that idea of play between the serious and non-serious.”
“I take my work seriously by not taking it seriously,” he adds. “I don’t like to take it so seriously where I’m going to create a whole bunch of really complex discourse. People are free to interpret my work in any way they like. Once I’ve done it, once I put it out into the world, it’s not mine anymore.”
David Bateman’s “He Impersonated Flowers All The Time” (30″ x 40″), one of 10 of his paintings on display at Atelier Ludmila Gallery in downtown Peterborough until May 30, 2021. Each painting is available for sale; four (including this one) have already been sold. (Photo: Laurel Pluck, Artistic Director/Curator of Atelier Ludmila Gallery)
Abstract Impersonations will be exhibited at Ateilier Ludmila Gallery until Sunday, May 30th. To book a private COVID-safe viewing by appointment, email gallery@atelierludmila.com.
To purchase a painting online, send the title of the artwork to shop@atelierludmila.com, and gallery personnel will respond immediately with payment options.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
No COVID-19 update on Victoria Day Monday
As the province and most of the health units in the greater Kawarthas region will not be issuing reports because of the statutory holiday on Monday, kawarthaNOW will not be publishing an update on Victoria Day. Monday’s numbers will be reported in Tuesday’s update.
Ontario is reporting 1,691 new cases today, with only 3 of Ontario’s 34 health units (Toronto, Peel, and York) reporting triple-digit case increases. The seven-day average of daily cases has fallen to 1,878 and the proportion of active cases has decreased for the 34th straight day.
Hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ventilated patients have all decreased for the second day in a row. Ontario is reporting 15 new deaths, with no new deaths in long-term care homes.
Ontario has now administered over 15 million tests since the pandemic began and more than 8 million vaccine doses, with almost 55% of Ontario’s total population having received at least one dose of vaccine, and over 3.6% of all Ontarians fully vaccinated.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 8 new cases to report, including 5 in Hastings Prince Edward and 3 in Peterborough with an additional 16 cases resolved. Active cases across the region have decreased to 263, with 9 fewer active cases in Peterborough and no change in Hastings Prince Edward. See below for details from each individual health unit. Numbers for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton are unavailable on Sundays.
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Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (455), Peel (326), and York (173).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Durham (96), Ottawa (92), Hamilton (87), Waterloo (59), Windsor-Essex (51), Halton (50), Porcupine (49), Middlesex-London (45), Niagara (43), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (28), Simcoe Muskoka (26), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (20), Lambton (13), Brant (13), and Peterborough (12), with smaller increases in Huron Perth (8), Southwestern (8), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (7), and Haldimand-Norfolk (7).
The remaining 12 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with two health units (Northwestern and Algoma) reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 62% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (750) among people ages 20-39 followed by 461 cases among people ages 40-59 and 370 cases among people 19 and under.
With 2,458 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 94.4% — the 34th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.3% to 5.7%, meaning that 57 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 22.
Ontario is reporting 15 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 18 new daily deaths over the past week, a decrease of 3 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 166 to 1,041, although more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 13 to 693 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has fallen by 24 to 480.
A total of 31,227 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 8,825 to 9,513.
A total of 8,065,607 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 140,330 from yesterday, and 531,603 people have been fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 11,622 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 3.61% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.08% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 54.74% of the total population, an increase of 0.95% from yesterday. 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 8 new cases to report, including 5 in Hastings Prince Edward and 3 in Peterborough. Numbers are unavailable on Sundays for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton.
There are 9 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 7 in Peterborough and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.
There has been 1 new hospitalization in Peterborough.
An additional 16 cases have been resolved, including 11 in Peterborough and 5 in Hastings Prince Edward.
There are currently 263 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 9 from yesterday, including 103 in Peterborough, 80 in Kawartha Lakes, 43 in Hastings Prince Edward (13 in Quinte West, 10 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 4 in Prince Edward County, 10 in Central Hastings, and 4 in North Hastings), 34 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,455 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,334 resolved with 18 deaths), 885 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (762 resolved with 56 deaths), 898 in Northumberland County (847 resolved with 17 deaths), 118 in Haliburton County (114 resolved with 1 death), and 1,099 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,045 resolved with 11 deaths). The two most recent deaths were reported in Northumberland and Hastings Prince Edward on May 20.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 4 p.m. the previous day, as well as from systems in Toronto, Ottawa, and Middlesex-London at 2 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: 1,455 (increase of 2)* Total variants of concern cases: 636 (increase of 7) Active cases: 103 (decrease of 9) Close contacts: 371 (no change) Deaths: 18 (no change) Resolved: 1,334 (increase of 11) Hospitalizations (total to date): 64 (increase of 1)** ICU admissions (total to date): 14 (no change) Total tests completed: Over 52,000 (increase of 100) Total vaccine doses administered (residents and non-residents): 69,989 (increase of 3,944 as of May 20) Number of residents who have received first dose: 64,199 (increase of 3,675 as of May 20) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 4,852 (increase of 277 as of May 20) Outbreaks: Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in the City of Peterborough, Helping Hands Day Care in Peterborough County, Unidentified workplace #9 in Peterborough County, Unidentified workplace #10 in Peterborough County, Peterborough Day Care Centre in the City of Peterborough, Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough (no change)
*The health unit is reporting 3 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 2 because 1 case has been removed from a previous day.
**As of May 20, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 7 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1) and a total of 75 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 May 22; numbers from May 23 and May 24 will be released on Tuesday, May 25.
Confirmed positive: 1,901, including 885 in Kawartha Lakes, 898 in Northumberland, and 118 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)* Total variants of concern cases: 586, including 252 in Kawartha Lakes, 301 in Northumberland, and 33 in Haliburton (increase of 15, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland) Active cases: 117, including 80 in Kawartha Lakes, 34 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (net increase of 2) Probable cases: None (no change) Hospitalizations (total to date): 70, including 36 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)** Deaths (including among probable cases): 74, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change) Resolved: 1,723, including 762 in Kawartha Lakes, 847 in Northumberland, and 114 in Haliburton (increase of 8, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton) Tests completed: 190,825 (increase of 386) Vaccine doses administered to residents: 85,785 (increase of 6,353 as of May 17) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 4,877 (increase of 415 as of May 17) Outbreaks: Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Campbellford Farm Supply LTD (decrease of 1)***
*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.
**As of May 21, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 3 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
***An outbreak at OPP Offender Transport Lindsay has been declared resolved.
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. There will be no numbers released on May 24; Monday’s numbers will be included in Tuesday’s update.
Confirmed positive: 1,099 (increase of 5) Confirmed variants of concern cases: 462 (increase of 2) Active cases: 43 (no change) Deaths: 11 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 11 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 6 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 6 (no change) Resolved: 1,045 (increase of 5) Tests completed: 142,694 (increase of 2,822) Vaccine doses administered: 83,664 (increase of 294) Number of people fully vaccinated: 6,713 (increase of 7) Outbreaks: Quinte 5 at QHC Belleville General Hospital, Community outbreak in Hastings Highlands in North Hastings, Unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 522,465 (increase of 1,691) COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 117,941 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 1,020); 805 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 22); 2,405 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 88) VOC R(t): 0.83 (decrease of 0.01 as of May 16)* 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,878 (decrease of 73) Positivity rate: 5.7% (decrease of 0.3%) Resolved: 493,179 (increase of 2,458), 94.4% of all cases (increase of 0.2%) Hospitalizations: 1,041 (decrease of 166)** Hospitalizations in ICU: 693 (decrease of 13) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 480 (decrease of 24) Deaths: 8,614 (increase of 15) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 18 (decrease of 3) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,947 (no change) Total tests completed: 15,004,716 (increase of 31,227) Tests under investigation: 9,513 (decrease of 8,825) Vaccination doses administered: 8,065,607 (increase of 140,330), 54.74% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.95%)*** People fully vaccinated (two doses): 531,603 (increase of 11,622), 3.61% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.08%)***
*R(t) is a virus’s effective reproduction number, which is the average number of new infections caused by a single infected individual at a specific time (t) in a partially immunized population. To successfully eliminate a disease from a population, R(t) needs to be less than 1.
**More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.
***An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from April 22 – May 22, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from April 22 – May 22, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from April 22 – May 22, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling 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 rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from April 22 – May 22, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from April 22 – May 22, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
If you play Lotto 6/49 and bought a ticket in the City of Kawartha Lakes for Saturday night’s draw (May 22), check your numbers — you could be a multi-millionaire.
One of two jackpot-winning tickets, each worth $4,437,083.40, was sold in Kawartha Lakes.
If you play online, you’ll also want to check your numbers. The other ticket that shared the $8.8 million jackpot was sold through the OLG website, according to a media release.
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In addition to the jackpot-winning tickets, three Encore prize-winning tickets worth $100,000 each were sold in Kitchener, Unionville, and Toronto’s Willowdale area.
The next Lotto 6/49 draw is on Wednesday (May 26) with an estimated $5 million jackpot.
If you bought a Lotto 6/49 ticket, also make sure you check your clothes before you put them in the wash. A woman who claims to have won a $26 million lottery prize in California last year left her ticket in her pants and put them in the laundry, where the ticket was destroyed.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 1,794 new cases today, with 4 of Ontario’s 34 health units (Toronto, Peel, Durham, and York) reporting triple-digit case increases. The seven-day average of daily cases has fallen below 2,000 for the first time since March 28. The proportion of active cases has fallen for the 33rd straight day.
Hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and ventilated patients have all decreased, with 20 new deaths reported, including 2 in long-term care homes.
Ontario has administered almost 8 million vaccine doses and the rate of vaccinations continues to climb. For the second day in a row, a record number of doses of vaccine were administered and a record number of Ontarians received their second dose of vaccine. Almost 54% of Ontario’s total population has now received at least one dose of vaccine, with over 3.5% of all Ontarians fully vaccinated.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 21 new cases to report (including 9 in Peterborough, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Northumberland) with an additional 25 cases resolved. The net number of active cases across the region remain unchanged at 272, with active cases increasing by 6 in Kawartha Lakes and by 3 in Peterborough, but decreasing by 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, by 3 in Northumberland, and by 1 in Haliburton. See below for details from each individual health unit.
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Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (416), Peel (355), Durham (147), and York (140).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Hamilton (90), Ottawa (87), Halton (78), Waterloo (64), Middlesex-London (58), Simcoe Muskoka (55), Niagara (47), Porcupine (46), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (40), Windsor-Essex (33), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (27), Brant (19), Peterborough (13), Southwestern (13), and Eastern Ontario (12), with smaller increases in Huron Perth (7), Haldimand-Norfolk (7), Sudbury (6), and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (6).
The remaining 11 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with all reporting at least 1 case.
Of today’s new cases, 62% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (750) among people ages 20-39 followed by 461 cases among people ages 40-59 and 370 cases among people 19 and under.
With 2,520 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.1% to at 94.2% — the 33rd straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.6% to 6.0%, meaning that 60 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 21.
Ontario is reporting 20 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 2 new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 21 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).
Hospitalizations have decreased by 58 to 1,207, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 9 to 706 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 6 to 504.
A total of 34,576 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 1,553 to 18,338.
A total of 7,925,277 doses of vaccine have now been administered, a record increase of 190,129 from yesterday, and 519,981 people have been fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, a record increase of 24,224 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 3.53% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.17% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 53.79% of the total population, an increase of 1.29% from yesterday. 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 21 new cases to report, including 9 in Peterborough, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Northumberland. There are no new cases in Haliburton.
An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville, involving 1 case, was declared on May 21.
There are 33 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 10 in Hastings Prince Edward, 8 in Peterborough, 9 in Northumberland, and 6 in Kawartha Lakes.
An additional 25 cases have been resolved, including 10 in Hastings Prince Edward, 7 in Peterborough, 4 in Northumberland, 3 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton. An outbreak at OPP Offender Transport Lindsay has been declared resolved. An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Central Hastings was declared resolved on May 22.
There are currently 272 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region (no net change from yesterday), including 112 in Peterborough, 80 in Kawartha Lakes, 43 in Hastings Prince Edward (12 in Quinte West, 12 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 3 in Prince Edward County, 11 in Central Hastings, and 3 in North Hastings), 34 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,453 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,323 resolved with 18 deaths), 885 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (762 resolved with 56 deaths), 898 in Northumberland County (847 resolved with 17 deaths), 118 in Haliburton County (114 resolved with 1 death), and 1,094 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,040 resolved with 11 deaths). The two most recent deaths were reported in Northumberland and Hastings Prince Edward on May 20.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 4 p.m. the previous day, as well as from systems in Toronto, Ottawa, and Middlesex-London at 2 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: 1,453 (increase of 10)* Total variants of concern cases: 629 (increase of 8) Active cases: 112 (increase of 3) Close contacts: 371 (decrease of 9) Deaths: 18 (no change) Resolved: 1,323 (increase of 7) Hospitalizations (total to date): 63 (no change)** ICU admissions (total to date): 14 (no change) Total tests completed: Over 51,900 (increase of 50) Total vaccine doses administered (residents and non-residents): 69,989 (increase of 3,944 as of May 20) Number of residents who have received first dose: 64,199 (increase of 3,675 as of May 20) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 4,852 (increase of 277 as of May 20) Outbreaks: Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in the City of Peterborough, Helping Hands Day Care in Peterborough County, Unidentified workplace #9 in Peterborough County, Unidentified workplace #10 in Peterborough County, Peterborough Day Care Centre in the City of Peterborough, Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough (no change)
*The health unit is reporting 9 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 10 because 1 case has been added to a previous day.
**As of May 20, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 7 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1) and a total of 75 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.
Confirmed positive: 1,901, including 885 in Kawartha Lakes, 898 in Northumberland, and 118 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)* Total variants of concern cases: 586, including 252 in Kawartha Lakes, 301 in Northumberland, and 33 in Haliburton (increase of 15, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 9 in Northumberland) Active cases: 117, including 80 in Kawartha Lakes, 34 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (net increase of 2) Probable cases: None (no change) Hospitalizations (total to date): 70, including 36 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)** Deaths (including among probable cases): 74, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change) Resolved: 1,723, including 762 in Kawartha Lakes, 847 in Northumberland, and 114 in Haliburton (increase of 8, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton) Tests completed: 190,825 (increase of 386) Vaccine doses administered to residents: 85,785 (increase of 6,353 as of May 17) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 4,877 (increase of 415 as of May 17) Outbreaks: Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Campbellford Farm Supply LTD (decrease of 1)***
*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.
**As of May 21, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 3 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
***An outbreak at OPP Offender Transport Lindsay has been declared resolved.
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: 1,094 (increase of 5) Confirmed variants of concern cases: 460 (increase of 10) Active cases: 43 (decrease of 5) Deaths: 11 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 11 (decrease of 1) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 6 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 6 (no change) Resolved: 1,040 (increase of 12) Tests completed: 139,872 (no change) Vaccine doses administered: 83,370 (increase of 1,526) Number of people fully vaccinated: 6,706 (increase of 100) Outbreaks: Quinte 5 at QHC Belleville General Hospital, Community outbreak in Hastings Highlands in North Hastings, Unidentified workplace in Belleville (no net change)*
*An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville, involving 1 case, was declared on May 21. An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Central Hastings was declared resolved on May 22.
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 520,774 (increase of 1,794) COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 116,921 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 1,122); 783 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 92); 2,317 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 173) VOC R(t): 0.83 (decrease of 0.01 as of May 16)* 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,951 (decrease of 113) Positivity rate: 6.0% (increase of 0.6%) Resolved: 490,721 (increase of 2,520), 94.2% of all cases (increase of 0.1%) Hospitalizations: 1,207 (decrease of 58) Hospitalizations in ICU: 706 (decrease of 9) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 504 (decrease of 6) Deaths: 8,599 (increase of 20) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 21 (no change) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,947 (increase of 2) Total tests completed: 14,973,489 (increase of 34,576) Tests under investigation: 18,338 (decrease of 1,553) Vaccination doses administered: 7,925,277 (increase of 190,129), 53.79% of Ontario’s population (increase of 1.29%)** People fully vaccinated (two doses): 519,981 (increase of 24,224), 3.53% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.17%)**
*R(t) is a virus’s effective reproduction number, which is the average number of new infections caused by a single infected individual at a specific time (t) in a partially immunized population. To successfully eliminate a disease from a population, R(t) needs to be less than 1.
**An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
COVID-19 cases in Ontario from April 21 – May 21, 2021. The red line is the number of new cases reported daily, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of new cases. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 tests completed in Ontario from April 21 – May 21, 2021. The red line is the daily number of tests completed, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of tests completed. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Ontario from April 21 – May 21, 2021. The red line is the daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling 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 rolling average of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 deaths in Ontario from April 21 – May 21, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily deaths, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily deaths. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Ontario from April 21 – May 21, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, and the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
Victoria Day celebrations will once again be muted in 2021 due to the pandemic, with no public fireworks displays. Public health authorities are asking Ontarians to stay close to home during the long weekend and celebrate with household members only. (Stock photo)
Victoria Day, celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday (May 24, 1819), was first declared a holiday in Canada in 1845. It was originally observed on May 24 every year unless that date was a Sunday, in which case it was celebrated on May 25. In 1952, the federal government changed the date to celebrate Victoria Day on the Monday preceding May 25. From sunset to sunrise on Victoria Day, the Royal Union Flag (the “Union Jack”) is flown alongside the Canadian flag at federal buildings, airports, military bases and other federal buildings and establishments across Canada.
The Victoria Day weekend is colloquially known as the May Two-Four weekend, referring both to the Queen’s birthday and Canadian slang for a case of 24 beers (a popular beverage during the weekend). It’s informally considered to mark the beginning of summer, and many people go camping, open their cottages, garden, or travel during the weekend. Victoria Day itself is traditionally celebrated with fireworks displays. Of course, with the COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria Day 2021 is not a traditional Victoria Day.
Victoria Day Monday is both a federal and a provincial statutory holiday, so all government offices and liquor stores are closed (some agency stores are open). A few beer stores in the greater Kawarthas region are open on Monday. Many grocery stores are open, except in Peterborough. Most drug stores are open, and some retail stores are also open for curbside pickup.
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For your convenience, we provide this list of holiday hours for 264 selected businesses and services across the Kawarthas. This information comes from their websites and social media accounts, which may or may not be up to date, so please always call them first to confirm their hours (we’ve included phone numbers), especially when you are travelling any distance. Where you see “call to confirm”, that means we don’t have a lot of confidence the hours listed on a business’s website are up to date. If your business or organization is listed and the hours are incorrect, please let us know by using our content feedback form.
Bewdley Community Recycling Centre 7650 County Rd. 9, Hamilton 905-342-2514
CLOSED
Brighton Community Recycling Centre 1112 County Rd. 26, Brighton 613-475-1946
CLOSED
Canada Post Mail Delivery / Offices (Note: post offices operated by the private sector will be open according to the hours of service of the host business
No collection or delivery
City of Kawartha Lakes City Hall, Municipal Service Centres, and Administration Offices 26 Francis St., Lindsay 705-324-9411
CLOSED
City of Kawartha Lakes Public Libraries Various locations, City of Kawartha Lakes 705-324-9411 x1291
CLOSED
City of Kawartha Lakes Waste and Recycling Collection 26 Francis St., Lindsay 1-888-822-2225
Mon May 24 moves to Tue May 25, May 25 to 26, May 26 to 27, May 27 to 28
City of Peterborough Day Cares Peterborough 705-748-8830
CLOSED
City of Peterborough Garbage Pickup Peterborough 705-745-1386
No change
City of Peterborough Green Waste Pickup Peterborough 705-876-1600
No change
City of Peterborough Recycling Pickup Peterborough 705-876-1600
No change
City of Peterborough Social Services Peterborough 705-748-8830
Storyteller Megan Murphy and singer-songwriter Kate Suhr, joined by musician Saskia Tomkins, will be bringing The Verandah Society to the Winslow Farm in Millbrook for 10 performances in late August 2021, in lieu of the originally scheduled performance of Maja Ardal's play "Wishful Seeing", which 4th Line Theatre has postponed until summer 2022 due to the pandemic. (Photo: The Verandah Society / Facebook)
4th Line Theatre in Millbrook is postponing its second play of the 2021 summer season, originally scheduled for August, due to the pandemic — and will instead be bringing a small-scale theatrical event to Winslow Farm in late August.
“I am sorry to have to announce that we have made the difficult decision to postpone the world premiere of Maja Ardal’s Wishful Seeing until the summer of 2022,” announced managing artistic director Kim Blackwell in a statement issued on Wednesday (May 10). “This decision is based on many factors — most critical to our decision, is the public health directive presently in place for the province.”
In late March, the outdoor theatre company had announced it was delaying the first play of its 2021 season, Alex Poch-Goldin’s The Great Shadow, for the same reasons.
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At that time, the Peterborough region was in the ‘Red-Control’ level of the province’s COVID-19 response framework, limiting the theatre to a maximum of 25 people at any performance, which Blackwell said made it financially infeasible to stage a production, since that represents only 1/16th of the available seating at Winslow Farm.
“At the present time, the entire province is under a stay-at-home order,” Blackwell writes in her May 10th statement. “And there is no clear sense of what will happen, if or when, the stay at home order is lifted after June 2nd. We do not have a sense of where our region will fit into the provincial colour-coded system for reopening.”
Blackwell’s announcement came the day before the provincial government announced its reopening plan for Ontario. The province is replacing the previous colour-coded system with a three-step plan that would gradually loosen public health restrictions, with the timing of each step based on vaccination rates and public health indicators.
According to the three-step plan, outdoor events with a maximum capacity of 25 people would be allowed to resume during step two, which would be implemented no earlier than the week of July 5th. Larger outdoor events would be allowed to resume during step three, which would be implemented no earlier than the week of July 26th — however, the government has provided no details on capacity limits for events in stage three.
“We have to make the health and safety of our company and audience members the number one priority,” Blackwell writes. “While the vaccine roll-out is moving forward, the number of active cases in the province continues to be high.”
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Despite the postponement of the two plays until 2021, 4th Line Theatre is planning to host a smaller theatrical event later this summer.
The Verandah Society, a collaboration between Peterborough actor Megan Murphy and actor/musician Kate Suhr that combines music with personal stories, will be coming to Winslow Farm in August. The Verandah Society is named after a story written by Murphy’s great uncle Clare Galvin in his 1993 book My Town My Memories, where he describes growing up in Peterborough in the 1930s when it was common for neighbours to spend their summer evenings on their verandahs.
“I approached Megan and Kate early in 2021 to inquire as to whether they would be interested in creating a standalone show exclusively for 4th Line,” Blackwell writes. “I am so glad they agreed. The Verandah Society is a cross between Wingfields Follies and Vinyl Cafe, with a folk/rock musical style and an ethereal feel.”
Musician Saskia Tomkins will join Murphy and Suhr for 10 performances of The Verandah Society in late August. Each performance will last 80 minutes, with no intermission, and tickets will go on sale in early July. The number of available tickets will depend on public health restrictions at the time of the performances.
The Ontario government announced late on Friday afternoon (May 21) that youth aged 12 and over will be eligible to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment as of 8 a.m. on Sunday, May 23rd.
Youth who book an appointment will receive the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only COVID-19 vaccine currently authorized by Health Canada for youth aged 12 and over.
Youth who are 12 years and older as of May 23 can book an appointment by phoning the provincial call centre at 1-833-943-3900, which is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week, or by booking online at ontario.ca/bookvaccine.
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Youth are turn 12 in 2021 but after May 23, can also book an appointment for a later date. Youth will have to be 12 years of age by the date of their appointment. The province says it expects to reach all youth aged 12 and over with a first dose before the end of June, and with a second dose by the end of August.
The Pfizer vaccine is also available at many pharmacies in Ontario, including in the greater Kawarthas region. As of Friday, another 600 pharmacies began offering the Pfizer vaccine to those 18 years and older, and eligibility will be expanded to those 12 years and older on Sunday. Visit covid-19.ontario.ca/vaccine-locations for a list of pharmacies offering Pfizer.
The province is also encouraging eligible family members who have not yet received their first dose of vaccine to also book their appointments along with youth in their family.
The seats have been empty at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough since the pandemic began in March 2020. The strategic recovery and resilience grants available from the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund are intended to help not-for-profit arts organizations like the Market Hall recover from the pandemic and prepare for reopening once public health restrictions are lifted. (Photo: Bradley Boyle)
After more than a year of closures, lost revenues, and lost dreams, Electric City Culture Council (EC3) and the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough have some good news for arts organizations in the city and county of Peterborough and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations.
Over $100,000 of Peterborough Arts Alive funding is now available for arts organizations working in any artistic discipline including visual arts, media arts, circus arts, theatre and performance arts, dance, music, literary arts, spoken word, and interdisciplinary arts.
As vaccines become available to much of the population, discourse turns from emergency relief towards recovery. However, much research, both at the national and international levels, indicates that recovery in the arts sector will be at least a two- to three-year process.
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The Peterborough Arts Alive Fund aims to help arts organizations both during the pandemic and the recovery period.
Successful applicants can use the fund’s strategic recovery and resilience grants to help fund anything from research and creative development for new artistic programming and organizational capacity building, to upgrading technological capacity and building practical tools and plans for a solid recovery.
“It’s a pretty sophisticated program,” says EC3 executive director Su Ditta. “I’d say it’s a bespoke program in the sense that it’s really looking at the needs and the experiences of arts organizations in our local community, and it really reflects an arts-forward city.”
Organizations with registered charitable status, incorporated not-for-profit organizations partnered with a registered charity as a fiscal sponsor, or ad hoc organizational collaborations with a charitable organization as lead applicant are all eligible to apply for the strategic recovery and resilience grants — so long as they have been operating for two years or longer, carried on with at least some activities during the pandemic, and are committed to resuming activities as soon as public health restrictions are lifted.
Priority will be given to professional arts organizations that support artistic work in any discipline and are led by paid and qualified professional personnel and governed by a board of directors. Grants will range from $1,500 to $10,000 to support arts organizations to recover from the pandemic and to prepare for reopening.
Eligible expenses and activities include personal protective equipment, renovations and plexiglass, technology upgrades, marketing and promotion, staff and volunteer training, developing creative content, and more.
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The Peterborough Arts Alive Fund, which has been a year in the making, started last spring when local educator and arts supporter Deborah Berrill — troubled by the sudden and devastating impacts the pandemic was having on the arts sector — reached out to Ditta at EC3.
“By late spring, it was clear it was going to be really bad and it was going to be a long haul,” Berrill recalls. “I was really concerned. Peterborough and the surrounding area are so special because we have all of these incredible artists here — it’s what makes Peterborough such an incredibly special place to live. And I wanted to contribute but I didn’t know how.”
“Deborah and her husband were really horrified about the impact of the pandemic on the local arts community,” Ditta says. “On venues being shut down, on artists losing commissions and exhibitions, on musicians having their tours cancelled. They were willing to donate some money and Deborah also offered to spend time raising some more money among her friends and colleagues who really care about the arts.”
“It mattered to me so much to support our artists because artists are the ones who support our whole well-being, our mental well-being, emotional well-being, our spiritual well-being,” Berrill adds.
That small ripple — Berrill’s phone call to Ditta — swelled into a wave. A $100,000 tidal wave.
Inspired by the public interest for arts fundraising, Ditta reached out to John Good — former director of fund development at the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough — to see if the foundation would host the funds Berrill and EC3 were raising. As an incorporated not-for-profit, EC3 does not have the registered charitable status required to issue charitable tax receipts for large donations.
The strategic recovery and resilience grants available from the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund are jointly administered by Electric City Culture Council and Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough. (Graphic: Electric City Culture Council)
Jennifer DeBues, the foundation’s co-executive director, then contacted Ditta to let her know people who have endowments with the foundation might be interested in donating to the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund.
“I then had contact with an anonymous donor, associated with the Community Foundation, who gave a really substantial donation to the Arts Alive Fund,” Ditta says.
The Peterborough Performing Arts Recovery Alliance — a group of 13 arts organizations and live performance venues in Peterborough and the surrounding region founded in August 2020 — also raising around $5,000 for the strategic recovery and resilience grants.
Then, in November 2020, Peterborough city council voted to make a one-time contribution of $40,000 to the fund, matching the $40,000 that had already been raised. That one-time contribution from the city was made possible largely thanks to councillor Kemi Akapo.
When councillors sat as the finance committee to review each page of the 2021 draft municipal budget, councillor Akapo moved that the city reallocate $40,000 of the $70,000 initially budgeted for new signage at the Peterborough Museum and Archives to the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund.
“Line by line, councillors pored through the budget within the arts, culture and heritage division, to see if they could find something that could be freed up,” Ditta explains.
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The fund now holds over $100,000 that promises to bolster not only local arts organizations, but also the local economy writ large.
“The arts are really essential to the downtown recovery, both in terms of attracting people downtown for food and beverages, but also because arts organizations spend a lot of their budgets at businesses downtown and all across the city,” Ditta says.
After a year of turmoil — and an immense amount of work from Deborah Berrill, EC3, the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough, the Peterborough Performing Arts Recovery Alliance, the City of Peterborough, and countless private donors, whose individual gifts ranged from $50 to $40,000 — the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund brings hope.
As we look towards recovery, there’s no doubt that more challenges are to yet come for the arts sector — indeed, for the entire community. As we look at how far we’ve come, however, the story of the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund demonstrates that those who are not afraid to act, and who are aware of what is at stake, can make the biggest difference.
To learn more about eligibility criteria and how to apply to the Peterborough Arts Alive Fund, visit ecthree.org/program/arts-alive-grants. Applications close on Monday, June 7th.
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