For the fourth time since May, a body has been recovered from a lake in the northern Kawarthas.
Haliburton Highlands OPP are investigating after a body was found on Thursday afternoon (June 3) in Dark Lake in Wilberforce, located about 25 kilometres east of Haliburton.
The deceased person has been identified as 60-year-old Steven Honderich of Highlands East Township.
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A post-mortem examination is scheduled to take place in Toronto, but police do not suspect foul play.
This is the fourth apparently accidental death in the past three weeks in lakes in the northern Kawarthas region.
On May 12, Haliburton Highlands OPP found a 63-year-old woman without vital signs in Loon Lake southeast of Haliburton. On May 20, Bancroft OPP recovered the body of a 68-year-old Ajax man from Mink Lake north of Bancroft. On June 1, Bancroft OPP recovered the body of a 60-year-old Combermere man from Bells Rapids Lake north of Bancroft.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 870 new cases today, the fourth straight day of increases under 1,000. For the fifth day in a row, only Toronto and Peel are reporting triple-digit increases, and half of Ontario’s 34 health units are reporting 5 or fewer cases. The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased to 940, and the proportion of active cases has declined for the 45th straight day.
There’s been a double-digit increase in hospitalizations but also a double-digit decrease in both ICU admissions and patients on ventilators. Ontario is reporting 10 new deaths, with no new deaths in long-term care homes.
With almost 9.5 million vaccine doses administered, over 64% of Ontario’s total population has received at least a single dose. There has been a record increase of second doses administered for the second day in a row, with more than 800,000 people (almost 5.7% of the total population) now fully vaccinated.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 14 new cases to report (including 9 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Peterborough, and 1 in Haliburton) and an additional 20 cases resolved, with the net number of active cases across the region decreasing by 4 to 129. Active cases have fallen in every health unit, except in Kawartha Lakes where they have increased by 4 and in Haliburton where they have increased by 1. See below for details from each individual health unit in the region.
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Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (225) and Peel (167).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Niagara (55), Porcupine (49), Hamilton (45), Durham (44), Ottawa (43), Waterloo (37), Simcoe Muskoka (33), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (29), York (28), Middlesex-London (22), Halton (18), Windsor-Essex (17), and Brant (14), with smaller increases in Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (8) and Peterborough (7).
The remaining 17 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 5 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 59% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (314) among people ages 20-39 followed by 235 cases among people ages 40-59 and 203 cases among people 19 and under.
With 1,563 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 96.5% — the 45th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario is unchanged since yesterday at 2.8%, meaning that 28 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on June 2.
Ontario is reporting 10 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. The seven-day average of daily deaths has decreased by 1 to 15.
Hospitalizations have increased by 21 from yesterday to 729, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 30 to 546 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators falling by 29 to 370.
A total of 34,277 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 3,299 to 15,700.
A total of 9,493,005 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 150,884 from yesterday, and 834,981 people have been fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, a record increase of 53,818 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 5.67% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.37% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 64.43% of the total population, an increase of 1.02% 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 14 new cases to report, including 9 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Peterborough, and 1 in Haliburton. There are no new cases in Hastings Prince Edward for the third day in a row, and no new cases in Northumberland.
There are 6 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Peterborough, and 1 in Northumberland.
There has been 1 new hospitalization in Kawartha Lakes.
An additional 20 cases have been resolved, including 8 in Peterborough, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 2 in Northumberland.
There are currently 129 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 4 since yesterday, including 68 in Kawartha Lakes, 44 in Peterborough, 9 in Northumberland, 7 in Hastings Prince Edward (4 in Belleville, 1 in Prince Edward County, and 2 in North Hastings), and 1 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,514 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,449 resolved with 21 deaths), 1,028 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (917 resolved with 56 deaths), 923 in Northumberland County (897 resolved with 17 deaths), 119 in Haliburton County (117 resolved with 1 death), and 1,121 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,103 resolved with 11 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on May 30.
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: 1,514 (increase of 5)* Total variants of concern cases: 692 (increase of 2) Active cases: 44 (decrease of 3) Close contacts: 107 (decrease of 14) Deaths: 21 (no change) Resolved: 1,449 (increase of 8) Hospitalizations (total to date): 68 (no change)** ICU admissions (total to date): 15 (no change) Total tests completed: Over 52,750 (increase of 100) Total vaccine doses administered (residents and non-residents): 90,716 (increase of 11,566 as of June 3) Number of residents who have received first dose: 81,390 (increase of 9,270 as of June 3) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 9,388 (increase of 2,729 as of June 3) Outbreaks: Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #11 in Peterborough, Riverview Manor long-term care home in Peterborough (no change)
*The health unit is reporting 4 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 5 because 1 case has been added to a previous day.
**As of June 3, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 4 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1) and a total of 76 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: 2,070, including 1,028 in Kawartha Lakes, 923 in Northumberland, and 119 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 9 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Haliburton)* Total variants of concern cases: 734, including 375 in Kawartha Lakes, 326 in Northumberland, and 33 in Haliburton (increase of 4, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland) Active cases: 78, including 68 in Kawartha Lakes, 9 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (net increase of 3, including increase of 4 in Kawartha Lakes, decrease of 2 in Northumberland, and increase of 1 in Haliburton) Probable cases: 2 (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes) Hospitalizations (total to date): 76, including 42 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)** Deaths (including among probable cases): 74, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change) Resolved: 1,931, including 917 in Kawartha Lakes, 897 in Northumberland, and 117 in Haliburton (increase of 8, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 195,512 (increase of 432) Vaccine doses administered to residents: 104,784 (increase of 8,863 as of May 31) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 11,108 (increase of 3,773 as of May 31) Outbreaks: Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Medi-Share Inc. in Lindsay (no change)
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**As of June 3, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 1,121 (no change) Confirmed variants of concern cases: 489 (no change) Active cases: 7 (decrease of 4) Deaths: 11 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 5 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 2 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 1 (no change) Resolved: 1,103 (increase of 5) Tests completed: 145,490 (no change) Vaccine doses administered: 101,896 (increase of 2,570) Number of people fully vaccinated: 8,758 (increase of 502) Outbreaks: None (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 533,761 (increase of 870) COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 128,559 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 914); 954 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 2); 2,921 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 10) VOC R(t): 0.72 (no change as of June 2)* 7-day average of daily new cases: 940 (decrease of 38) Positivity rate: 2.8% (no change) Resolved: 514,999 (increase of 1,563), 96.5% of all cases (increase of 0.2%) Hospitalizations: 729 (increase of 21) Hospitalizations in ICU: 546 (decrease of 30) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 370 (decrease of 29) Deaths: 8,801 (increase of 10) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 15 (decrease of 1) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,951 (no change) Total tests completed: 15,308,960 (increase of 34,277) Tests under investigation: 15,700 (decrease of 3,299) Vaccination doses administered: 9,493,005 (increase of 150,884), 64.43% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 1.02%)** People fully vaccinated (two doses): 834,981 (increase of 53,818), 5.67% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.37%)**
*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 May 3 – June 2, 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 May 3 – June 2, 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 May 3 – June 2, 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 May 3 – June 2, 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 vaccinations in Ontario from May 3 – June 2, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses, and the blue line is the cumulative number of people fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
The Grove Theatre is a community-driven 450-seat open-air venue built into the garden grove of the Fenelon Falls Fairgrounds. It will host theatrical productions, concerts, community activities, and more. (Photo courtesy of The Grove Theatre)
If you are or know a student or youth over the age of 15 looking for a job this summer in the local arts industry, The Grove Theatre in Fenelon Falls is hiring.
The new outdoor amphitheatre, built into the garden grove of the Fenelon Fairgrounds, will be home to high-quality professional theatre, live music, and events for the entire Kawartha Lakes community and beyond. The Grove Theatre will also host community events, programming, and tours.
With support from the federal Canada Summer Jobs program and the provincial Ontario Summer Experience Program, The Grove Theatre is now seeking applicants for five new full-time summer positions: community coordinator, customer service supervisor, theatre technician, floor director – front of house, and administrative assistant.
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“All students and youth who fill these positions will have the amazing opportunity to see how a brand-new professional theatre works,” reads an email from The Grove Theatre. “In addition, they will have the chance to be mentored by a number of different community members and professionals who have experience not only in the arts, but business, fundraising, customer service, and more. These wonderful mentors will provide guidance and expertise about the position and field in general.”
For details about each position and eligibility, visit www.grovetheatre.ca/careers. The deadline to apply for each position is Friday, June 11th, with interviews taking place over the following two weeks. Three of the positions begin on June 28th and the other two on July 5th.
“These positions will help students and youth form stronger connections in the community, the arts, and support the development of their employable skills,” the theatre states.
While The Grove Theatre has postponed its inaugural major theatrical event, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Musical, until summer 2022 due to the pandemic, the theatre is still planning to present COVID-safe events during the summer.
Under step two of the provincial government’s reopening plan, outdoor performing arts with capacity limits could resume by July 5th.
GreenUP's executive director Brianna Salmon plants a native grass at Jiimaan'ndewemgadnong Pocket Park, located at the corner of King and Water Streets in downtown Peterborough. Native plants are an ideal choice for a low-maintenance garden, as their root systems can accommodate both drought and heavy rainfall. (Photo: GreenUP)
In the garden at this time of year you may notice the yellow blooms of the wood poppy, the fragrance of a lilac, or the pop of white on wild strawberries. Plants and trees bring us colour, texture, improved air quality, food for pollinators, and exceptional beauty.
Each week, GreenUP provides a story related to the environment. This week’s story is by Heather Ray, Director of Programs at GreenUP.
What I love most about the gardens I see around Peterborough is what you can’t see, what lies beneath the blooms, stems, and petals — the roots. The main function of the roots of a plant is to absorb water and nutrients from the soil and move them into the stem. The stem then distributes water and nutrients to the leaves.
Through photosynthesis, the leaves produce food that travels to the roots. The roots store this newly produced nutrition until it is needed.
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Amazingly, roots are able to do two things to help us water in the garden. First, roots will seek any pockets of water beneath the soil, especially during times of drought, to help keep a plant thriving. Second, during heavy rainfall periods, rain is absorbed into the soil and follows the deep roots further down into the ground to replenish groundwater.
Not long ago, GreenUP’s Hayley Goodchild hosted an online workshop on the City of Peterborough’s rain garden subsidy program. During that workshop, Goodchild explained the plants you choose matter when you are designing a garden to help capture rain or be “water wise” (tolerate droughts).
These choices are often not about the colour of the plant, the height, or the cost. These choices are about what you can’t see: how deep roots will grow.
Plants like big bluestem, a grass species native to southern Ontario, develop deep roots that allow them to survive on ground water during times of drought. (Photo: Tallgrass Prairie Center / University of Northern Iowa)
“Many of the plants that are well suited to rain gardens and water-wise landscapes are those with substantial root systems,” Goodchild says. “Some of these plants, like switchgrass, grow deep roots that can reach water many feet below the surface. Others, such as wild geranium, develop shallow but dense rhizomes and fibrous roots that hold lots of water.”
Plants like these have the potential to help us solve a number of climate change challenges. Communities and organizations, including GreenUP, have been advocating for and demonstrating these nature-based solutions, often called green infrastructure.
The Ontario Green Infrastructure Coalition explains that green infrastructure comprise the natural vegetative systems and green technologies that collectively provide society with a multitude of economic, environmental, and social benefits. Green infrastructure can include rain gardens, wetlands, parks, rain barrels, green roofs, and bioswales — channels designed to concentrate stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution.
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What makes green infrastructure effective? Green canopies and planted spaces like gardens can cool local waterways (helping our aquatic friends) as well as parks, sidewalks, and trails (aiding our human health). Other kinds of green infrastructure — like green roofs/walls or shade provided by trees — also support more efficient home and business energy systems.
In addition to these important benefits, green infrastructure is increasingly popular because of all those roots and the water management solutions they provide.
“By growing healthy and robust roots, these plants can withstand long periods without rain,” Goodchild explains. “When it does rain, these plants are effective at soaking up the rain and preventing runoff and soil erosion. In our region, many of the plants that do this best are native species.”
Native plants are often well suited to the alternating wet and dry conditions experienced during a Peterborough summer. (Photo: GreenUP)
You can maximize the many benefits of deep and healthy roots in your own garden. Roots take time to establish but you can help them by training the roots to grow long and deep into the ground.
Training your plant roots is all about how you water your plants, so here are five tips.
1. Choose the right plant for the right spot
Many native plants are accustomed to drought as well as heavy rainfall events.
The staff at the Ecology Park Native Plant and Tree Nursery are here to help you pick appropriate plants for your particular spaces.
2. Water your plants with more water but less often
You may be tempted to give your plants a small drink of water each day, but we recommend doing the opposite.
Give your plans a good long drink less often — once a week if it hasn’t rained one or two inches.
3. Water your plants directly at the roots
A volunteer uses a watering can to target water at the roots of a plant during GreenUP’s Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods planting event in Warsaw in 2020. The event created a water-wise garden at the Back Dam Park in Warsaw. (Photo: Leif Einarson / GreenUP)
The leaves of a plant do not need water sprinkled on them, so leave the sprinkler in the garage. Instead, focus your efforts around the base of the plants using a watering container or garden hose.
It may take longer to water your garden this way, but once the roots establish themselves, they will be working for you.
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4. Water with the rain by installing a rain barrel
Watering with a rain barrel not only saves you money (and helps conserve municipal or well water), it is also better for the health of your soil and plants.
5. Use mulch
Mulching around plants with shredded bark, shredded leaves, or compost will also help retain moisture in the soil.
This means you will use less water than you would for gardens with exposed soil.
A partnership between GreenUP and Green Communities Canada, this Depave Paradise project in the Kawartha Heights neighbourhood of Peterborough replaced impermeable asphalt with a rain garden. (Photo: Karen Halley / GreenUP)
GreenUP is proud to be working with the City of Peterborough on the Rain Garden Subsidy Program. If you are interested in installing a rain garden, please check out greenup.on.ca/ready-for-rain.
If you are being water wise in your garden, we would love to hear from you! Nominate your garden or a neighbour’s garden at greenup.on.ca/waterwise, or email Heather Ray at heather.ray@greenup.on.ca and share your water wise story.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
With Ontario’s stay-at-home order lifted as of today and the provincial government announcing schools will remain closed until the fall, the province is reporting 733 new cases today. This is the third straight day of cases under 1,000, and the seven-day average of daily cases has also fallen below 1,000 — the first time it has done so since last November.
For the fourth day in a row, only Toronto and Peel are reporting triple-digit increases, and almost half of Ontario’s 34 health units are reporting 5 or fewer cases for the second day in a row. The proportion of active cases has declined for the 44th straight day.
Hospitalizations and ICU admissions have fallen, although there has been an increase in patients on ventilators. Ontario is reporting 25 new deaths, with 1 new death in a long-term care home.
With more than 9.3 million vaccine doses administered, over 63% of Ontario’s total population has received at least a single dose. There has been a record increase of second doses administered, with 5.3% of the total population now fully vaccinated.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 10 new cases to report (including 5 in Peterborough, 4 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Northumberland) and an additional 28 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 18 to 133. Active cases have fallen in every health unit, except Haliburton which has no active cases. See below for details from each individual health unit in the region.
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Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (173) and Peel (134).
There are double-digit increases reported today in York (69), Hamilton (66), Ottawa (41), Durham (40), Middlesex-London (36), Waterloo (29), Porcupine (27), Simcoe Muskoka (20), Halton (18), Thunder Bay (15), Windsor-Essex (14), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (14), and Brant (10), with a smaller increase in Huron Perth (7)
The remaining 18 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 9 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 57% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (284) among people ages 20-39 followed by 207 cases among people ages 40-59 and 134 cases among people 19 and under.
With 1,733 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.1% to at 96.3% — the 44th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.6% to 2.8%, meaning that 28 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on June 1.
Ontario is reporting 25 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 1 new death in a long-term care home. The seven-day average of daily deaths remains unchanged at 16.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 96 from yesterday to 708, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 7 to 576 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators rising by 12 to 399.
A total of 31,768 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 3,509 to 18,999.
A total of 9,342,121 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 139,901 from yesterday, and 781,163 people have been fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, a record increase of 41,441 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 5.3% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.28% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 63.41% 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 10 new cases to report, including 5 in Peterborough, 4 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Northumberland. There are no new cases in Hastings Prince Edward or Haliburton.
There are 4 new regional cases of variants of concern, in Peterborough.
There has been 1 new hospitalization in Kawartha Lakes.
An additional 28 cases have been resolved, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Peterborough, 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 3 in Northumberland. Outbreaks at Campbellford Farm Supply LTD and an unidentified workplace in Peterborough County have been declared resolved.
There are currently 133 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 18 since yesterday, including 64 in Kawartha Lakes, 47 in Peterborough, 11 in Hastings Prince Edward (1 in Quinte West, 5 in Belleville, 1 in Prince Edward County, 1 in Central Hastings, and 3 in North Hastings), and 11 in Northumberland. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,509 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,441 resolved with 21 deaths), 1,018 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (911 resolved with 56 deaths), 923 in Northumberland County (895 resolved with 17 deaths), 118 in Haliburton County (117 resolved with 1 death), and 1,121 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,099 resolved with 11 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on May 30.
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: 1,509 (increase of 5) Total variants of concern cases: 690 (increase of 4) Active cases: 47 (decrease of 1) Close contacts: 121 (decrease of 20) Deaths: 21 (no change) Resolved: 1,441 (increase of 6) Hospitalizations (total to date): 68 (no change)* ICU admissions (total to date): 15 (no change) Total tests completed: Over 52,650 (increase of 150) Total vaccine doses administered (residents and non-residents): 79,150 (increase of 9,161 as of May 27) Number of residents who have received first dose: 72,120 (increase of 7,921 as of May 27) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 6,659 (increase of 1,807 as of May 20) Outbreaks: Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #11 in Peterborough, Riverview Manor long-term care home in Peterborough (decrease of 1)**
*As of June 2, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 5 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1) and a total of 76 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
**An outbreak at unidentified workplace #10 in Peterborough County was declared resolved on June 2.
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: 2,059, including 1,018 in Kawartha Lakes, 923 in Northumberland, and 118 in Haliburton (increase of 5, including 4 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)* Total variants of concern cases: 730, including 372 in Kawartha Lakes, 325 in Northumberland, and 33 in Haliburton (no change) Active cases: 75, including 64 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Northumberland, and 0 in Haliburton (decrease of 12, including 10 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland) Probable cases: 1 (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes) Hospitalizations (total to date): 75, including 41 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)** Deaths (including among probable cases): 74, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change) Resolved: 1,923, including 911 in Kawartha Lakes, 895 in Northumberland, and 117 in Haliburton (increase of 17, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes and 3 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 195,080 (increase of 743) Vaccine doses administered to residents: 104,784 (increase of 8,863 as of May 31) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 11,108 (increase of 3,773 as of May 31) Outbreaks: Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Medi-Share Inc. in Lindsay (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 June 2, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 2).
***An outbreak at Campbellford Farm Supply LTD 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: 1,121 (no change) Confirmed variants of concern cases: 489 (no change) Active cases: 11 (decrease of 5) Deaths: 11 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 5 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 2 (no change) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 1 (no change) Resolved: 1,099 (increase of 5) Tests completed: 145,490 (increase of 10) Vaccine doses administered: 99,326 (increase of 2,222) Number of people fully vaccinated: 8,256 (increase of 332) Outbreaks: None (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 532,891 (increase of 733) COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 127,645 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 938); 952 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 3); 2,911 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 44) VOC R(t): 0.72 (no change as of June 2)* 7-day average of daily new cases: 978 (decrease of 52) Positivity rate: 2.8% (increase of 0.8%) Resolved: 513,436 (increase of 1,733), 96.3% of all cases (increase of 0.1%) Hospitalizations: 708 (decrease of 96) Hospitalizations in ICU: 576 (decrease of 7) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 399 (increase of 12) Deaths: 8,791 (increase of 25) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 16 (no change) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,951 (increase of 1) Total tests completed: 15,274,683 (increase of 31,768) Tests under investigation: 18,999 (increase of 3,509) Vaccination doses administered: 9,342,121 (increase of 139,901), 63.41% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.95%)** People fully vaccinated (two doses): 781,163 (increase of 41,441), 5.30% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.28%)**
*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 May 2 – June 1, 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 May 2 – June 1, 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 May 2 – June 1, 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 May 2 – June 1, 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 vaccinations in Ontario from May 2 – June 1, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses, and the blue line is the cumulative number of people fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
Elementary and secondary school students in Ontario will not be returning to in-class learning until the fall.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the announcement at a media conference at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Wednesday (June 2), along with education minister Stephen Lecce and health minister Christine Elliott.
Teachers and parents have been waiting for several weeks for the provincial government to make the decision on whether or not schools will reopen before the end of the school year. The decision comes on the same day Ontario lifted its stay-at-home order.
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“I know this is very difficult news,” Ford said. “It was a hard choice to make, but I will not take unnecessary risks with our children right now. The fact is we’re fighting a third wave driven by variants.”
Ford referred to recent modelling presented by Ontario’s science advisory table that the province could see an increase of six to 11 per cent in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases if schools were to reopen.
“It would be irresponsible to put two million kids in the classroom for eight hours a day,” Ford said, referring to the B.1.617.2 variant that originated in India and is now known to be in Ontario. “We know it’s going to spread. Then they’re going to bring it home, they’re going to give it to their parents, they’re going to give it to family members, they’re going to give it to their grandparents, and here we go again.”
Ford said the government will focus on getting students and teachers vaccinated over the summer for a “safe and normal return to school in September.’
The province expects to offer a first dose of Pfizer vaccine to all youth aged 12 and older before the end of June, with a second dose before the end of August. The province also expects to offer all education workers a second dose by the week of August 15, for those who have not already received their second dose by that time.
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However, COVID-19 vaccinations will not be mandatory for students before they return to school in the fall.
“We can’t force anyone to go get a vaccination,” Ford said in response to a reporter’s question, even though other vaccinations are already required to attend school in Ontario — including for tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps, and chickenpox — under the province’s Immunization of School Pupils Act.
The province says it will allow school boards to proceed with outdoor graduation ceremonies for all students in June. Graduating students will be able to return to school for such ceremonies, where physical distancing is possible, with elementary school ceremonies organized by class and secondary school ceremonies organized by homeroom or quadmestered class.
Directly addressing Ontario students, Ford said “I want schools to host in-person outdoor graduation events and other opportunities for you to meet with your friends and reconnect outside before the end of the year.”
While schools will remain closed for in-person learning, emergency child care will continue until the end of June to align with the end of the elementary school year. Before- and after-school programs will remain closed and will continue to not charge parent fees, which is prohibited during the remote learning period.
Licensed child care centres may resume serving school-aged children for full-day programming over the summer months, and before- and after-school programs that operate as a camp over the summer will be permitted to do so, with both centre and programs following health and safety guidance from the Ministry of Health.
Referring to Ontario’s reopening plan, Ford said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that Ontario will be able to proceed to step one earlier than the scheduled date of June 14.
“Right now we’re waiting for (chief medical officer of health) Dr. Williams and his team to tell us when we may be ready to do so,” Ford added.
This story has been updated with additional details from the media conference and a media release from the province.
The City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service in Lindsay. (Photo: City of Kawartha Lakes)
Two people have been arrested following a home invasion in Lindsay early Tuesday morning (June 1).
At around 6:50 a.m. on Tuesday, Kawartha Lakes police responded to a report of a home invasion at a residence on Wellington Street.
The home’s occupants told police that five people had forcibly entered the residence, with two of the invaders pointing firearms at one of the occupants. All five suspects had fled the scene in a vehicle by the time police arrived.
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Police were able to identify two of the suspects through witness statements and video surveillance and, on Wednesday, arrested a 23-year-old female suspect and a young offender.
Police will not be releasing the names of the suspects and any information that may lead to the identify of the young offender, in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act
The female suspect and young offender have both been charged with break and enter with intent, robbery with firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a weapon,
pointing a firearm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, careless use of a firearm, weapon, prohibited device or ammunition, knowledge of unauthorized possession of firearm, and knowledge of unauthorized possession of a weapon.
Both suspects are being held in custody for a bail hearing and will appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Lindsay.
Police are seeking the other three suspects in this crime and are asking anyone who may have information to contact then at 705-324-5252. You can also provide information anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.khcrimestoppers.com.
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
With the Ontario government confirming the stay-at-home order will expire on Wednesday (June 2), the province is reporting 699 new cases today — the lowest daily increase since October 17 when 658 cases were reported.
With the stay-at-home order expiring, people are now free to travel within the province for non-essential purposes including going to their cottages. However, all other current health restrictions will remain in effect until the province begins step one of its reopening plan on June 14. This includes limiting indoor gatherings to household members only and outdoor gatherings to a maximum of five people. Essential retail will remain limited to 25 per cent capacity, and non-essential retail is limited to curbside pickup and delivery only. For a full list of restrictions in place before step one, visit ontario.ca/page/reopening-ontario.
For the third day in a row, only Toronto and Peel are reporting triple-digit increases, and almost half of Ontario’s 34 health units are reporting 5 or fewer cases. The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased to 1,030 and the proportion of active cases has decreased for the 43rd straight day.
Hospitalizations have increased, although the increase may be due to underreporting by more than 10% of hospitals yesterday. There has been a large decrease in ICU admissions and a smaller increase in patients on ventilators. Ontario is reporting 9 new deaths, with no new deaths in long-term care homes.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 6 new cases to report (including 4 in Peterborough and 2 in Kawartha Lakes) and an additional 44 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region falling by 39 to 151. Active cases have fallen in Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Hastings Prince Edward, with an increase of 1 active case in Peterborough. Haliburton has no active cases.
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Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (207) and Peel (144).
There are double-digit increases reported today in York (52), Durham (50), Hamilton (44), Ottawa (39), Waterloo (25), Windsor-Essex (19), Simcoe Muskoka (18), Halton (17), Niagara (16), Porcupine (14), Middlesex-London (11), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (10), with a smaller increase in Brant (6).
The remaining 19 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 7 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 63% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (281) among people ages 20-39 followed by 186 cases among people ages 40-59 and 159 cases among people 19 and under.
With 1,568 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 96.2% — the 43rd straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.7% to 3.6%, meaning that 36 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 31.
Ontario is reporting 9 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. The seven-day average of daily deaths has decreased by 3 from yesterday to 16.
Hospitalizations have increased by 73 from yesterday to 804, but this increase may be due to underreporting by more than 10% of hospitals yesterday. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 34 to 583 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 5 to 387.
A total of 20,262 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 8,403 to 15,490.
A total of 9,202,220 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 120,195 from yesterday, and 739,722 people have been fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 32,890 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 5.02% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.22% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 62.46% of the total population, an increase of 0.82% 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 6 new cases to report, including 4 in Peterborough and 2 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Hastings Prince Edward, Northumberland, or Haliburton.
There are 10 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 4 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, and 3 in Peterborough.
An additional 44 cases have been resolved, including 25 in Kawartha Lakes, 9 in Hastings Prince Edward, 6 in Northumberland, and 4 in Peterborough.
There are currently 151 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 39 since yesterday, including 74 in Kawartha Lakes, 48 in Peterborough, 16 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 5 in Belleville, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 3 in Prince Edward County, 1 in Central Hastings, and 4 in North Hastings), and 13 in Northumberland. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,504 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,435 resolved with 21 deaths), 1,014 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (897 resolved with 56 deaths), 922 in Northumberland County (892 resolved with 17 deaths), 118 in Haliburton County (117 resolved with 1 death), and 1,121 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,094 resolved with 11 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on May 30.
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: 1,504 (increase of 5)* Total variants of concern cases: 686 (increase of 3) Active cases: 48 (increase of 1) Close contacts: 141 (decrease of 8) Deaths: 21 (no change) Resolved: 1,435 (increase of 4) Hospitalizations (total to date): 68 (no change)** ICU admissions (total to date): 15 (no change) Total tests completed: Over 52,500 (no change) Total vaccine doses administered (residents and non-residents): 79,150 (increase of 9,161 as of May 27) Number of residents who have received first dose: 72,120 (increase of 7,921 as of May 27) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 6,659 (increase of 1,807 as of May 20) Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace #10 in Peterborough County, Fairhaven long-term care home in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #11 in Peterborough, Riverview Manor long-term care home in Peterborough (no change)
*The health unit is reporting 4 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 5 because 1 case has been added to a previous day.
**As of June 1, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 6 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 1) and a total of 76 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: 2,054, including 1,014 in Kawartha Lakes, 922 in Northumberland, and 118 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Kawartha Lakes)* Total variants of concern cases: 730, including 372 in Kawartha Lakes, 325 in Northumberland, and 33 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 4 in Kawartha Lakes and 3 in Northumberland) Active cases: 87, including 74 in Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland, and 0 in Haliburton (decrease of 29, includng 23 in Kawartha Lakes and 6 in Northumberland) Probable cases: None (decrease of 1 in Kawartha Lakes) Hospitalizations (total to date): 74, including 40 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: 1,906, including 897 in Kawartha Lakes, 892 in Northumberland, and 117 in Haliburton (increase of 31, including 25 in Kawartha Lakes and 6 in Northumberland) Tests completed: 194,337 (increase of 541) Vaccine doses administered to residents: 104,784 (increase of 8,863 as of May 31) Number of residents fully vaccinated: 11,108 (increase of 3,773 as of May 31) Outbreaks: Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Campbellford Farm Supply LTD, Medi-Share Inc. in Lindsay (no change)
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**As of June 1, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 2 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 1).
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: 1,121 (decrease of 2) Confirmed variants of concern cases: 489 (decrease of 1) Active cases: 16 (decrease of 11) Deaths: 11 (no change) Currently hospitalized: 5 (decrease of 1) Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 2 (decrease of 1) Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 1 (no change) Resolved: 1,094 (increase of 9) Tests completed: 145,480 (increase of 20) Vaccine doses administered: 97,104 (increase of 2,077) Number of people fully vaccinated: 7,924 (increase of 174) Outbreaks: None (no change)
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Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 532,158 (increase of 699) COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 126,707 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 762); 949 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 1); 2,867 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 45) VOC R(t): 0.72 (decrease of 0.02 as of May 24)* 7-day average of daily new cases: 1,030 (decrease of 48) Positivity rate: 3.6% (increase of 0.7%) Resolved: 511,703 (increase of 1,568), 96.2% of all cases (increase of 0.2%) Hospitalizations: 804 (increase of 73) Hospitalizations in ICU: 583 (decrease of 34) Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 387 (increase of 5) Deaths: 8,766 (increase of 9) 7-day average of daily new deaths: 16 (decrease of 3) Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,950 (no change) Total tests completed: 15,242,915 (increase of 20,262) Tests under investigation: 15,490 (increase of 8,403) Vaccination doses administered: 9,202,220 (increase of 120,195), 62.46% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.82%)** People fully vaccinated (two doses): 739,722 (increase of 32,890), 5.02% of Ontario’s total population (increase of 0.22%)**
*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 May 1 – May 31, 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 May 1 – May 31, 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 May 1 – May 31, 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 May 1 – May 31, 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 vaccinations in Ontario from May 1 – May 31, 2021. The red line is the cumulative number of daily doses administered, the dotted green line is a five-day rolling average of daily doses, and the blue line is the cumulative number of people fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine. (Graphic: kawarthaNOW.com)
A woman receives her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the mass vaccination clinic at the Evinrude Centre in Peterborough on May 26, 2021. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
Temper optimism with continued diligence.
That was the key message from Peterborough medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra during Peterborough Public Health media briefing held on Tuesday (June 1), as the number of local active COVID-19 cases has plummeted alongside reported new cases of the virus.
As of Monday (May 31) at 4:30 p.m., the number of active cases in Peterborough city and county, Curve Lake and Hiawatha was reported as 47 — a huge decrease of 33 from the previous Friday. The number of close contacts of positive cases being monitored has also dropped significantly and now stands at 147, 57 less than what was reported Friday.
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“We’ve had six straight days with single-digit new case counts,” said Dr. Salvaterra. “Considerably more cases are resolving than new ones are being reported, so we’re on the positive side of this. It certainly appears that our third wave has crested.”
While May brought the second highest number of new cases for a single month at 272, the weekly new case count has dropped consistently from 91 during the week of May 10 to last week’s total of 41.
Tragically, however, an increase has been seen as of late in the number of COVID-related deaths, the latest being that of a 67-year-old man who died on Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths since the pandemic began to 21. And the number of outbreaks has risen to four, the latest one being reported at Riverview Manor where two staff members became infected.
In his remarks during Tuesday’s briefing, Peterborough board of health chair and Selwyn mayor Andy Mitchell echoed Dr. Salvaterra’s optimism but not without a clear warning.
“All of this is good news but the reality is we’re at a crossroads,” Mitchell said. “Go too slowly and people’s exhaustion and the economic hurt will push people to ignore the rules and make their own. Go too fast and we risk a resurgence that will only prolong the return to normalcy. As encouraging as the news is, it’s important that we all continue to be vigilant. If we go too fast we will take longer to reach our destination.”
With the number of people tested for the virus having dropped to 450 last week from about 700 weekly earlier this month, Dr. Salvaterra countered the possibility that fewer new cases being detected is a result of less testing.
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“The first hypothesis is fewer people are sick or fewer people have been in contact with cases,” Dr. Salvaterra said. “Both might indeed be true. We’ve seen the case count drop. With case counts dropping, the number of people who are identified as high-risk contacts has also dropped. We typically have to send all of those folks for testing at least twice during their self-isolation period. So right there, you have an explanation.”
Dr. Salvaterra added ongoing wastewater surveillance provides a much clearer indication of more or less COVID-19 in the community than the testing of residents.
“That (surveillance results) doesn’t depend on people going to get tested. If you use a toilet, you are part of that wastewater surveillance. It’s a much more reliable source of information. We continue to watch those numbers and will be presenting the latest data later this week.”
On the vaccination front, Dr. Salvaterra confirmed at least 60 per cent of eligible residents have received at least a first dose of vaccine. As of 5 p.m. last Thursday, 79,150 vaccine doses had been administered locally, 72,120 of those going into residents’ arms with 6,659 having received two doses and considered fully vaccinated. These numbers will be updated this Friday (June 4).
“There is more demand than we have (vaccine) supply,” said Dr. Salvaterra, repeating what has become a regular refrain since vaccines were made available.
“For our senior residents who are over 80 years of age who are now eligible for a second dose, I know you must be frustrated. We did not have any appointments open yesterday but we are hoping to post (more appointments) as soon as we get confirmation of supply.”
Local pharmacies, added Dr. Salvaterra, will play “a larger role in our vaccine rollout in the weeks and months to come. We’re seeing their supply increase steadily.”
Peterborough Public Health communications manager Brittany Cadence outlined how the provincial booking system at www.ontario.ca/bookvaccine works for those seeking a second dose appointment at a pharmacy.
“You receive two options. Option A is to book through the provincial system that takes you to one of the mass immunization clinics run by Peterborough Public Health while option B lets you choose a participating pharmacy.”
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During the briefing, Dr. Salvaterra received word that the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has just approved the mixing and matching of vaccines, meaning people can get a second dose of vaccine that is different from AstraZeneca.
“If you received AstraZeneca, you can choose to have a second dose of AstraZeneca or have either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. That is in writing now.”
Starting on June 14, those 70 to 79 years of age can begin booking their second dose appointments. The following weeks will see eligibility to book second dose appointment opened to lower age groups.
With the goal of 60 per cent of eligible residents vaccinated now reached, Dr. Salvaterra isn’t setting a specific target date for the 70 per cent mark.
“As soon as possible,” she offered, adding “The more vaccine that the province can give us, the faster we’ll go. We have additional capacity when we look at the PRHC (Peterborough Regional Health Centre) clinic and we look at pharmacies and family doctors and nurse practitioners. We still have some extra room to go. All we need is the vaccine.”
Also commenting during Tuesday’s briefing was Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien.
A pair of children's shoes on the steps of Peterborough City Hall, part of a community memorial created in response to last week's discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
Similar to what’s been happening in cities across Canada, a makeshift memorial has appeared on the steps of Peterborough City Hall in Peterborough-Nogojiwanong, following last week’s discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.
Last Thursday (May 27), the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced preliminary findings from a ground-penetrating radar survey have revealed the remains of 215 children, some as young as three years old, are buried on the grounds of the what was Canada’s largest residential school.
The news, which has made headlines around the world, is once again shining a terrible light on Canada’s treatment of its Indigenous peoples, leading to further calls on the Roman Catholic Church — which operated most of the residential schools — to apologize and take responsibility.
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At Peterborough City Hall, where the flags are flying at half-mast, people have been leaving children’s shoes, toys, and other mementos on the steps.
Two local Indigenous women, Janet McCue and Amanda Brown, are among those who have been visiting the tribute.
McCue is from Curve Lake First Nation and Brown is from Listuguj First Nation on the border of Quebec and New Brunswick but grew up in Peterborough. She was part of Canada’s infamous “Sixties Scoop”, when Indigenous children were removed from their homes and placed for adoption with mainly non-Indigenous families.
Tributes left on the steps of Peterborough City Hall. (Photo: Jeannine Taylor / kawarthaNOW)The memorial on the steps of Peterborough City Hall. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)“Every Child Matters” is written in chalk in front of the memorial on the steps of Peterborough City Hall. (Photo: Bruce Head / kawarthaNOW)
“These are our babies and there’s many many more, and we need to find them all so we can send them home,” Brown said, choking back tears, when asked why she was coming to the memorial.
“This country came together over 16 white boys, including myself,” she added, referring to the deaths in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in Saskatchewan in 2018. “But it doesn’t seem like too many people care about 215 (Indigenous children) … that they’re nothing.”
McCue brought her drum, which is labelled with a sticker “Justice for Cileana”. McCue is a relative of 22-year-old Cileana Taylor, who was taken off life support in February 2021 nearly six months after being allegedly beaten by her then-boyfriend, Jordan Morin.
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McCue said people have been gathering at the memorial at 2:15 p.m. in the afternoon.
McCue and Brown, both wearing orange “Every Child Matters” shirts, drummed and sang in front of the memorial.
VIDEO: Janet McCue and Amanda Brown at Peterborough City Hall – June 1, 2021
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