The Ontario government announced on Friday (May 29) that COVID-19 testing will now be available to more people in more locations across the province, and that the government is now considering a regional approach as it continues to reopen the province.

Premier Doug Ford made the comments during a media briefing at Queen’s Park where he announced the next phase of the government’s COVID-19 testing strategy, along with health minister Christine Elliott and Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams.

He first described the expanded COVID-19 testing to date, including proactive testing of hospital staff, long-term care residents and staff, correctional workers and inmates, and essential workers, as well as vulnerable populations and the staff who care for them in group homes, shelters, emergency child care centres, and other congregate settings.

Ford also encouraged all Ontarians who want a test to get one.

“If you have COVID-19 symptoms, if you’re worried you’ve been in contact with someone with COVID-19, if you or your family are worried about exposure — in short, if you feel you need a test — please, please go get a test. You will not be turned away.”

He said the expanded testing will result in finding more COVID-19 cases, but that is necessary to more quickly contain the spread of the virus and to complete contact tracing.

“We can’t manage what we can’t measure,” he explained. “The more people we test, the more contacts we can trace. We have an army of 2,000 contact tracers in the field right now following up on cases. We need to keep increasing that capacity. More testing will also help us better understand the trends.”

Ford said expanded testing is already providing the government with a clearer picture of what each region in the province is dealing with, and where public health measures are needed most.

“That is why I am now comfortable with asking our officials to look at a regional approach for staged reopening. This will be one option we consider as we move into stage two.”

Ford added that the government is only able to consider this option now “because we’re getting our testing to where we need it”. He said health officials are currently looking at what a regional model could look like.

“I know other jurisdictions have used this regional approach,” Ford said. “I want to look at how this has gone in other areas, what lessons we can learn.”

Several reporters at Friday’s media briefing questioned how a regional approach would be implemented, including how the government would control for people travelling between regions.

Both Ford and chief medical officer of health Dr. Williams did not provide specifics, only saying that various factors and questions would need to be considered.

When asked by a reporter about whether a regional approach would affect the timing of stage two reopening, health minister Elliott said the stage two timing would depend on an evaluation of the impact of stage one reopenings.

Elliott, who said Ontario has entered the “post-peak phase” of its fight against COVID-19, also outlined the next phase of the government’s COVID-19 testing plan, which includes three branches:

• Expanding who can get tested at the 129 COVID-19 assessment centres across the province, to include people who are asymptomatic (showing no symptoms) but who are concerned about exposure to the virus.
• Detecting and containing COVID-19 cases by expanding surveillance for vulnerable populations who are not showing symptoms, including in long-term care homes and other shared living spaces like shelters and group homes, as well as targeted testing of workplaces in priority sectors, particularly those where it may be difficult to physically distance.
• Reserve testing capacity to ensure a rapid response to COVID-19 outbreaks, including in specific neighbourhoods and regions, or hospitals and workplaces. This will include the rapid and agile deployment of mobile testing teams.

“Combined, this significant expansion of testing will provide valuable information about the spread of the virus in different communities across the province,” Elliott said. “We will continue to learn from this data and adjust or adapt as needed to ensure we continue to protect all Ontarians.”

Earlier on Friday morning, Ontario public health officials provided a technical briefing on Ontario’s enhanced testing strategy. A copy of that presentation is provided below.

PDF: Protecting Ontarians through Enhanced Testing
Protecting Ontarians through Enhanced Testing

It’s that time of year again.

Environment Canada has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for all of the greater Kawarthas region, except for Northumberland.

Conditions are favourable on Friday afternoon (May 29) for the development of severe thunderstorms that may be capable of producing strong wind gusts, large hail, and heavy rain.

Strong wind gusts can toss loose objects, damage weak buildings, break branches off trees and overturn large vehicles.

Environment Canada issues severe thunderstorm watches when atmospheric conditions are favourable for the development of thunderstorms that could produce one or more of the following: large hail, damaging winds, torrential rainfall.

The Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management recommends that you take cover immediately if threatening weather approaches.

On Wednesday (May 27), Parks Canada announced the Trent-Severn Waterway would open for the 2020 navigation season on Monday, June 1st — but with one lock remaining closed and with limited visitor access and basic services everywhere else.

This year’s navigation season, which usually begins on the first Friday of the Victoria Day long weekend, was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the waterway opens, there will still be some restrictions in place along with changes to normal procedures due to the pandemic.

Beginning on June 1st, this is what will be open:

• lockage
• boat launches
• access points
• mooring areas
• day-use areas (including green spaces, picnic areas, and parking lots)
• day-use trails (including some cycling access on designated trails and pathways)
• lockstation grounds
• public toilets (where enhanced cleaning protocols will be implemented).

However, all camping facilities will remain closed until as least Sunday, June 21st. All group activities and public events are suspended until further notice.

The Swift Rapids lockstation (Lock 43 in Muskoka Lakes) will not open on June 1st due to required structural repairs. Parks Canada expects the repair work will be completed later in June and the entire system will be open for navigation at that point.

There will also be some changes to how the Trent-Severn Waterway will operate due to the pandemic:

• nautical distancing must be maintained
• touchless locking will be in place
• boaters must stay on their vessel while locking
• cashless payment is preferred
• no rafting is allowed.

Parks Canada is requesting that boaters and visitors using the Trent-Severn Waterway to follow the advice of public health experts, including necessary hygiene practices and physical distancing of two metres from others.

For updates on using the waterway during COVID-19, visit pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern/visit/covid-19-info.

A major wrench has just been thrown into the plans to build a new Canadian Canoe Museum beside the Peterborough Lift Lock.

On Thursday (May 28), the museum announced that is own independent investigations have confirmed the designated site for the museum’s future building contains the chemical compound trichloroethylene (TCE).

A clear non-flammable liquid with a sweet smell, TCE was commonly used as an industrial solvent in the past. It is classified as a human carcinogen and a non-carcinogenic health hazard. Groundwater and drinking water contamination from industrial discharge of trichloroethylene is a major concern for human health and has resulted in numerous public health incidents and lawsuits in the U.S.

“All of us at the Canoe Museum, our project partners, and supporters are highly concerned and extremely disappointed by the situation,” says the museum’s executive director Carolyn Hyslop.

The ground water at 353 Hunter Street East, owned by Parks Canada, is believed to have been contaminated by chemicals seeping from an adjacent property. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks has issued a provincial officers order under the Environmental Protection Act to the property’s owner, directing it to undertake air quality, ground water, and additional onsite investigations and to provide associating remediation plans.

The museum has not identified the property owner, but only two factories were located in the area.

Westclox (formerly The Western Clock Company) operated a clock-making factory on Hunter Street, on the hill overlooking the Trent Canal, from 1922 until the early 1980s. The building, which has since been converted into condos and offices, is now called Time Square and is operated by the Skyline Group of Companies. It is unknown whether industrial solvents were used in the manufacture and assembly of clocks.

Fisher Gauge operated a metal die-casting plant at 194 Sophia Street near the Trent Canal. The company, which later became FisherCast Global, was acquired by DynaCast in 2008 and currently operates a factory on Neal Drive. Industrial solvents such as TCE are used for both cleaning and finishing metals.

“We are working with all parties including the Ministry, Parks Canada, and our community and funding partners to evaluate the overall impacts of these findings to our operations and our new museum build,” Hyslop says.

Ironically, the existing site of the Canadian Canoe Museum at 910 Monaghan Road (which has remained closed during the COVID-19 pandemic) was the former location of the Outboard Marine Corporation of Canada. The company, which operated from 1913 to 1990, manufactured outboard motors and related marine products, as well as other small engines, and used TCE in its manufacturing process. As was the practice at the time, the company occasionally discharged waste onto the ground — waste that included TCE.

Ground-breaking for the museum’s new facility, to be located alongside the Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway, was originally scheduled to begin this year. The 83,400 square-foot facility was designed by the award-winning Irish team of heneghan peng and Toronto’s Kearns Mancini Architects.

“While the full implications of this environmental interruption are not yet fully known, we are fully committed to building a new world-class museum that will deliver on its vision and serve the needs of its patrons and local community while honouring and preserving this unique cultural asset of national significance,” Hyslop says.

This story has been updated to include information about two factories that operated in the area.