Peterborough residents won’t be celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday this year — at least not with a public fireworks display.

With the continued uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on public gatherings, the Rotary Victoria Day Fireworks and Family Night in Peterborough has been cancelled.

The 18th annual free event had been scheduled for Saturday, May 16th at Del Crary Park in downtown Peterborough.

Presented jointly by the Rotary Club of Peterborough and the Rotary Club of Peterborough-Kawartha, last year’s event featured live music, children’s activities, food and drink vendors, and a fireworks display above Little Lake.

The event is expected to return in 2021.

A COVID-19 screening procedure conducted early Friday morning (March 20) at a manufacturing plant east of Peterborough left at least one employee both angry and concerned — pointing to the challenges faced by companies that are attempting to keep their employees safe by conducting screening during the COVID-19 pandemic.

McCloskey International in Otonabee-South Monaghan makes equipment used in the mining, aggregates, recycling, and process industries. According to an employee who contacted kawarthaNOW, workers were told on Thursday (March 19) they would be screened on arrival for work early the next day, but the procedure put in place was much different than what they were told.

“We were told we would be screened in our cars when we arrived at work today, and everybody was kind of okay with that,” said the employee, who requested his name be withheld out of concern for his job. “But when we arrived, we were told to park our cars and go in one entrance, use the same punch clock, and then everyone was packed into a very narrow alleyway of a warehouse to stand and wait to have their temperature taken and sign a little questionnaire.”

“Everyone was packed tight together. There were no masks or gloves. I wore my neck warmer over my nose and mouth and I had my work gloves on.”

Joe Sullivan, McCloskey International’s manager of human resources and health and safety, says the company implemented the screening procedure to “make our facility as safe as possible” for employees. He points out the company was adhering to the recommendation from Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, issued last Monday (March 16), which advises that Ontarians avoid large gatherings of over 50 people.

“We never exceeded 50 people but we got to the point where it was just too much, so we asked people to disperse,” he explains. “It shouldn’t have been, but it got to the point where it was close to 50 people. When we look at it now, that just won’t be allowed to happen again.”

Sullivan admits there were problems with the screening procedure, but points out it was the first day the procedure was done.

“Can we do better? Absolutely. Our quest is to get this thing done right. It’s uncharted waters for many people and people are concerned. We want to make sure that we do everything we can to mitigate the concerns and keep people healthy. That was our first go at it today. The good news is, at the end of the day, all checked out fine. We had no symptoms, no major concerns. We’re very, very thankful for that.”

kawarthaNOW also contacted Peterborough Public Health, which did not comment on the screening procedure at McCloskey but instead pointed to infection control resources for workplaces, including providing clean hand-washing facilities, disinfecting surfaces, removing shared items (dishes, cutlery, magazines) from employee common areas, implementing staggered shifts, enforcing social distancing guidelines, and more.

“We’ve communicated all the steps were put to us through the public health unit, and posted our necessary signage indicating our staff respect social distancing,” Sullivan observes. “We’ve got sanitizer stations set up.”

Sullivan says McCloskey has also reached out to Peterborough Public Health for additional guidance on how to control groups that tend to congregate.

For his part, the employee noted he has serious concerns about being potentially exposed to the virus, as he has both elderly parents who are vulnerable to illness and young children.

“My supervisor said they were going to try something different Monday, so who knows what the plan will be then,” the employee said.

“We definitely are going to continue to screen,” Sullivan said. “That gives everyone peace of mind. For us, it was about making sure that we did that, and now turn around and scrub the system to make it even better and more effective and safer yet.”

“The last thing we want to do is scare people. We want to make sure we’re going in the right direction. The big find for us was that everyone screened well and there was no issue.”

If you want to support patients, frontline healthcare workers, and staff at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) during the COVID-19 crisis, the PRHC Foundation is encouraging donations.

PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway says the COVID-19 crisis is going to bring unprecedented challenges to PRHC.

“Your hospital needs you now more than ever,” she says. We must ensure our frontline healthcare professionals and staff have the tools, technology, and supports they need to care for their sickest patients — and for themselves — during this difficult time.”

The hospital’s key needs range from lifesaving equipment and technology to supports for patients and frontline healthcare workers and staff, according to Heighway.

She says “critical funds” are required now to ensure PRHC can respond quickly to the hospital’s fast-evolving needs as the impact of this virus is felt.

“PRHC’s expert healthcare professionals, staff, and leaders are on the frontline of this crisis and they’re mobilizing,” Heighway explains. “They’re ramping up to ensure the right resources are in place, getting ready to take care of us and the people we love with the same expertise, compassion, and dedication they demonstrate every day.”

“In the same way that PRHC’s teams are mobilizing to support you, we’re mobilizing now so we can be ready to support them as soon as help is needed. We must act quickly and do whatever we can to lessen the impact on our community, our hospital, its patients, and our frontline healthcare professionals.”

Heighway encourages anyone wishing to show their gratitude to PRHC’s healthcare professionals and staff to share a special message of hope or thanks through the PRHC Foundation’s “Share Your Message” option at its website at www.prhcfoundation.ca. No donation is required to share your message.

If you are able to donate, you can share your message and make your donation through PRHC Foundation’s Grateful Hearts program.

Working in partnership with PRHC, the Foundation has committed to sharing these messages daily with the hospital’s doctors, nurses, and staff via the hospital’s internal communications channels — providing a boost to morale when it’s needed most.

“The continued spread of COVID-19 both here at home and around the world has many of us feeling understandably anxious and worried,” Heighway notes.

“It’s also inspiring many of us to wonder how we can help. By making a donation and sharing a message of hope and thanks, you’ll be standing behind our frontline healthcare workers as they respond to the challenge ahead, helping to ease their burden.”

For more information or to donate to PRHC Foundation over the phone, call 705-876-5000. To donate online, send a Grateful Hearts message, or to send a message without a donation, visit www.prhcfoundation.ca. Donations will also be accepted by mail, care of PRHC Foundation, 1 Hospital Drive, Peterborough, ON  K9J 7C6.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lakefield Animal Welfare Society (LAWS) is temporarily closing its doors effective Friday, March 27th. The no-kill shelter is seeking people to foster or adopt the cats in its care.

Shortly after announcing the temporary closure on Facebook on Friday night (March 20) and identifying an urgent need for supporters to adopt or foster all of its animals, LAWS had an “overwhelming response” for the dogs in its care, and will be completing all dog adoptions and fosters internally.

However, the shelter has a number of cats in its care that still require homes.

Beginning on Monday (March 23) at 9 a.m., pictures and details of the cats will be posted in the front windows of the LAWS shelter at 2887 Lakefield Road in Lakefield.

Because of social distancing requirements, no-one will be allowed entry into the shelter to look at or meet the cats. If you are interested in adopting or fostering a cat, you must choose a cat based on the picture and details and by talking to LAWS staff.

Once you have decided on a cat, a LAWS staff member will remove the cat’s picture from the window and retrieve your chosen cat from inside the building. You must have your own cat carrier to transport the animal.

Selection of cats will be on a first come, first served basis. If you choose to adopt or foster a cat, you will be solely responsible for any vet care needed by the cat once it leaves LAWS.

LAWS will reopen at an undetermined date in the future only when it is deemed safe for staff, volunteers, and clients to be onsite.

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit has announced three residents of Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon have been confirmed as having COVID-19.

The confirmed cases are a 61-year-old man, an 89-year-old man, and a 94-year-old woman. All three residents are in isolation at the facility.

These are the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a nursing home in the area served by the HKPR District Health Unit.

“We know our older residents are more vulnerable to this virus,” says Dr. Lynn Noseworthy, medical officer of health for the HKPR District Health Unit. “Because of the age and medical condition of their residents, long-term care homes in our area will often see a variety of illness throughout the winter months.”

“Health unit staff have been working with the staff of the home for some time now to ensure infection prevention and control measures are in place.”

Pinecrest administrator Mary Carr says the facility has been conducting active screening of visitors since Thursday, March 12th and that visitation to the facility has been restricted since Saturday, March 14th, based on the direction of Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.

“We are focused on providing our residents with the best care possible during this difficult time,” Carr says. “Our staff are going above and beyond to ensure our residents are receiving the care they require. We are grateful for their commitment and for the support and assistance we are receiving from public health, our community partners, and our family members.”

With the confirmation of these cases of COVID-19 in the facility, Carr says residents have all been isolated into separate areas, meals are being served on trays, and staff have been using personal protective equipment (PPE) in their care of all residents.

The home, which houses 65 residents, had seen some illness in residents in the past week and a respiratory outbreak was declared on Wednesday, March 18th.

Tests were done on the three residents and their test results were positive for COVID-19.

“With cases now in a nursing home in our area, it’s more important than ever that we all do our part to prevent the further spread of this virus,” Dr. Noseworthy says.

“We need to work together to protect our older and vulnerable family, friends, and neighbours and this means doing our part by washing our hands, practising cough and sneeze etiquette, staying home when we are ill, and not visiting medically fragile people during this time.”

There are now nine positive cases of COVID-19 in the area served by the HKPR District Health Unit and three positive cases in the area served by Peterborough Public Health.

For the first time in its 20-year history, Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival has been cancelled — the latest high-profile local event to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 20th annual event had been scheduled for Saturday, June 13th, with paddler registration having just opened on Tuesday, March 3th.

The festival is a major fundraiser for breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC), having raised more than $3.6 million over the past 19 years, including $241,738.54 at last year’s festival. This year’s fundraising goal was $202,020.20, an amount that recognized the festival’s 20th anniversary event in 2020.

“After discussions with the PRHC Foundation, and giving the situation serious consideration, it is with a very heavy heart that we have decided to cancel our 2020 event,” festival chair Gina Lee said in a statement.

“As you can well imagine, it takes months and a substantial financial commitment to plan an event of our size. The uncertainty of the situation makes it very difficult for us to continue with our preparations. More importantly, the health and safety of our community is of paramount importance and for all of these reasons, we feel this is the best and most responsible course of action.”

“Our festival is a vital fundraiser for the PRHC Foundation, supporting world-class breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment at PRHC. We remain passionate and committed to raising funds and supporting this year’s important fundraising priority: RIVA (Robotic IV Automation) technology. The website will remain open to accept donations and we hope that you will join us in our efforts.”

Organizers cancelled the festival based on the advice of public health authorities. The festival involves a significant investment of people and resources, and requirements for social distancing and uncertainly about how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last contributed to the decision to cancel.

Because of that uncertainty and the logistics of planning an event of this size, the festival cannot be rescheduled to a later date in the summer. Instead, the 2020 event is cancelled and scheduled to return on June 12, 2021.

For paddlers and teams who have already registered, all registration fees will be automatically refunded to the credit card that was used to complete the transaction. Refunds will be completed by Tuesday, March 31st.

In lieu of this year’s festival, paddlers and teams who would like to make a donation to the PRHC Foundation in the amount of the registration fee are asked contact Jane Lovett from the PRHC Foundation by email at jlovett@prhc.on.ca by Tuesday, March 24th.

Any donations already made to the 2020 festival will go directly to the PRHC Foundation. As noted in Lee’s statement, the festival’s website at ptbodragonboat.ca will be available to receive online donations, and offline donations can still be taken to any Kawartha Credit Union branch along with the completed offline pledge form.

If they wish, paddlers and teams are welcome to continue their individual or team fundraising with support from festival organizers. All donations will continue to go directly to the PRHC Foundation and support this year’s fundraising priority: the Robotic Intravenous Automation System (RIVA).

The next step in PRHC’s chemotherapy program, RIVA is a state-of-the-art system designed to reliably and accurately prepare IV syringes and bags in hospital pharmacies. By automating the preparation process, RIVA addresses issues of safety for both patients and staff as well as improved efficiency and precision.

The Peterborough Police Service is asking for the public’s assistance in locating missing teenager Jodey Dennis Condon.

The 14-year-old was seen at around 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 14th in the area of Chamberlain Street in Peterborough, and then again in the Peterborough area on Monday, March 16th.

Jodey is described as male, Caucasian, 5’5″, and 130lbs, with medium brown curly hair. He was last seen wearing a dark army green Champion track suit with a blue and red Filas jacket, back and white Raiders toque, and white high top shoes.

Anyone with information about Jodey’s whereabouts is asked to call the Peterborough Police Service at 705-876-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or www.stopcrimehere.ca

The second positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed on Thursday (March 19) in the City of Kawartha Lakes, following testing at Ross Memorial Hospital’s COVID-19 assessment centre.

A woman in her 70s, who had been travelling outside Canada, tested positive.

The hospital followed all established precautions during assessment and testing, ensuring the continued safety of patients and the hospital’s team.

Following testing, the woman was advised to self-isolate while awaiting test results.

According to a media release from the hospital, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit is monitoring the case and conducting follow-up with regard to contact management.

There are also four positive COVID-19 cases in Northumberland County, all confirmed through testing at Northumberland Hills Hospital: a woman in her 60s, a man in his 70s, a women in her 60s, and a man in his 60s.

All four positive cases in Northumberland County had been travelling outside of the country and are in self-isolation.

The third positive case of COVID-19 in the Peterborough area was confirmed on Thursday (March 19), making for a total of nine cases in the Kawarthas region.

Some of Peterborough’s little library locations are being converted into “pandemic libraries”, offering free essential food and household care items.

The free community book exchange trend was started by Little Free Library, a nonprofit organization in the U.S., and there are now over 100,000 little libraries in more than 100 countries around the world.

In the Peterborough area, the Rotary Club of Peterborough began the trend, installing 25 little libraries as part of the club’s 25th anniversary. Other little libraries have since also been installed.

A Google map listing all of the little library locations in the city and county of Peterborough is available, including a “Pandemic Pantries” layer indicating which locations are sharing food and necessities.

As of the date of these story, three locations have been converted into pandemic libraries. The map can be accessed directly at bit.ly/PtboLitLib (case sensitive).

If you know of a little library haring food and necessities, email ptbolitlib@gmail.com.

A woman who recently travelled to Florida has tested positive for COVID-19 — the third positive case in Peterborough Public Health’s catchment area, which includes the City and County of Peterborough and Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.

Peterborough’s medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra confirmed the new positive case during her daily media briefing on Thursday (March 19).

“We have five contacts; only those who are symptomatic will be tested,” said Dr. Salvaterra, adding none of three people who have tested positive to date are hospitalized but each is self-isolating.

“This is a really good time to remind all our returning snowbirds that they need to self-isolate once they’re home, and should be calling on friends and family members to replenish the fridge and the pantry.”

“All three cases either have a travel history or were a close contact of a case. We do not have evidence of community transmission at this moment.”

Along with the three positive cases determined locally, the latest numbers show 84 tested cases as having come back negative with another 77 cases under investigation.

Dr. Salvaterra also announced that, in conjunction with Peterborough County-City Paramedics and Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC), in-home assessing and testing for COVID-19 has started locally.

“This is for residents who cannot travel to one of the existing assessment centres or who should remain self-isolated and require assessment,” she explained.

“Residents who recently travelled and have symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath are asked to contact their doctor or nurse practitioner or consult with a nurse at Peterborough Public Health. Based on the result of that screening, those who require further assessment will either be referred to Peterborough Public Health for testing or to Peterborough Peterborough County-City Paramedics who will dispatch a special unit of paramedics to perform the testing in-home.”

Peterborough County-City Paramedics chief Randy Mellow, noting his team “stands ready” to serve the community during this period, noted paramedics, wearing the required protective clothing, tested 14 people in their homes on Wednesday (March 18) — the first day the service was launched.

“It’s a program that works toward our priorities of increasing testing surveillance and keeping people in safe locations. Paramedics are trained to do a minor assessment and provide health care instructions to people to keep them in their homes safely while waiting for their (test) results.”

At this point, four paramedics have been dedicated to in-home assessment and testing, covering two 12-hour shifts daily.

Chief Mellow stressed this service “is not a replacement for 9-1-1 … we’re ready on the 9-1-1 side to respond as needed. Don’t use 9-1-1 for this. Reach out to Telehealth (705-743-1000) for advice rather than dialing 9-1-1.”

The criteria for testing, explained Dr. Salvaterra, starts with screening, noting health care providers are looking for travel history and symptoms during that process before determining if a test is needed.

Meanwhile, according to PRHC vice-president Brenda Weir, a trailer that will house the hospital’s assessment centre arrived at the hospital Thursday morning (March 19).

“As soon as the trailer is up and running, we will move the assessment centre out of the emergency department to the trailer that’s adjacent to the front of the hospital.”

Testing, added Weir, is by appointment only, secured through a referral from a health care provider.

Testing is taking place at three locations only, noted Dr. Salvaterra: at the Peterborough Public Health office at 185 King Street in Peterborough, in people’s homes via the new paramedic initiative, and at PRHC’s COVID-19 assessment centre.

The time between testing and results coming back, notes Dr. Salvaterra, is up to four days. The test itself, she added, “takes several hours.”

Also announced Thursday by Dr. Salvaterra is an extension of the local Telehealth phone service at 705-743-1000 to take calls on Saturday and Sunday.

“Yesterday (Wednesday) we received almost 700 calls with an average wait time of just under one minute,” she noted.