Ontario Premier Doug Ford is asking the owners of seasonal residences in Ontario to follow the same public health measures as they would at home when heading up to the cottage — but at the same time he’s also discouraging tourists from visiting cottage country.

Ford makes the comments in a statement issued following his teleconference on Wednesday afternoon (May 6) with the mayors of cottage country.

“With the Victoria Day long weekend and cottage season just around the corner, we need to stay vigilant,” Ford says. “We are still battling a terrible virus, so we are asking seasonal residents travelling to their cottages to practice the same public health measures as usual, including no public gatherings, avoiding non-essential travel as much as possible, and continue to practice social distancing.”

On Tuesday (May 5), Ford had made comments during a media briefing that there would be no order prohibiting people from visiting their cottages.

He said he believed cottage owners would be responsible when visiting their seasonal residences.

“I truly believe that people are going to bring their own supplies, they’re going to bring their own food, they’re going to stay at their cottage,” he said.

For several weeks, mayors of some rural communities have been concerned that a sudden influx of seasonal residents during the COVID-19 pandemic could strain local resources such as grocery stores, and that visitors — especially from Toronto and the GTA, where coronavirus infection rates are high — could spread the virus to year-round residents and strain local hospitals.

In his statement, perhaps in acknowledgement of concerns raised by mayors during the teleconference, Ford draws a distinction between cottage owners and tourists, who he is asking to refrain from travelling to cottage country. As most tourists would need a place to stay when visiting cottage country, it’s possible Ford is discouraging visitors from renting cottages.

“Cottage country residents are known for their hospitality and normally they would be welcoming tourists with open arms right now,” Ford says. “This year, however, they are asking visitors to help them fight the spread of COVID-19 and hold-off travelling to these regions until it is safe to do so.”

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams has advised local medical officers of health to continue to discourage the use of secondary residences. While Ford makes a distinction between cottage owners and tourists in his statement, he also appears to be discouraging any visits to cottage country during the upcoming Victoria Day weekend.

“I know Ontarians are eager to enjoy the great outdoors, but there will be plenty of long weekends to come,” Ford says. “Right now, we need to focus on doing everything we can to protect the health and safety of all Ontarians. We’re all in this together and together we will beat COVID-19.”

kawarthaNOW is providing a daily report of COVID-19 cases in the greater Kawarthas region.

Here’s today summary: there are 67 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area, 134 in the City of Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland County, 7 in Haliburton County, and 43 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County.

That’s a net decrease of 5 cases from yesterday’s report, with 1 case in Peterborough and 4 cases in Kawartha Lakes removed due to false positive test results.

New COVID-19 outbreaks have been declared at Caressant Care Lindsay and Maplewood Nursing Home in Brighton.

There have been 38 deaths, with the most recent death reported on April 30 by Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.

Province-wide, there are 18,722 confirmed cases, an increase of 412 from yesterday’s report, with 13,222 cases resolved, an increase of 444 from yesterday’s report. There have been 1,429 deaths, an increase of 68 from yesterday’s report. A total of 365,675 tests have been completed, an increase of 12,961 from yesterday’s report, with 8,790 tests under investigation.

This report is based on data supplied by the province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), as well as any additional information supplied by hospitals. This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data.

We publish the daily report, usually by late afternoon, with the most current information released by health units. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.

Peterborough Public Health

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

Confirmed positive: 67 (decrease of 1 from May 5)*
Confirmed negative: Data currently unavailable**
Results pending: Data currently unavailable**
Deaths: 2 (no change from from May 5)
Resolved: 49 (increase of 1 from May 5)
Total tests completed: Over 4,800 (increase of over 1,000 from April 28)**
Institutional outbreaks: St. Joseph’s at Fleming, Extendicare Lakefield, Peterborough Retirement Residence (no change from May 5)***

*The total number of positive cases may no longer be accurate. On May 5, the health unit advised that 22 positive cases reported between April 22 and 29 may be false positives due to a technical error at an Ottawa laboratory.

**Peterborough Public Health and its partners are currently testing in long-term care homes and retirement homes. This is rapidly increasing the number of tests performed and causing a delay in the health unit’s ability to accurately report these figures. Current data will be provided as soon as possible.

***Number of cases not reported.

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.

Confirmed positive: 155, including 134 in Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland, 7 in Haliburton (decrease of 4 from May 5)*
Hospitalizations: 10 (no change from May 5)
Deaths: 32, including 28 in Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon (no change from May 5)
Resolved: 123 (no change from May 5)
Institutional outbreaks: Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay, Case Manor in Bobcaygeon, Caressant Care Lindsay, Maplewood Nursing Home in Brighton (increase of 2 from May 5) **

*A laboratory decision was made to reject all COVID-19 positive test results performed over the weekend of Apr 25-26. After re-swabbing and re-testing, 10 cases previously reported confirmed cases have been removed as re-testing has indicated negative results for COVID-19.

**An outbreak at Caressant Care Lindsay has been declared as a result of provincially mandated enhanced surveillance testing, and an outbreak Maplewood Nursing Home in Brighton has also been declared (not related to enhanced surveillance testing).

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

Confirmed positive: 43 (no change from May 5)
Probable cases: 192 (no change from May 5)
Deaths: 4 (no change from May 5)
Hospitalized: 1 (no change from May 5)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 1 (no change from May 5)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change from May 5)
Recovered: 20 (no change from May 5)
Total tests completed: 3,666 (increase of 228 from May 5)
Institutional outbreaks: Hastings Manor in Belleville, Moira Place in Tweed (no change from May 5)*

*Number of cases not reported. A respiratory outbreak has been declared at Hallowell House in Picton but COVID-19 has not been confirmed.

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 18,722 (increase of 412 from May 5)
Hospitalized: 1,032 (decrease of 11 from May 5)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 219 (decrease of 4 from May 5)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 174 (increase of 8 from May 5)
Deaths: 1,429 (increase of 68 from May 5)
Total tests completed 365,675 (increase of 12,961 from May 5)
Tests under investigation: 8,790 (increase of 2,747 from May 5)
Resolved: 13,222 (increase of 444 from May 5)

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

As the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Peterborough county and city, Curve Lake, and Hiawatha continues to drop due to adjustments resulting from testing errors made at an Ottawa lab, Peterborough’s medical officer of health Dr. Rosana Salvaterra says the public should remain confident in current testing procedures.

“The lab (Bio-Test Laboratories) was very pro-active in identifying that there was a problem and then taking all the right steps and notifying us,” said Dr. Salvaterra during her weekly media briefing held on Wednesday (May 6).

“As with any test, there is always the possibility that the test result is not accurate. For the most part, the molecular testing being done now is very good at picking up the virus but it also has limits. We know if you test people that don’t have any symptoms, they may not have enough virus present for the test to pick it up. If the test is used for people who have symptoms, it’s a very good test.”

“We’ve also learned it’s not a great way to determine if people have cleared the virus. As of this past weekend, the Province is recommending that we not use the test to determine who has cleared the virus. The test is so sensitive it will pick up fragments of the virus that are left in the cells lining the respiratory tract.”

As a result, Dr. Salvaterra says Peterborough Public Health is now recommending that non-hospitalized people not be retested with the test. Instead, positive tests will be cleared following 14 days isolation after the onset of symptoms.

Referring to updated local COVID-19 data, Dr. Salvaterra notes that as of Wednesday (May 6), the total number of positive cases for the region is 67.

A total of 22 cases, she notes, were impacted by the testing error, with 17 of those since retested and their tests results now awaited. One of the 22 is deceased, having died of another cause but tested for COVID-19. Another four cases no longer meet positive case definition, each choosing not to be tested and instead undergo 14 days of isolation.

More than 4,800 people have now been tested in the region, with a total of 48 cases resolved. As of April 28 — the last time the data was updated &mdash 2,798 cases were confirmed negative with 829 test results pending.

Dr. Salvaterra conformed outbreaks remain active at St. Joseph’s at Fleming, Extendicare Lakefield, and Peterborough Retirement Residence with no new outbreaks reported. All patients and staff at the region’s eight long-term care homes have now been tested, with testing now being done on residents and staff of the region’s 12 retirement homes.

Identified outbreaks are all “well controlled,” says Dr. Salvaterra. Outbreaks at Empress Gardens and St. John’s Senior Centre have been declared over.

Speaking to reported cases involving two employees of the Walmart store on Chemong Road in Peterborough, Dr. Salvaterra confirms public health staff did a risk assessment associated with those cases and determined there to be no need to issue a public alert.

In other words, it’s as safe to shop there as any other store that is taking pro-active measures to prevent transmission of the virus.

“It’s safe to assume the virus is out there and it’s going to be in place where there are other people,” she says.

Gender wise, COVID-19 continues to afflict more females (55 per cent) than males (45 per cent). As for the source of COVID-19 exposure, half of those who have tested positive had contact with a known case with the remainder having contracted the virus via travel abroad (34.3 per cent) or community transmission (16.4 per cent).

Also participating in Wednesday’s media briefing were Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef and Selwyn Mayor and Peterborough Public Health chair Andy Mitchell.

The Ontario government has announced it is further easing restrictions on retail businesses by allowing garden centres, nurseries, hardware stores, and safety supply stores to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement on Wednesday (May 6), along with economic development minister Vic Fedeli, health minister Christine Elliott, and finance minister Rod Phillips.

Garden centres and nurseries can reopen just after midnight on Friday, May 8th.

Hardware stores and safety supply stores can reopen the next day, just after midnight on Saturday, May 9th.

“Heading into Mother’s Day this weekend, please be sure to support your local garden centre and nursery and pick up some nice flowers for all the great moms out there,” Ford said.

The reopened businesses will be operating under the same guidelines as grocery stores and pharmacies.

Businesses must follow public health measures and should review workplace safety guidelines, such as promoting physical distancing and frequent handwashing, sanitizing surfaces, installing physical barriers, staggering shifts, and using contactless payment options to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“This means people will be able to shop in stores as long as these businesses follow strict public health measures to protect staff and customers,” Ford said.

“The same workplace safety requirements that apply to grocery stores and pharmacies will apply to these stores. Those include physical distancing, contactless payment options, and sanitizing surfaces.”

In addition, all retail stores with a street entrance will now be allowed to offer curbside pickup and delivery, starting just after midnight on Monday, May 11th.

VIDEO: Ontario government eases restrictions on retail stores – May 6, 2020

These businesses must follow the Ministry of Health’s guidance document for essential workplaces (see below) and occupational health and safety requirements.

The government is also expanding essential construction to allow below-grade multi-unit residential construction projects like apartments and condominiums to begin and existing above-grade projects to continue.

Ministry of Health’s Guidance Document for Essential Workplaces

A 36-year-old Clarington man has been arrested and charged with voyeurism, break and enter, possession of child pornography, criminal harassment and sexual assault following a joint investigation by the Northumberland OPP and Peterborough police.

In January 2020, Peterborough police investigated reports of a suspicious man who was observed using electronic equipment to peer through a window of a residence while the occupants were home. Police located the suspect in the area of Sherbrooke Street in Peterborough and he was arrested and charged.

Through further investigation that involved a search warrant where electronic devices were located and seized, the accused man was found to be connected to similar incidents that occurred between 2017 and 2020 in the Peterborough area and incidents that occurred between 2010 and 2018 in the Brighton area.

Daniel Joseph McConnell, 36, of Clarington has been arrested and charged with 24 counts of voyeurism, three counts of break and enter, three counts of possession of child pornography, three counts of making, printing, publishing or possessing for the purpose of publication and child pornography, 13 counts of criminal harassment, and one count of sexual assault.

McConnell was held in custody for a bail hearing in January 2020 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Peterborough but has since been released.

Police are continuing their investigation and additional charges against McConnell are pending.

McConnell has ties to the Brighton area where he was self-employed as a handy man.

Police are requesting that anyone who may have any additional information, or who believes they are a victim of similar circumstances, to contact Detective Constable Heidi Chard of the Northumberland Major Crime Unit at 613-475-1313 or toll-free at 1-888-310-1122.

The Ontario government has announced it is extending all emergency orders made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act until Tuesday, May 19th.

The announcement was included in a media release issued on Wednesday morning (May 6) that the Province is extending emergency electricity rate relief to families, farms, and small businesses until Sunday, May 31st.

Customers who pay time-of-use electricity rates will continue to be billed at the lowest price, known as the off-peak price, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The electricity rate relief, initially provided for a 45-day period starting on March 24th, has been extended by an emergency order and is intended to be in place for an additional 24 days.

On April 23rd, the government announced it would be extending emergency orders until Wednesday, May 6th. Although the state of emergency has already been extended until May 12th, the provisions of the legislation only allow the extension of emergency orders in 14-day increments.

The government statesit is extending the emergency orders on the advice of Ontario’s chief medical officer of health.

Here is the complete list of emergency orders that have been extended until May 19th:

• Closure of Establishments
• Prohibiting Organized Public Events, Certain Gatherings
• Work Deployment Measures for Health Care Workers
• Drinking Water Systems and Sewage Works
• Electronic Service
• Work Deployment Measures in Long-Term Care Homes
• Electricity Price for RPP Consumers
• Closure of Places of Non-Essential Businesses
• Traffic Management
• Streamlining Requirements for Long-Term Care Homes
• Prohibition on Certain Persons Charging Unconscionable Prices for Sales of Necessary Good
• Closure of Outdoor Recreational Amenities
• Enforcement of Orders
• Work Deployment Measures for Boards of Health
• Work Deployment Measures in Retirement Homes
• Access to COVID-19 Status Information by Specified Persons
• Service Agencies Providing Services and Supports to Adults with Developmental Disabilities
• Pickup and Delivery of Cannabis
• Signatures in Wills and Powers of Attorney
• Use of Force and Firearms in Policing Services
• Child Care Fees
• Agreements Between Health Service Providers and Retirement Homes
• Temporary Health or Residential Facilities
• Closure of Public Lands for Recreational Camping
• Work Deployment Measures for Service Agencies Providing Violence Against Women Residential Services and Crisis Line Services
• Limiting Work to a Single Long-Term Care Home
• Work Deployment Measures for District Social Services Administration Boards
• Deployment of Employees of Service Provider Organizations
• Work Deployment Measures for Municipalities
• Limiting Work to a Single Retirement Home
• Work Deployment Measures for Mental Health and Addictions Agencies
• Congregate Care Settings
• Access to Personal Health Information by Means of the Electronic Health Record
• Global Adjustment for Market Participants and Consumers
• Certain Persons Enabled to Issue Medical Certificates of Death
• Hospital Credentialing Processes

kawarthaNOW is providing a daily report of COVID-19 cases in the greater Kawarthas region.

Here’s today summary: there are now 68 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area, 138 in the City of Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland County, 7 in Haliburton County, and 43 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County.

That’s a net decrease of 5 cases from yesterday’s report, with 1 case in Peterborough and 4 cases in Kawartha Lakes removed due to false positive test results. An outbreak declared at Adelaide Place Retirement Community in Lindsay on May 1 has been lifted, as the test for the single resident who had tested positive for COVID-19 was a false positive due to a lab error.

There have been 38 deaths, with the most recent death reported on April 30 by Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.

Province-wide, there are 18,310 confirmed cases, an increase of 387 from yesterday’s report, with 12,779 cases resolved, an increase of 274 from yesterday’s report. There have been 1,361 deaths, an increase of 61 from yesterday’s report. A total of 352,714 tests have been completed, an increase of 10,654 from yesterday’s report, with 6,023 tests under investigation.

This report is based on data supplied by the province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), as well as any additional information supplied by hospitals. This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data.

We publish the daily report, usually by late afternoon, with the most current information released by health units. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.

Peterborough Public Health

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

Confirmed positive: 68 (decrease of 1 from May 4)*
Confirmed negative: 2,798 (as of April 28)**
Results pending: 829 (as of April 28)**
Deaths: 2 (no change from from May 4)
Resolved: 48 (increase of 1 from May 4)
Total tests completed: 3,713 (as of April 28)**
Institutional Outbreaks: St. Joseph’s at Fleming, Extendicare Lakefield, Peterborough Retirement Residence (no change from May 4)***

*The total number of positive cases may no longer be accurate. On May 4, the health unit advised that 22 positive cases reported between April 22 and 29 may be false positives due to a technical error at an Ottawa laboratory.

**Due to increased testing in long-term care facilities, there is a delay in reporting these numbers.

***Number of cases not reported.

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.

Confirmed positive: 158, including 138 in Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland, 7 in Haliburton (decrease of 4 from May 4)*
Hospitalizations: 10 (no change from May 4)
Deaths: 32, including 28 in Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon (no change from May 4)
Resolved: 123 (no change from May 4)
Institutional Outbreaks: Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay, Case Manor in Bobcaygeon (decrease of 1 from May 4) **

*A laboratory decision was made to reject all COVID-19 positive test results performed over the weekend of Apr 25-26. After re-swabbing and re-testing, 5 cases previously reported confirmed cases have been removed as re-testing has indicated negative results for COVID-19.

**An outbreak declared at Adelaide Place Retirement Community in Lindsay on May 1 has been lifted, as the test for the single resident who had tested positive for COVID-19 was a false positive due to a lab error.

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.

Confirmed positive: 43 (no change from May 4)
Probable cases: 192 (decrease of 3 from May 4)
Deaths: 4 (no change from May 4)
Hospitalized: 1 (no change from May 4)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 1 (no change from May 4)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change from May 4)
Recovered: 20 (no change from May 4)
Total tests completed: 3,438 (increase of 236 from May 4)
Institutional Outbreaks: Hastings Manor in Belleville, Moira Place in Tweed (no change from May 4)*

*Number of cases not reported.

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 18,310 (increase of 387 from May 4)
Hospitalized: 1,043 (increase of 59 from May 4)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 223 (decrease of 2 from May 4)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 166 (increase of 9 from May 4)
Deaths: 1,361 (increase of 61 from May 4)
Total tests completed 352,714 (increase of 10,654 from May 4)
Tests under investigation: 6,023 (decrease of 242 from May 4)
Resolved: 12,779 (increase of 274 from May 4)

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

This story has been updated with results from Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit that were released at 9 p.m. on May 5.

Premier Doug Ford says that Ontario will not issue an emergency order banning people from visiting their cottages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ford made the comments at a media briefing on Tuesday afternoon (May 5) when responding to questions from reporters about cottagers preparing for the Victoria Day long weekend.

“There’s no order on the table right now and there won’t be,” Ford said. “People are cooperating, so we have to give a little bit of leniency. If you put down the hammer, and say you just aren’t coming, people aren’t going to listen.”

Mayors of some rural communities have expressed concerns that a sudden influx of seasonal residents could strain local resources, including health care services and businesses supplying food and other essentials to year-round residents.

Some mayors and public health officials also worry that cottage owners who normally reside in Toronto and the GTA — areas with the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the province — will potentially infect local residents and place further stress on local hospitals.

Ford will be speaking with the mayors of cottage country on Wednesday (May 6) to discuss the issue of people visiting their secondary residences on the Victoria Day weekend.

“I want to make sure we’ve got collaboration from all the communities, all the mayors. Be prepared, people are coming up on May the 24th. But in saying that, I truly believe that people are going to bring their own supplies, they’re going to bring their own food, they’re going to stay at their cottage. People won’t be going to go into town as much as a typical May 24th weekend.”

Ford said that the spread of COVID-19 has been slowing in Ontario and that “on May the 24th, three weeks down the road, hopefully the numbers will be down.” The Victoria Day weekend is actually in less than two weeks; it’s colloquially called the May 24 weekend, but the federal holiday is always celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25th, which in 2020 is Monday, May 18th.

“It’s going to be hard to hold back people going back to their cottages,” Ford said. “I’m getting calls about ‘Why should I pay my taxes if I’m not allowed to go up to my cottage?” I understand it, but I just want to make sure that when that time comes — if it does come, and hopefully it will — that people bring up their own supplies and they don’t go into town — even though when I spoke to one of the mayors, he said it’s not an issue right now, it’s not an issue with hospitals, with food in the stores.”

Ford also noted that businesses in cottage country rely on cottagers to keep their businesses open.

The Premier was unaware that Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, the medical officer of the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit, had issued an order on April 23rd under Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) prohibiting owners of secondary residences from visiting their properties in Haldimand and Norfolk counties.

That region of the province includes towns and villages along Lake Erie, such as Port Dover, Turkey Point, and Long Point. People who breach the order could face fines of up to $5,000 per day.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of this,” Ford said when a reporter asked about the order. “How can you predict three weeks down the road? We’re doing pretty good. Then how do you tell people that are paying taxes, that are paying the bills for the vast majority of people there, to stay home? Do you have enough by-law officers, enough police, to enforce this? The answer is no.”

Last weekend, in response to the Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit order, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams issued a memo to local medical officers of health across the province advising against the issuance of such orders.

“After consultation with the Public Health Measures Table chaired by Dr. David McKeown, Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health, my current recommendation is to not prohibit access to secondary residences through legal order, but to continue to provide communications that discourage their use,” Williams wrote. “I similarly recommend that medical officers of health do not issue Section 22 class orders under the HPPA prohibiting access to these residences.”

At the media briefing, a reporter asked Ford whether people who don’t own cottages will also be able to enjoy the Victoria Day long weekend by visiting local parks or playgrounds.

“Yes, you will be,” Ford replied. “It’s not fair, and we’ll have some good announcements moving forward this week.”

Memo from Chief Medical Officer of Health: Advice on the Access to Secondary Residences

Section 22 Order from Haldimand-Norfolk Medical Officer of Health

Miskin Law plans to take a Ottawa testing laboratory and a COVID-19 test manufacturer to court for a series of false positive COVID-19 test results.

According to a media release from the Peterborough-based law firm issued on Tuesday (May 5), false positive test results of staff members and residents at Case Manor Care Community, a long-term care facility in Bobcaygeon, “created distress and severe hardship for people living at Case Manor and those who care for them.”

According to the media release, Miskin Law says samples from staff and residents taken in late April were sent to Bio-Test Laboratories in Ottawa. Miskin Law also claims the tests were provided by Spartan Bioscience, also of Ottawa.

The results showed eight positive COVID-19 cases among 13 people tested. On Friday (May 1), Bio-Test Laboratories advised the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (HKRP) District Health Unit that 13 of the lab’s positive COVID-19 test results were affected by a technical error that may have resulted in false positives.

On Sunday (May 3), Health Canada announced it was restricting the use of a rapid COVID-19 test created by Spartan Bioscience after the National Microbiology Lab (NML) found reliability issues with the test.

Responding to the original version of this story, Spartan Bioscience director of communications Molly Kett writes in an email to kawarthaNOW that the NML found that issues with Spartan’s proprietary swab led to false negatives and not false positives.

Kett also disputes the claim by Miskin Law that Spartan Bioscience tests were used by Bio-Test Laboratories.

“There is no indication that Bio-Test Laboratories received Spartan’s test, and Bio-Test is not a Spartan customer,” Kett writes.

Miskin Law states it has been retained on behalf of the people involved and will be proceeding in the Ontario Court with a class action lawsuit to be issued online for the Superior Court in Peterborough against the lab and test manufacturer.

“The Bobcaygeon community has already been devastated by COVID-19,” says Murray Miskin, senior lawyer and managing director of Miskin Law. “To have false positive test results at Case Manor has made people terrified and they have suffered genuine financial losses in addition to emotional harm.”

Miskin Law states the claim is on behalf of staff and their close friends and family members who have had to stop work and go into isolation, and also for residents and their families.

“Miskin Law is hoping to also work in co-operation with Sienna Senior Living, the owner of the facility, to recover its financial losses resulting from the incorrect testing,” states the media release.

Based in Peterborough with offices in Lindsay and Whitby, Miskin Law is the leading Canadian law firm for asbestos injury compensation and is involved in numerous prescription drug and other injury class actions in addition to local and national personal injury litigation.

This story has been updated with a response from Spartan Bioscience regarding the allegations made by Miskin Law.