On Monday (April 27), Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the government’s framework for eventually reopening the province’s economy after the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ford was joined at the announcement by Health Minister Christine Elliott, Minister of Finance Rod Phillips, and Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli.

“Our government has developed a framework for reopening Ontario’s economy,” Ford said. “This framework is a roadmap. It will guide our collective decision making. It lays out the threshold we need to hit, the targets we need to work towards.”

Reopening will be gradual and occur in three stages, with no set timeframes for the stages. There will be two-to-four weeks between the launch of each stage to allow health officials to assess conditions before moving to the next one. This will determine if measures should be adjusted, loosened or tightened.

“The framework is about how we are reopening, not when we are reopening,” Ford added. “Let me be crystal clear: as long as this virus remains a threat to Ontario, we will continue to take every precaution necessary. We will continue to act based on the best advice available to us.”

“No-one wants the economy to open up more than I do, but we can’t take anything for granted. We can’t take unnecessary risks because, we’ve seen around the world, all it takes is one person. If precautions are not taken, one person infected with this virus can spread it to hundreds of others.”

Here are three stages:

1. The first stage would include opening select workplaces that can meet current public health guidelines, allowing essential gatherings of a limited number of people, and opening some outdoor spaces.
2. The second stage would include opening more workplaces with significant mitigation plans, opening more public spaces, and allowing some larger public gatherings.
3. The third and final stage would include opening all workplaces responsibly and relaxing restrictions on public gatherings.

During all three stages, there would be continued protections for vulnerable populations.

When making decisions for each stage, the Ontario government will consider factors such as the risk of the spread of COVID-19 and the ability to implement protective and preventative measures in the workplace.

Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and health experts will advise the government on when it may begin to ease public health measures using a range of criteria, including:

• a consistent two-to-four week decrease in the number of new daily COVID-19 cases
• sufficient acute and critical care capacity, including access to ventilators and ongoing availability of personal protective equipment
• approximately 90% of new COVID-19 contacts are being reached by local public health officials within one day, with guidance and direction to contain community spread
• ongoing testing of suspected COVID-19 cases, especially of vulnerable populations, to detect new outbreaks quickly

The government also announced the Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee to support Ontario’s recovery efforts by consulting Ontarians and developing a plan to stimulate economic growth and job creation, while maintaining the health and safety of the people of Ontario.

The committee includes:

• Rod Phillips, Chair, Minister of Finance
• Vic Fedeli, Vice Chair, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
• Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board
• Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Transportation
• Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health
• Ernie Hardeman, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
• Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and Minister of Indigenous Affairs
• John Yakabuski, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry
• Laurie Scott, Minister of Infrastructure
• Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries
• Lisa Thompson, Minister of Government and Consumer Services
• Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development
• Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction

The committee, along with MPPs, will be meeting with people and businesses across all sectors impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ontario first declared a state of emergency on March 17th and ordered the closure of businesses it deemed non-essential. On April 14th, the province extended the state of emergency until May 12th.

For more information about the framework, visit ontario.ca/page/reopening-ontario-after-covid-19.

kawarthaNOW has learned there is a COVID-19 outbreak at Case Manor Care Community long-term care facility in Bobcaygeon.

Sienna Living, which operates the home, issued an update to families of residents on Sunday (April 26) indicating that four residents and four workers at the home have tested positive for COVID-19.

“We want to let you know that on April 22nd, we completed proactive testing of all residents and team member(s) with the assistance of Ross Memorial Hospital,” the update reads. “Public Health confirmed today that four residents and four team member(s) have tested positive for COVID-19.”

According to the update, the residents who have tested positive live on the first, second, and third floors and are all in isolation.

“The team is doing a tremendous job managing the situation and we are working closely with Public Health,” the update reads. “All proper precautions and directives are in place.”

According to the update, steps taken by the home include isolation protocols in all home areas (with all residents dining in their rooms), all team members wearing surgical face masks and having their temperatures taken twice per shift, frequent monitoring of all residents’ health (including temperatures checked twice daily), rigorous frequent cleaning and disinfecting of all surfaces, and prohibiting non-essential visitors (with active screening for any essential visitor, including temperature checks).

Case Manor Care Community is a 96-bed long-term care home located at 28 Boyd Street in Bobcaygeon. It provides residential care in 57 private rooms and 39 basic rooms along with 24-hour nursing and personal care.

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit has not yet formally declared a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility, according to the latest COVID-19 report from the health unit issued on April 26th.

The other long-term care facility in Bobcaygeon, Pinecrest Nursing Home, suffered a COVID-19 outbreak break early on during the pandemic that subsequently resulted in the deaths of 28 residents. At the time, it was the largest outbreak in Ontario with the large number of deaths drawing national attention. Since then, most remaining residents at Pinecrest have recovered and are doing well.

This is a developing story.

Effective Monday (April 27), the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) will be donating $25 for every $50 in gift cards purchased at supportdowntownptbo.ca to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation in support of the hospital’s COVID-19 response effort.

“The support of our community has been phenomenal,” says DBIA executive director Terry Guiel. “Your support with these gift cards has absolutely helped to save some of our local businesses. Let’s keep this up and support our hospital and the amazing work they’re doing to keep us safe.”

Thanks to a generous community donation of up to $50,000 from local philanthropists David and Patricia Morton, the PRHC Foundation is able to match community donations for a limited time.

This means that when you purchase of $50 in gift cards from downtown Peterborough businesses, the Peterborough DBIA’s donation of $25 will be doubled to $50 for the PRHC Foundation.

The Peterborough DBIA will continue to donate $25 to the PRHC Foundation for every $50 in gift cards purchased until $5,000 in gift cards have been purchased.

Donations to the PRHC Foundation’s COVID-19 response fund will help fund additional ventilators, laryngoscopes for emergency intubation, additional ICU beds, wellness supports for staff who must stay at the hospital while treating patients, and more protective equipment and scrubs to help keep frontline healthcare workers safe.

The Peterborough DBIA launched the supportdowntownptbo.ca gift card website in late March as a way to support downtown Peterborough businesses forced to close their doors or reduce their business due to the pandemic.

To purchase gift cards and support local businesses and frontline healthcare workers:

• Visit supportdowntownptbo.ca
• Find your favourite shops, restaurants, pubs, and services
• Select the gift cards you would like to purchase and add them to your cart
• Select the $25 PRHC Foundation Special Promotion and add one for every $50 in gift cards you purchase
• Check out
• Receive your gift cards (or instructions from the business via email on next steps to activate it) in the mail to use at a later date.

Kawartha Conservation has announced a reduction of nearly 60 per cent of its full-time and contract staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The reduction took effect on Friday (April 24).

“This was an extremely difficult decision,” says Kawartha Conservation CAO Mark Majchrowski in a media release issued on Monday (April 27). “There are no words to adequately reflect how much we struggled as an organization with this decision and the impact it will have on our staff.”

Operating with a reduced work force, Kawartha Conservation will continue to provide necessary and essential services including flood forecasting and precipitation monitoring, source water protection, and planning and permitting functions.

Kawartha Conservation is a non-profit organization that conducts watershed planning, stewardship activities, environmental monitoring and research, and management of conservation and natural areas.

Its programs and services are focused within the natural boundaries of the Kawartha watershed — a total of 2,563 square kilometres — and includes the City of Kawartha Lakes, Township of Scugog, Township of Brock, Municipality of Clarington, Municipality of Trent Lakes, and Township of Cavan Monaghan.

As a tax-supported organization, Kawartha Conservation is responsible to a board of directors comprised of representatives from six member municipalities.

“A lot of our member municipalities are struggling and have had to make the difficult choice to reduce their work forces, in some cases by several hundred employees,” Majchrowski says. “We are in this struggle together and we need to recognize and adapt to the pressures our municipal partners, communities, businesses and the public is experiencing. The only way through this is together.”

The layoffs will impact business areas including outdoor education, watershed monitoring, citizen science projects, stewardship initiatives, and administrative functions.

“We know these are not easy times for any of us, and they will be particularly difficult for the staff we are having to temporarily lay off as a result,” Majchrowski says “It is our sincere hope that all of us continue to do the things we need to do to help flatten the curve, and to get through this pandemic so we can begin re-integrating staff back into their positions as soon as possible.”

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

Here’s today summary: there are 78 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area, 127 in the City of Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland County, 7 in Haliburton County, and 38 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County.

That’s an increase of 17 cases from yesterday’s report, with 12 additional cases in Peterborough and 5 additional cases in Kawartha Lakes. This is the largest jump in cases in recent weeks, continuing yesterday’s second largest increase of 10 cases.

There have been 35 deaths, an increase of 1 since yesterday’s report. The most recent death was reported by Hastings Prince Edward Public Health; no details have yet been released by the health unit.

Province-wide, there are 14,432 confirmed cases, an increase of 437 from yesterday’s report, and 835 deaths, an increase of 24 from yesterday’s report. A total of 229,638 tests have been completed, an increase of 12,020 from yesterday’s report, with 7,417 cases 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: 78 (increase of 12 from April 25)
Confirmed negative: 2,156 (increase of 200 from April 25)
Results pending: 502 (increase of 27 from April 25)
Deaths: 1 (no change from April 25)
Resolved: 40 (no change from April 25)
Total tests completed: 2,736 (increase of 239 from April 25)
Institutional Outbreaks: St. Joseph’s at Fleming, St. John’s Senior Centre*

*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: 147, including 127 in Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland, 7 in Haliburton (increase of 5 from April 25)
Hospitalizations: 10 (no change from April 25)
Deaths: 32, including 28 in Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon (no change from April 25)
Resolved: 112 (increase of 1 from April 25)
Institutional Outbreaks: Pinecrest Nursing Home, Ross Memorial Hospital* (no change from April 25)

*Number of cases not reported.

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

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

Confirmed positive: 38 (no change from April 25)
Probable cases: 237 (decrease of 1 from April 25)
Deaths: 2 (increase of 1 from April 25)
Hospitalized: 6 (no change from April 25)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 2 (no change from April 25)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change from April 25)
Recovered: 17 (no change from April 25)
Total tests completed: 1,762 (increase of 73 from April 25)
Institutional Outbreaks: Hastings Manor (Belleville), Moira Place (Tweed)*

*Number of cases not reported.

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 14,432 (increase of 437 from April 25)
Hospitalized: 938 (increase of 13 from April 25)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 252 (increase of 7 from April 25)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 195 (no change from April 25)
Deaths: 835 (increase of 24 from April 25)
Total tests completed 229,638 (increase of 12,020 from April 25)
Tests under investigation: 7,417 (decrease of 754 from April 25)
Resolved: 8,000 (increase of 491 from April 25)

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario by public health unit, January 15 – April 25, 2020. (Graphic: Public Health Ontario)

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

Ontario’s publicly funded schools will remain closed until at least Sunday, May 31st, the Ontario government announced on Sunday (April 26).

Education minister Stephen Lecce said the extension of the closure is based on the advice of Ontario’s chief medical officer of health and other public health officials to extend school closures for an additional period of time to permit updated modelling and data to inform next steps.

“We will do whatever it takes to keep our students safe,” Lecce said. “The government is taking a careful approach which provides our medical experts the time to review the modelling and make the best decision for the safety of our students and the future of learning.”

On March 12th, the government initially announced schools would be closed until April 5th. On March 31st, the government then extended the closure until May 4th.

The additional extension announced on Sunday was expected, based on remarks made by Premier Doug Ford on April 14th that schools would not reopen on May 4th.

Lecce says the closure may be extended to later than May 31st if necessary to protect the health and safety of Ontario’s school communities.

Despite students losing more than two months of traditional classroom education, Lecce says students will be able to finish the school year even if the closure is extended beyond May 31st.

“Regardless of what transpires over the coming weeks, Ontario’s students will be able to complete their school year with confidence,” Lecce said. “In particular, for students in their final year, we are removing all impediments to ensure students graduate and pursue post-secondary education.”

The Ontario government is temporarily bumping up the wages of frontline workers by $4 per hour during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement on Saturday (April 25) with Treasury Board president Peter Bethlenfalvy, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott, and Minister of Long-Term Care Dr. Merrilee Fullerton.

“These people put themselves in harm’s way to care for our sick and vulnerable citizens,” Ford said. “I am truly grateful, as are the people of Ontario, for their service, and it’s time we give something back to those who sacrifice so much day in and day out.”

VIDEO: Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces pandemic pay – April 25, 2020

The pandemic pay will provide an additional $4 per hour on top of workers’ hourly wages, regardless of how much they are currently being paid. On top of the hourly wage bump, the government will also provide a $250 lump sum payment per month over the next four months for employees who work more than 100 hours per month.

More than 350,000 frontline workers are expected to be eligible for pandemic pay, which will be effective for 16 weeks from April 24th to August 13th.

Those eligible to receive the payment include workers in long-term care homes, retirement homes, emergency shelters, supportive housing, social services congregate care settings, corrections institutions and youth justice facilities, and workers providing home and community care as well as some workers in hospitals.

Staff providing frontline clinical services, along with those providing support services such as cleaning and meal preparation, will be eligible to receive pandemic pay. The temporary wage increase does not apply to management.

Eligible workplaces and workers for pandemic pay

Health care and long-term care

Eligible workplaces

• Acute hospitals
• Long-term care homes (including private, municipal and not-for-profit homes)
• Licensed retirement homes
• Home and community care

Eligible workers

• Personal support workers
• Registered nurses
• Registered practical nurses
• Nurse practitioners
• Attendant care workers
• Auxiliary staff, including porters, cook, custodian, housekeeping, laundry facilities and other key workers.
• Developmental services workers
• Mental health and addictions workers

Social services

Eligible workplaces

• Homes supporting people with developmental disabilities
• Intervenor residential sites
• Indigenous healing and wellness facilities/shelters
• Shelters for survivors of gender-based violence and human trafficking
• Youth justice residential facilities
• Licensed children’s residential sites
• Directly operated residential facility ? Child and Parent Resource Institute
• Emergency shelters
• Supportive housing facilities
• Respite/drop-in centres
• Temporary shelter facilities, such as re-purposed community centres or arenas
• Hotels/motels used for self-isolation and/or shelter overflow

Eligible workers

• Direct support workers (e.g. developmental service workers, staff in licensed children’s residential sites, in-take/outreach workers)
• Clinical staff
• Housekeeping staff
• Security staff
• Administration personnel
• Maintenance staff
• Food service workers
• Nursing staff

Corrections

Eligible workplaces

• Adult correctional facilities and youth justice facilities in Ontario

Eligible workers

• Correctional officers
• Youth services officers
• Nurses
• Healthcare staff
• Social workers
• Food service
• Maintenance staff
• Programming personnel
• Administration personnel
• Institutional liaison officers
• TRILCOR personnel
• Native inmate liaison officers
• Chaplains

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

Here’s today summary: there are 66 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area, 122 in the City of Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland County, 7 in Haliburton County, and 38 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County.

That’s an increase of 10 cases from yesterday’s report, with 5 additional cases in Peterborough, 4 additional cases in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 additional case in Hastings County and Prince Edward County. This is the largest single-day increase in the number of cases in recent weeks.

There have been 34 deaths, with the last reported death was in Peterborough on Sunday, April 12th.

Province-wide, there are 13,995 confirmed cases, an increase of 476 from yesterday’s report, and 811 deaths, an increase of 48 from yesterday’s report. A total of 217,618 tests have been completed, an increase of 10,578 from yesterday’s report, with 8,171 cases 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: 66 (increase of 5 from April 24)
Confirmed negative: 1,956 (decrease of 2 from April 24)
Results pending: 475 (increase of 56 from April 24)
Deaths: 1 (no change from April 24)
Resolved: 40 (no change from April 24)
Total tests completed: 2,497 (increase of 59 from April 24)
Institutional Outbreaks: St. Joseph’s at Fleming, St. John’s Senior Centre*

*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: 142, including 122 in Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland, 7 in Haliburton (increase of 4 from April 24)
Hospitalizations: 10 (no change from April 24)
Deaths: 32, including 28 in Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon (no change from April 24)
Resolved: 111 (increase of 8 from April 24)
Institutional Outbreaks: Pinecrest Nursing Home, Ross Memorial Hospital* (no change from April 24)

*Number of cases not reported.

Hastings Prince Edward Public Health

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

Confirmed positive: 38 (increase of 1 from April 24)
Probable cases: 238 (increase of 3 from April 24)
Deaths: 1 (no change from April 24)
Hospitalized: 6 (no change from April 24)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 2 (no change from April 24)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change from April 24)
Recovered: 17 (no change from April 24)
Total tests completed: 1,689
Institutional Outbreaks: Hastings Manor (Belleville)*

*Number of cases not reported.

Province of Ontario

Confirmed positive: 13,995 (increase of 476 from April 24)
Hospitalized: 925 (increase of 15 from April 24)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 245 (increase of 2 from April 24)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 195 (increase of 2 from April 24)
Deaths: 811 (increase of 48 from April 24)
Total tests completed 217,618 (increase of 10,578 from April 24)
Tests under investigation: 8,171 (increase of 2,757 from April 24)
Resolved: 7,509 (increase of 422 from April 24)

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

This story was updated to revise an incorrect total for positive cases for Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit from 138 to 142.