Provincial news for Ontario
TORONTO — Ontario’s cabinet is set to meet later today to consider new measures to combat skyrocketing rates of COVID-19. A government source says officials worked on new recommendations through the weekend that will be presented to cabinet tonight. The meeting comes ahead of new COVID-19 projections that are set to be made public on … Read more
Growing flowers may not seem like tough business, but as many aspiring pandemic green thumbs can now likely attest, there’s more involved than simply adding a little water and sunlight. As the coronavirus began stifling businesses back in March last year, Arie Koole, owner of Creekside Greenhouses in Jordan Station, recalled it being a time … Read more
New requirements of air travellers to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding a plane to Canada are proving to be a barrier for temporary foreign workers from Mexico. Announced Dec. 31, the Transport Canada regulations came into effect Jan. 7, leaving some Niagara greenhouse growers worried about if and when much … Read more
Niagara’s mayors and the Regional Chair say the Region is at a critical point in the COVID-19 pandemic and they are calling on the provincial government to increase the role of municipalities in vaccine distribution. They also say that paramedics should be prioritized for access to vaccines. “With the significant increase of COVID-19 cases, an … Read more
TORONTO — The CEO of a Toronto hospital running COVID-19 vaccination clinics says the facility will run out of shots today and urgently needs more. The University Health Network executive made the plea on social media ahead of thousands of immunization appointments scheduled for this weekend. Kevin Smith says 3,000 people are booked per day … Read more
A southwestern Ontario hospital has been forced to store bodies in a trailer unit amid a surge in deaths due to COVID-19. It’s the second hospital to do so in recent weeks as the province’s health-care system strains under a growing number of seriously ill patients. Windsor Regional Hospital has been storing as many as … Read more
The Ford government has extended in-class school closures and the move to online learning only for elementary students until Jan 25. Students in the 27 Southern Ontario public health unit regions and extending the shutdown in Northern Ontario for another 14 days. The adjusment aligns schools with the shutdown period in Southern Ontario. “With the … Read more
Ontario faced a shortage of personal protective equipment at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in part because it did not replenish its stockpiles over the previous years, an independent commission examining the impact of the health crisis on long-term care has heard. Ontario’s former deputy minister of health and long-term care, Bob Bell, told … Read more
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — A physician who travelled internationally over the holidays against public health advice was out of his CEO job at one Ontario hospital Thursday while another hospital board was reconsidering his executive position. Niagara Health said Wednesday that it’s no longer purchasing CEO services from St. Joseph’s Health System, replacing Dr. Tom … Read more