Dragon Boat Festival Raises Over $90,000 For PRHC Breast Assessment Centre

The fight against breast cancer takes another step forward as Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival members donated $91,853.20 to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation at Peterborough Square on Thursday.

To date, the festival has raised more than $3.7 million for cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment through the PRHC Foundation. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The money is towards a diagnostic ultrasound machine for the Breast Assessment Centre at the PRHC which Dragon Boat Festival had raised money for in their first-ever campaign. It will aid in cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment.

The target goal was $84,509.18, a specific figure that was quickly addressed by Gina Lee, 2021 festival chair.

“We also realized that we have come full circle and to celebrate our 20th anniversary, we decided our goal would be to match the $84,509.18 donation we made to the PRHC Foundation 20 years ago when we were first starting out,” she said.

Volunteers from Survivors Abreast, the Dragon Boat Festival organizing committee, PRHC reps and sponsors were in attendance to unveil the final amount raised.

This year’s event was run virtually where teams were challenged to hold virtual races online. Points were awarded to individuals and teams for participation, fundraising and video or photo submissions.

The number of cancer treatment patients from Peterborough and the surrounding area is trending upward every year. 

“The hospital’s mission to provide world-class cancer care, close to home, remains as important as ever. So the support of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival and our community is vital,” said Lesley Heighway, PRHC President and CEO. “This state-of-the-art equipment will provide better quality images so radiologists can detect smaller, difficult-to-see breast abnormalities quickly and accurately. This will help save lives.”

Survivors Abreast is the festival host team and is overjoyed of the Festival’s impact on the PRHC.

“Our goals remain the same,” said Marg Walsh, Survivors Abreast President. “To raise funds for the best cancer care in our community, to raise awareness about breast cancer and to encourage participation in the festival. None of this would be possible without the generous spirit of giving in our community and the joint efforts of our sponsors, volunteers, enthusiastic paddlers and donors.”

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Trent Athletics Centre Temporarily Closed to Update Vaccine Passport Screening Measures

Following the Ontario government’s announcement of the enhanced Provincial COVID-19 vaccine certificate system, the Trent Athletics Centre will require all visitors and staff to provide proof of vaccination and identification to enter the facility.

Photo courtesy of Trent University.

The Athletics Centre will be closed on Wednesday to allow updates to their booking system to support these new screening measures to e made.

The centre will open again on Thursday.

Students who are fully vaccinated and have updated their Vaccine Profile through myTrent will be permitted to book workout times online. Data from the secure myTrent site will be integrated with the Athletics Centre’s online booking system to allow for a seamless transition to the new screening requirements for students.

Trent staff, faculty and community members with memberships will be required to show proof of vaccination and identification during the screening process at the door before entering the facility. This screening will be required each visit.

All students, staff and faculty must also complete, and pass, Trent’s mandatory screening each day before coming to campus.

Individuals wishing to visit the Planet Café will not be required to show proof of vaccination to gain access.

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Ontario Vaccine Passport Program Now in Effect

After three weeks since Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that non-essential businesses in the province must participate in a vaccine passport program, residents who are 12 or older must now show proof of vaccination.

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Starting on Wednesday residents in Ontario will need to have proof of having received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“There are a lot of people who are concerned about this policy and I want you to know that I hear you. I understand your concerns about protecting your civil liberties and right to privacy,” said Doug Ford. “While many fully vaccinated people like myself share these concerns, the greater concern is having to shut down again or experience a sudden surge in cases like in Alberta and Saskatchewan.”

Vaccine passports are currently available online.

On Oct. 22 a QR code-based mobile application is set to launch for use by residents and businesses in place of physical vaccination receipts.

Those that do not wish to use this or do not have a mobile phone can print off an enhanced receipt with a QR code that can be scanned. Anyone without access to a printer can call call 1-833-943-3900 for assistance.

Businesses can download a free app that will scan and verify QR codes. Those checking for proof of vaccination at businesses are encouraged to match the patrons I.D to their vaccine passport and to ensure that their second dose was administered at least 14 days prior.

Identification that will be accepted with proof of vaccination includes a driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, citizenship card, Ontario photo card or other government-issued identification, Indian status card or Indigenous membership card or a permanent resident card.

Proof of vaccinations will be required at restaurants, bars, nightclubs, concert venues, gyms and fitness facilities, theatres, cinemas, racetracks, waterparks, TV and film productions with studio audiences, sports venues, casinos and gaming establishments, meeting and event spaces, strip clubs and bathhouses.

Proof of vaccination will not be required when entering a building to use a washroom, pay for an order, accessing an outdoor area that can only be done through an indoor way, placing or picking up a to-go order or purchasing admission to an outdoor event.

Children under 12 or anyone with a medical exemption will not need to show proof of vaccination.

Examples of medical exemptions include severe allergies, anaphylaxis, myocarditis or pericarditis.

Individuals who do not comply with screening or present false documents are fined starting at $750 and $1,000 for businesses under the Reopening Ontario Act.

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Alzheimer Society of Peterborough asks Community to Help a Neighbour on World Alzheimer Day

The Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland and Haliburton is honouring World Alzheimer’s Day by inviting community members to reach out to family and friends that are living with dementia and offer support.

Photo courtesy of the Alzheimers Society of Peterbororough Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton.

More than 8,000 people suffer from dementia in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland and Haliburton according to the Alzheimer’s Society.

“For World Alzheimer’s Day, our goal is to increase the number of people in our community who know that we provide support services—counselling, education, recreational programming—to people living with dementia,” Alzheimer Society Executive Director, Andrea Cant. “Though we try to reach as many people as we can, there are many more that we haven’t connected with. They are trying to manage on their own and could really benefit from our help.”

The Alzheimer’s Society is encouraging community members to become monthly donors. Ten dollars a month provides services like counselling, support groups or an educational workshop for someone in the Peterborough region living with dementia as stated by the organization.

Twenty dollars a month provides access to an eight-week ‘Minds in Motion’ social and recreational program.

Those who sign up to be monthly donors in September will have their donations matched for a year by the Booth family from Woodstock, in memory of their father Walter Booth who was diagnosed with dementia after their mother passed away.

Clients do not need an official diagnosis to access resources offered by the Alzheimer’s Society.

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Instructions Issued Regarding Vaccine Mandate for Sports Staff

Peterborough Public Health released a letter of instruction regarding vaccine requirements for sports staff on Friday.

Similar instructions for restaurant mandates were released Thursday. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Peterborough Public Health will require all volunteers, coaches and officials 18 years of age and over who are participating or associated with the indoor organized sport to confirm proof of vaccination (or proof of being entitled to a medical exemption) and identification each time the individuals arrives at the facility.

“The requirements for proof of vaccination for high-risk indoor settings will ensure residents remain safe,” said Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health. “The provincial requirements related to organized sports have exempt volunteers, coaches, and officials, putting vulnerable individuals at risk. Given that these individuals will have close and prolonged contact with unvaccinated youth players, I am requiring proof of vaccination for these individuals, in addition to the individuals prescribed by provincial legislation.”

Proof of vaccination requirements will come into effect on Sept. 22. Patrons will be required to show identification and proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering the following indoor establishments:

• Indoor areas of meeting and event spaces

• Indoor and outdoor areas of food and drink establishments with dance facilities, including nightclubs and other similar establishments

• Indoor areas of restaurants, bars, and other food and drink establishments without dance facilities

• Indoor areas of facilities used for sport and recreational fitness activities, including waterparks, and personal fitness training

• Indoor areas of casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments

• Indoor areas of concert venues, theatres and cinemas

• Indoor areas of bathhouses, sex clubs and strip clubs

• Indoor areas of horse racing tracks, car racing tracks and other similar venues

• Indoor areas where film and TV production take place with studio audiences

Businesses and organizations who fall into these categories are required under O. Reg. 364/20 to obtain proof of vaccination and proof of identification from each patron before entering the premise. Other public health measures like masking and distancing will remain in place.

Patrons of these establishments may have a paper or electronic proof of vaccination in the form of a receipt, card, or certificate. Proof of vaccination can be obtained through the Ontario provincial portal or by calling the provincial call centre at 1-833-943-3900.

Additional information on the provincial proof of vaccination requirements and Peterborough Public Health letter of instruction can be found at www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/proofofvaccine

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Instructions Issued To Dining Establishments For Patron Information Collection

Peterborough Public Health has issued instructions to dining establishments on collecting diner information due to recent large-scale COVID-19 exposures in the community announced on Thursday.

File Photo.

These instructions, effective immediately, enhance the provincial requirements and are directed toward owners, operators and persons responsible for food premises with indoor and/or outdoor dining areas according to the press release.

Names, phone numbers, location of dining establishment and server name are the information dining establishments are urged to collect.

Collection of patron information is mandatory under O. Reg. 364/20: Rules for Areas at Step 3 and the Roadmap Exit Step.

As a result of recent large-scale exposures and insufficient patron contact records, Peterborough Public Health continues to follow a significant number of people who have been deemed high-risk contacts of a person with COVID-19. Two of the recent large exposures occurred at two different local food premises.

“Case management and contact tracing are essential components of our local COVID-19 response to prevent transmission and protect our community,” said Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health. “These instructions, which ask operators to use the template that we have created for the collection of patron information, will help to ensure that sufficient and thorough details of exposure are provided to our office, which will allow for efficient and timely follow-up, when large-scale exposures occur. And I want to remind everyone choosing to dine out that you must provide accurate contact information to the operator. It won’t work if the data is wrong.”

Dr. Salvaterra noted that these instructions are an extension of a requirement that currently exists in the legislation governing Step Three of the current provincial restrictions.

The instructions aim to prescribe the exact information that restaurants should be collecting for patrons who remain onsite to dine. The instructions do not apply to food premises that require patrons to order and pay for their food, prior to sitting at a table such as cafeterias and fast food establishments.

Julie Ingram, Manager of Environmental Health advised the community that the Instructions are mandatory and enforceable under the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA).

“Public Health Inspectors are educating restaurant operators to ensure that they are aware of the importance of adequate record-keeping and to ensure that these Instructions are implemented within their establishments,” she said.

Ingram noted businesses are not the only ones that could face consequences for non-compliance.

“It’s important for the community to know that not only business owners and operators be charged but for failing to complement these instructions but customers themselves can be charged with obstruction under the Reopening Ontario Act,” she added.

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Ontario Government Releases Additional Vaccine Passports Details

With just over a week before vaccine certifications are required to access several settings, the Ontario Government has released details on the program, exceptions and consequences for non-compliance announced in an online livestream on Tuesday.

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Starting Sept. 22, proof of vaccination for at least 14 days and photo identification is required to enter non-essential businesses and other settings. It is not needed to attend retail stores, places of worship, banks, salons, and outdoor settings.

Employees are encouraged to match the name and date of birth listed on the receipt with the ID information. The receipt must have the second dose listed when checked.

Valid forms of ID are a driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate, citizenship card, Ontario photo card or other government-issued identification, Indian status/Indigenous membership card or a permanent resident card.

Vaccine receipts are currently available online to be printed or can be downloaded onto your mobile device, computer or tablet.

Proof does not apply to children under 12 and anyone unvaccinated due to medical exemptions.

On Oct. 22, a free enhanced vaccine certification app will be available with a unique QR code to provide proof of vaccination conveniently and quickly. Ontario will launch a new app for convenient vaccine verification.

The enhanced vaccine certificate and QR code verification app are on track to be released according to Kaleed Rasheed, associate minister of digital government.

Businesses can download a free app to scan and verify QR codes to see if residents can enter or not based on their vaccination status.

“Our made-in-Ontario app will make it quicker and easier for businesses to confirm that a person's vaccine certificate is valid," said Rasheed.

For anyone without a smartphone, QR codes with and enhanced paper vaccine certificates will be issued by the Ontario government (or can call 1-833-943-3900 if you do not have access to a printer or computer).

Individuals who do not comply with screening or present false documents are fined starting at $750 and $1,000 for businesses under the Reopening Ontario Act.

Additionally, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario chief medical officer of health announced the province will begin offering third doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The does is for sufficient protection due to a waning immune response to vaccines including immunocompromised people. The decision came after a recent recommendation from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).

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YMCA Requires COVID Vaccinations for Staff and Visitors

The YMCA will require all staff, visitors and members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to access their grounds and facilities in a press release announced on Friday.

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The centre is following the Government of Ontario recommendations and will take effect on Sept. 22.

The mandate includes Employment Services clients at the Balsillie Family Branch where full vaccinations (two doses plus 14 days) and proof of vaccination along with photo ID to access are required.

The organization’s goal is to safely serve communities in program settings that meet and in some cases exceed public-health requirements for infection, prevention and control as stated in the release.

The YMCA is implementing a Mandatory Vaccine Policy for all Staff and Volunteers.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have continuously put safety first, going above and beyond what has been recommended,” said David Allen, President & CEO, YMCA of Central East Ontario.

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