Peterborough Fire Services Highlights The Importance Of Keeping Hydrants Clear Of Snow
/Peterborough Fire Services reminds residents of the importance of keeping snow away from fire hydrants and maintaining access.
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Read MorePeterborough Fire Services Asks Residents to Check Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms When Changing Clocks
/Clocks will fall back one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday and Peterborough Fire Services is reminding residents to check their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms when they change their clocks.
Photo courtesy of Peterborough Fire Services.
“In order for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to do their job, they need to be working,” said Fire Chief, Chris Snetsinger. “When you change your clocks this weekend, we recommend that you take the time to check the expiry date on all alarms and test every alarm in your home.”
It’s the law to have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in every home.
When purchasing new alarms, Peterborough Fire Services recommends purchasing a 10 year worry-free smoke and carbon monoxide combination alarm.
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Roadmap to Reopen: Highlighted Rules for Step Three
/With the province moving to Step Three this Friday beginning at 12:01 a.m., the Ontario Government has released guidelines on their official website last week Friday.
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The plan is based on the province-wide vaccination rate and if there were significant improvements made in key public health and health care indicators according to the Ontario Government.
Step Three focuses on expanding access to indoor settings, with restrictions, including where there are larger numbers of people and where face coverings can’t always be worn.
The province wanted 70 to 80 per cent of adults vaccinated with one dose and 25 per cent vaccinated with two doses to be moved into Step Three.
Ontario will remain in Step Three for at least 21 days and until 80 percent of the eligible population aged 12 and over has received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 75 per cent have received their second, with no public health unit having less than 70 per cent of their eligible population aged 12 and over fully vaccinated.
Other key public health and health care indicators must also continue to remain stable. Upon meeting these thresholds, the vast majority of public health and workplace safety measures will be lifted.
The following are key highlights of eased restrictions going into Step Three:
Outdoor social gatherings and organized public events for up to 100 people
Indoor social gatherings and organized public events for up to 25 people
Indoor dining with no limits to the number of patrons per table
Retail with capacity limited to ensure physical distancing of two metres
Indoor religious services, rites or ceremony gatherings with physical distancing up to two metres
Indoor sports and recreational fitness facilities with capacity limits
Personal care services with capacity limited to ensure physical distancing
Museums, casinos and bingo halls with capacity limits
Cinemas, concert, theatres, and other performing arts venues with capacity limits
For a fully comprehensive list, please visit the Ontario Government Website.
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Ontario Government Releases Provincial Reopening Plan With Eased Outdoor Restrictions For Victoria Day Weekend
/The Government of Ontario has lifted outdoor activity restrictions for the Victoria Day weekend and a “road map to reopen” in a press conference at Queen’s Park held on Thursday.
Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health were present to discuss the province’s reopening plan.
On Saturday, outdoor recreational amenities can reopen such as golf course and tennis courts to safely celebrate the Victoria Day long weekend said Elliott.
Outdoor gathering limits have been expanded to five people. The government urges the province to continue following health guidelines and get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The road map to reopen is the proposed way out of the pandemic and a clear path forward to carefully and safely reopen in a three-step plan according to Elliott.
Step one: Initial focus on resuming small-crowd outdoor activities including pools, splash pads, fitness classes, zoos and religious services. Retail stores can be open with restrictions.
Outdoor gatherings can be up to 10 people.
Outdoor dining up to four people per table.
Non-essential retail at 15 per cent capacity.
Step two: Further expands outdoor activities and continue limited indoor services with face coverings worn.
Outdoor gatherings of 25 people
Outdoors sports and leagues permitted
Non-essential retail open up at 25 per cent capacity
Public libraries and personal care services where face coverings can be worn and with capacity limits
Step three: Expand access to indoor settings with restrictions including large numbers of people and where face coverings cannot always be worn. This includes but not limited to gyms, cinemas, performing arts facilities, indoor dining and museums with capacity limits.
The province plans to be in step one around the week of June 14 and will be in each step for at least 21 days. The three weeks allow time to evaluate the impacts and determine if Ontario can move to the next step.
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Ontario Government Extends Shutdown For Another Two Weeks
/The shutdown has been extended for another two weeks until June 2 announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a public address at Queen’s Park announced on Thursday.
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The shutdown is to help combat the overflowing ICU numbers that remain in hospitals and to have “the most normal July and August possible.”
The stay-at-home-order started back on Apr. 3 has been extended by a full month since the original declaration. The shutdown was set to expire on May 20.
Ford was accompanied by Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones and Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health.
During the shutdown, daily cases have gone down from 4,000 to 2,750 but the goal is less than 1000 for several days before considering looser restrictions according to Williams.
“Everybody thinks that’s great from where we came from, and that’s true but we still have a ways to get back down because we didn’t get all the way out of the second before we went into the third wave,” explained Williams. “We do not want to repeat that again.”
Starting May 31, youth aged 12 to 17 and their family members who have not received a vaccine will be able to book an appointment for the Pfizer vaccine.
Publicly funded and private elementary and secondary schools will continue remote learning.
Sports and outdoor recreational activities will remain closed. Ford agrees that golfing is not the issue but it is the post-golfing gatherings that are a concern.
“There’s nothing wrong with golfing, the problem is the mobility,” he said. “Then after golf, they go back, they have a few pops. That’s the problem.”
As of Thursday, 6.6 million residents have had vaccinated with at least the first dose with over 407,000 receiving their second dose.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford Announced Four-Week Province-Wide "Emergency Brake"
/Ontario will go into at least a four-week, province-wide shutdown on Saturday as Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced an “emergency brake” to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 variants.
The announcement was made Thursday afternoon in a live stream at Queen’s Park in Toronto.
“This is a new pandemic,” said Ford. “We’re now fighting a new enemy. The new variants are far more dangerous than before. They spread faster and they do more harm than the virus we were fighting last year.”
The shutdown will take effect on Saturday, Apr. 3 at 12:01 a.m.
According to the Government of Ontario, they are urging Ontario to take these safety measures:
You should:
Stay home as much as possible
Limit close contact to your household (the people you live with) and stay at least two metres apart from everyone else
Limit trips outside your home to necessities, such as:
Getting food or medication
Going to medical appointments
Supporting vulnerable community members
Child care
Getting exercise or walking pets
Always:
Stay home if you have symptoms, even if they are mild
Stay two metres apart from people you don’t live with
Wear a mask or face covering in indoor public spaces or any time physical distancing is not possible
Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health outlines the restrictions of the “emergency brake.”
Prohibiting indoor organized public events and social gatherings but outdoor gatherings are limited to a five-person maximum
Gatherings with the same household members or one-household gatherings can meet with one other solo household member
A 50 per cent capacity limit for, grocers, convenience stores, indoor farmers' markets, pharmacies and other stores that primarily sell food
A 25 per cent limit for all other retailers including big box stores
No personal care services.
No indoor or outdoor dining however take out, delivery and drive-thru options are permitted
No indoor or outdoor sports, sports facilities and recreational fitness, with very limited exceptions
Day camps are not permitted
Limiting capacity at funerals, weddings and religious services to 15 per cent occupancy per room indoors and to those who can social distance two metres outdoors. Social gatherings affiliated with these services such as receptions, which are not permitted indoors and are limited to five people outdoors are not included.
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Hospice Peterborough Implements New Health And Safety Measures
/Hospice Peterborough has announced it is boosting its health and safety measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic by participating in a Ministry of Health pilot program.
The Employer Antigen Screening program provides antigen testing for all staff who enter the building from February 1st to March 26th. It involves a regulated healthcare professional taking a nasopharyngeal swab and delivering results on site within 15 minutes. Any staff with a preliminary positive will not be allowed to return to the building until they have a confirmed negative test. This test may provide false negatives 30 percent of the time.
“Although it’s not perfect, this test provides another layer of protection as it may identify an individual infected with COVID-19 who might’ve gone undetected through regular screening protocols,” says Hospice Peterborough Executive Director, Hajni Hős.
Photo via Hospice Peterborough Facebook page
Other heightened safety precautions at Hospice include: requiring all new residents from a hospital to have had a negative COVID-19 swab within 24 hours prior to admission and isolating these new residents for at least 72 hours. Residents admitted from the community will be isolated and tested in admission and remain in isolation. All residents will be tested again for COVID-19 on their fourth day after admission.
To limit the number of people coming into the building, all community programs and services are taking place via Zoom web-conferencing or phone.
Residents are permitted two essential visitors within a 24-hour period and all visitors will be screened including temperature and required to wear a medical-grade mask. Currently, each resident may have a total of six essential visitors who can rotate through, two at a time, every 24 hours. This could change at any time.
“We sincerely apologize that due to COVID-19 restrictions and our emphasis on keeping residents and staff safe, our usual open-door policy for visitors is restricted,” Hős says. “For those residents in the last days or hours of their life, Hospice Peterborough will carefully and compassionately consider allowing more essential visitors as well as visiting beyond regular visiting hours.”
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RBC Foundation Grants $10,000 In Support Of YWCA Crossroads Shelter & Nourish Food Programs
/A $10,000 donation from RBC Foundation is helping YWCA Peterborough Haliburton address the growing need for gender-based violence supports as well as nutritious food in Peterborough and surrounding area.
“RBC Foundation’s generous donation is helping to ensure that women who experience violence continue to have a safe space to turn for refuge and support at YWCA Crossroads Shelter, while also supporting Nourish’s critical work in providing nutritious food and innovative programming to battle the chronic issue of food insecurity in the Peterborough community,” says Ria Nicholson, Major Gifts Officer with YWCA Peterborough Haliburton’s.
“This year has presented our community with unparalleled challenges, specifically for our most vulnerable, so when we heard about these programs, we knew we had to help,” adds Scott Mancini, Vice-President of Commercial Banking at RBC. “The work being done by the YWCA and their partners is providing support where the need is greatest. We thank these organizations for making our community stronger.”
Scott Mancini, Vice-President, Kawartha Lakeshore Commercial Financial Services, Royal Bank of Canada, and Karalee Murray, Community Manager, Peterborough Lakefield, Royal Bank of Canada, present a $10,000 donation to Ria Nicholson, Major Gifts Officer, YWCA Peterborough Hailburton (Photo courtesy YWCA Peterborough Haliburton)
