The news scene in Cobourg has been dominated lately by the Covid-19 Virus epidemic and simultaneously Cobourg News Blog is experiencing technical problems so comments are mostly not possible. The Covid-19 page is being updated several times per day as things happen – but some people wait for the news email so this post provides a summary for them. With many of the businesses on King Street now closed (primarily Restaurants and bars), and others heeding the call to stay home, parking is easy and it’s easy to achieve the recommended social distance. Lineups (e.g. at a bank) are short. Last Thursday and Friday, supermarkets (and their parking lots) were crowded with people buying toilet rolls and hand sterilizer so they are now out of stock on these items but the crazy stampede seems to be over.
You can get the very latest at the special Covid-19 page here but let me summarize the Covid-19 situation in Cobourg as of 5:00 pm Thursday:
- There are now four confirmed cases that have been treated at Northumberland Hills Hospital. All are in their 60’s or 70’s, two woman and two men – all had recently returned from travel. (Two other cases in the area were from Kawartha Lakes).
- All Entertainment has shut down for the month of March with the situation in April variable – some waiting to decide and others also cancelling shows in April.
- Restaurants and bars have all been closed for March (and maybe longer) except for takeout. Some who previously did not do takeout are now doing so. Best phone your favourite restaurant to check.
- Public buildings like the Community Centre and Victoria Hall are closed to the public.
- Fewer visitors are allowed at the Hospital and the Golden Plough and probably others
- Volunteers are no longer working at the Hospital, Petticoat Lane, Beyond the Blue Box and probably other places.
- Day Care centres are closed
- Schools are closed until April 6 although there is talk this may be extended.
- Many clubs have cancelled meetings (e.g. Photography, Probus, Historical Society and more)
- The Police Station no longer allows public access – this means their comfort area is closed.
- The next Town and County Council meetings that were previously scheduled are cancelled.
- LCBO and Beer stores have reduced hours – the Beer store has paused accepting bottles for recycling
There is more at the special page.
Once things open up again, there will be notifications on the same special page and no doubt I will be posting about any major local updates.
On a different note, Police continue to do their work – the biggest “catch” on their part recently was 40 year old Daniel Hulme, an Oshawa man, who was wanted on a Canada wide warrant. He was stupid enough to come to Cobourg – maybe he thought he would go un-noticed in our Town. Once he was spotted, he attempted to flee but was caught. He then assaulted Police in attempting to resist arrest. A search found four different drugs on him worth $10K (see photo). He was charged with 8 new offences and faced a Bail hearing. In any event, he will be held in custody because of the warrant.
About comments
I have not given up on comments but the Google Recaptcha system suddenly stopped working properly with the result that most (but not all) comments were blocked. After I tried numerous ideas and none worked, I have asked the comment software people to help. They are doing that but it could take a while. There is a method that works that requires users to enter the letters they see. It works but is less convenient to use. I need to leave the system in its “broken” state so that troubleshooting can be done but in the unlikely event that the problem cannot be fixed or will take weeks, I will revert to that method.
Stop Press: This issue now appears to have been fixed. Let me know if anyone has a problem.
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Good information ,John.
Public Works is waiving Cobourg Transit bus fares until April 19. The intention is to provide bus drivers from exposure to the coronavirus by eliminating the need to handle fares.
The end effect will probably see an increase in ridership. This is completely contrary to the position that we should be decreasing, not increasing, social contact.
There is no disclosure of how the bus interior will be cleansed after each fare disembarks. The virus is particularly adept at clinging to human skin. So simply touching a contaminated surface could increase the spread of the disease.
Perhaps the better policy would have been to shut down public transit until April 19. There are supermarkets that will deliver groceries. Our aim should be on the protection of the community as a whole and not merely the civic employees who drive the buses.
I have medical grade N95 masks and always carry my hand sanitizer. Matter of fact, I even have a hazmat suit that I could wear to No Frills. Be safe out there everyone.
Around 1:00 this afternoon No Frills was restricting access to a limited number of shoppers at a time, line-up outside was substantial but noticed everyone was keeping the safe 2 meters away from each other.
Guess we’re starting to “get it”.
X on the sidewalks where people can stand.
lots of parking and someone controling the entrance.
Im not sure if online ordering is available or not.
dont forget almost perfect across the street also has selection of alot of items, frozen and packaged. bags of frozen veg looked great and a little faster then nofrills.
pet store open, ida open.
anytime fitness is closed but everyone else is open.
home hardware has deliveries available, its always been a $10 charge that I used many times before but I think its less now if not free. Order those seeds, soil and trays, get your garden planted in pots, some cleaners, and paint that room you always wanted to. buy a new keurig machine and two boxes of coffee.
im across the street at midtownpc and we are open and quite busy getting machines fixed and setup so parents can do online learning, some business are swaping replacment machines now while secretaries are off and getting laptops so people can work at home. Limit of one customer at a time, you can wait outfront in your car, line up if needed, call ahead. If you break down we have a good stock of parts already and supply house is opened but slow to ship. Im invested more into onhand stock. One man show and any machines coming in get a full wipe down and clean. Store cleaned every few hours.
debit and visa prefered, or as always we will take cash, in canada its plastic so we can wipe it down. if you want to know what is in stock for laptops just call 9053779510 we can get it ready
look out side people the sun in shining, turn off the tv for a bit, and get some stuff done around the house,
Yesterday – March 19 – I discovered that the local transit bus had the front ¼ of the bus roped off with yellow security tape and access was by the rear doors only. I did my best to show my transit pass from that distance, but I noticed that others boarded without paying.
I assume that is what the authorities intended. Seems a reasonable approach under the current exceptional circumstances.
Yes, Transit is now free for the duration of the Virus problem. Further, entry and exit is only via rear doors to provide social distance for the driver. Passengers are also expected to stay 2 meters apart.
…and to think, I just renewed my monthly pass this last Monday. Damn!
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Thanks for the update!
Corona / Covid 19 I was not very happy to hear about the Trudeau compensation Pkg
especially for the self employed and and small business owner . As you know we KAVE AND THERE IS A LARGE SELF EMPLOYED POPULATION in the area every one from Realtors , Lawyers , Farmers ,Restaurant owners ,Plumbers etc and a lot do not qualify for U I I was speaking with 1 realtor on Monday
and she had already had 2 deals fall apart and one because the Buyer no longer qualified for a Bank Mtg.
until they were back to work full time once again , Another person in Whitby owned a business of catering and
banquets, and wedding receptions His monthly rent out lay was in the range of $26,000.– per month plus cost & TMI with out labour
as of this wk he is with all the cancellations effectively out of Business for the next 6 months You can’t make that back no matter what Last night on one of the News programs they said not to worry about jobs .
The weak may not survive the business interruption but the strong will survive and gobble up the weak
Not a good scenario !
I have chosen to put my political differences aside and follow our government’s guidelines during this pandemic. Having a member of my family needing time away because she is a high-risk pregnancy, and her employer demanded a doctor’s note and will not receive any sick time or leave pay. This happened even after the employers were told to stop. Everyone is in this together. The issue I am having right now is the number of people who are not taking the social distancing seriously. People even continue to share elevators here. There was once a saying I heard, it is so easy to call the tune when you are not the one who has to play the song.
All very informative and helpful John…Tnx again for your diligence. Maybe the constant sniping back and forth between those who have nothing better to do with their time (even under normal circumstances) could be reduced in the interests of facilitating more useful and productive input from other readers.
Hope you and Alma both stay well and safe..
Hi John, thanks for the Covid-19 update. Also this could be considered a test.
YAY it works.