Tag: Covid-19

Covid-19 Update by HKPR District Health Unit

John Draper

Our District’s Acting Medical officer for Health, Dr. Ian Gemmill, is very helpful in providing regular information on the pandemic. To do this, he holds weekly media briefings and next week will also hold a Virtual Town Hall for the public. With the lockdown to be eased on February 16, there is quite a lot of information to be disseminated this week.  Next Tuesday (the day after family day), Cobourg will move out of the “stay at home order” and into a zone – and according to Dr. Gemmill this will most probably be the Orange zone – see details below. The decision will be made by the Province and announced on Friday. He also said that another 1000 vaccine… Read complete articleCovid-19 Update by HKPR District Health Unit

Shutdown affects Rink and Transit

John Draper

Just like the general public in Ontario, Cobourg Councillors are confused when it comes to interpreting the rules of the latest Provincial shutdown that apply to such things as the outdoor rink and the Transit system.  Town Clerk Brent Larmer said that until he gets the official Regulations from the Province, he cannot give clear advice – that is, he can’t say what the “rules” are.  He hopes to get those regulations no later than when they go into effect which is midnight Wednesday January 13.  Because of the confusion CAO Tracey Vaughan asked for direction from a specially convened emergency session of Council held at 6:00 pm on the 13th.  In the end, all that could be decided was… Read complete articleShutdown affects Rink and Transit

Outdoor Rink gets New Rules

John Draper

With the Provincial lockdown in force starting Boxing day, at a special meeting today Council voted to implement new rules for the Outdoor Rink.  Staff presented three options: 1) continue with no change, 2) add new rules or 3) close the Rink.  The new rules will mean registering in advance for one of 8 daily one hour time slots which will allow only 10 at a time.  The area will be fenced and skaters will be screened and expected to wear a mask and keep 2 meters away from each other.  Any spectators (e.g. parents of small children) will be counted as part of the 10 even if not skating. Fencing and registering is needed because with the previous system,… Read complete articleOutdoor Rink gets New Rules

Cobourg Community Centre closed until January 11

John Draper

Last Friday, the Cobourg Community Centre was closed for the weekend with a promise to thoroughly clean and then reopen Monday morning.  This was because “facility users (came) into close contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19”.  While the cleaning and sanitation did happen, the Town’s Emergency Control Group, in consultation with the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit (HKPR DHU), decided to “err on the side of caution and extend the closure of the community centre over the holidays.”  Re-opening is now scheduled for January 11, 2021 although this will depend on a reassessment based on the numbers at that time.  The Town’s announcement said that “the decision was based on overall community safety with the… Read complete articleCobourg Community Centre closed until January 11

Covid-19 Northumberland Update 2

John Draper

The Province has introduced a more complex system of assigning risk levels to Health Districts with five colour coded levels: Green (Prevent), Yellow (Protect), Orange (Restrict), Red (Control) and Grey (Lockdown).  As the labels suggest, these go progressively from mild restrictions to severe.  Cobourg is in the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit and is currently assigned Green.  Links below give more details but I will summarize what this all means for people living in Cobourg.  The whole process is based on science and measurements – the first measure is Weekly Incidence Rate and to be classified as green, this has to be less than 10 cases per 100,000.  At the other end of the scale, Red is more… Read complete articleCovid-19 Northumberland Update 2

Northumberland Covid-19 update

John Draper

The virus is not going away anytime soon – cases in Northumberland continue to rise and now Health authorities are setting up more testing locations.  McGill University recently did a survey of 28 experts and their average response was that a vaccine would not be available until June 2021 or even the Fall.  Meanwhile Trudeau has warned that “Christmas may be in jeopardy”.  As of Tuesday this week, there were 48 confirmed cases in Northumberland – up from 46 on Friday. If you meet certain criteria, up till now you could get tested at Northumberland Hills Hospital or Campbellford Hospital but starting November 4, a location in Port Hope will be added. In all cases, an appointment is necessary –… Read complete articleNorthumberland Covid-19 update

Message from Northumberland County Hospital CEOs

John Draper

Northumberland has done better than average in the pandemic but there has been an uptick of cases in Ontario and the CEOs of Northumberland’s two hospitals decided it was important to communicate with the public. Unlike most posts on this news blog, their statement is provided unedited or summarized: Statement from Hospital CEOs With the concerning uptick in COVID-19 cases in Ontario, infectious disease experts, health care providers and public health leaders are strongly encouraging Ontarians to stay vigilant and do all in our power to follow the public health measures that will help to minimize spread, keep our province functioning and avoid wide-scale illness and even death. On September 13, the President of the Ontario Hospital Association also issued… Read complete articleMessage from Northumberland County Hospital CEOs

Hospital getting back to Normal

John Draper

Northumberland hills Hospital has announced that non-urgent service volumes are now at or close to pre-pandemic levels and limited in-person visiting has been reinstated.  But CEO Linda Davis warns that “visitors are coming into and through the community, and more and more interaction with people outside our immediate households is occurring. Now is the time to be even more vigilant about following public health advice.”  There is still a continuing rise in confirmed Covid-19 cases in the region with a total of 31 individuals from Northumberland County now confirmed positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. This is an increase of seven cases in the last five weeks alone, as of August 25th. However, many services are almost back to… Read complete articleHospital getting back to Normal