There was rare optimism in Ontario’s fight against COVID-19 Monday, as the chief medical officer of health said there are early signs the Boxing Day lockdown is working.
Dr. David Williams said daily cases have plateaued to the 3,000 range and the percent of Ontarians testing positive is also dropping.
“It’s been a trend for one week so far,” said COVID-19 biostatistician Ryan Imgrund. “At least we can have some faith that it’s not just a one-day drop.”
Imgrund said the province’s reproductive value is below one. It’s another indication the lockdown we entered on Dec. 26th – not the stricter lockdown implemented last week – has so far been effective.
Now the challenge, Imgrund said, is keeping down the “R number,” which is how many secondary infections are caused by one primary infection.
“You really want to get that value significantly under one, and the more you can get that under one, the better it is,” he said.
Dr. Williams indicated he’ll consider lifting lockdown measures when cases drop to below 1,000.
“For us to get down to around 1,000 cases will probably take about six or seven weeks,” Imgrund said. “For instance, if you have that reproductive value down to 0.7 it actually means that in one month our 3,000 cases will actually go down to 300 cases.”
Over the past few months, Imgrund has watched the case numbers with alarm. He says banning gatherings and moving schools online are driving the decline.
But he cautions once schools reopen, COVID-19 will travel from one home to the next.
“We have to keep in mind that even though we may have a stringent lockdown in place,” he said, “once you send kids back to school, you will inevitably increase transmission.”
The Canadian Red Cross has been deployed to a long-term care home in Barrie after a massive COVID-19 outbreak.
Roberta Place Long Term Care home confirmed to CityNews that they have partnered with the charitable organization for support in their efforts to stop the ongoing outbreak.
“We are pleased and excited about the swift action and assistance demonstrated by the Canadian Red Cross and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with them,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Barber.
The facility is home to 122 residents and Barber said currently, 62 residents and 43 staff members have confirmed cases of COVID-19. Nine residents have died at the home as a result of the virus.
Barber added that a vaccination clinic was conducted at the home on Saturday, with 71 residents vaccinated. She did not confirm reports that the U.K variant of COVID-19 was responsible for the outbreak, but said further testing is underway.
In a news release on Sunday afternoon, Provincial NDP Leader Andrea Horwath called for the army and the Red Cross to be deployed to Roberta Place to help manage the crisis as earlier reports suggested nearly all residents and staff were infected.
Horwath also called on Premier Doug Ford to respond to the urgent situation at the facility and others across the province.
“We’re asking Doug Ford not to let these people continue to suffer without the province doing anything to ease their struggle and help save lives,” she said in the release.
Earlier this month, the St. George Care Community in Toronto was believed to be the worst hit in Ontario, reporting that 97 of their 140 residents were infected at some point during their outbreak. The facility, like Roberta Place, is a for-profit home.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has said it is time to end for-profit long-term care homes in Ontario.
He attended a rally outside St. George Care Community last weekend where he called on the federal government to be more proactive when it comes to COVID-19 outbreaks in homes — including deploying military help if necessary.
“We can’t just react when a problem occurs, we can’t just react when there’s an increase in infection rate, we have to be proactive,” he said at the time. “One of the key steps that everyone agrees [is] that profit is clearly resulting in horrible conditions for seniors and we can’t allow that to continue.”
According to provincial data, 246 of the 626 long-term care homes in Ontario are currently experiencing outbreaks of the virus.
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/01/17/ndp-calling-for-army-red-cross-help-after-all-residents-at-barrie-ltc-infected-with-covid-19/
True to form, Betty White has something impish to say about her birthday Sunday.
“Since I am turning 99, I can stay up as late as I want without asking permission!” she told The Associated Press in an email.
White’s low-key plans include feeding a pair of ducks that regularly visit her Los Angeles-area home. Her birthday meal will be a hot dog and French fries brought in – along with a bouquet of roses – by her longtime friend and agent, Jeff Witjas.
The actor’s TV credits stretch from 1949’s “Hollywood on Television” to a 2019 voice role in “Forky Asks a Question,” with “The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” among the enduring highlights.
In January alone, White is on screen in reruns including “The Golden Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland”; the 2009 Sandra Bullock movie “The Proposal,” and the 2018 documentary “Betty White: First Lady of Television,” about her life and career.
White’s devotion to animals will be on display next month with the DVD and digital release of “Betty White’s Pet Set,” a 1970s series in which she visited with celebrity guests and their pets as well as wild animals.
Her work, always marked by top-drawer comedic timing, has earned her five Emmy Awards, including a 2010 trophy for a guest-host appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”
A native of Oak Park, Illinois, White was married to game show host and producer Allen Ludden from 1963 until his death in 1981.
President-elect Joe Biden will deliver an appeal to national unity when he is sworn in Wednesday and plans immediate moves to combat the coronavirus pandemic and undo some of President Donald Trump’s most controversial policies, his incoming chief of staff said Sunday.
Biden intends a series of executive actions in his first hours after his inauguration, an opening salvo in what is shaping up as a 10-day blitz of steps to reorient the country without waiting for Congress, aide Ron Klain said.
Klain told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Biden, in his inaugural address to the nation, will deliver “a message of moving this country forward. A message of unity. A message of getting things done.”
Biden will end Trump’s restriction on immigration to the U.S. from some Muslim-majority countries, move to rejoin the Paris climate accord and mandate mask-wearing on federal property and during interstate travel. Those are among roughly a dozen actions Biden will take on his first day in the White House, incoming chief of staff Ron Klain said Saturday in a memo to senior staff.
Other actions include extending the pause on student loan payments and actions meant to prevent evictions and foreclosures for those struggling during the pandemic.
“These executive actions will deliver relief to the millions of Americans that are struggling in the face of these crises,” Klain said in the memo. “President-elect Biden will take action _ not just to reverse the gravest damages of the Trump administration _ but also to start moving our country forward.”
“Full achievement” of Biden’s goals will require Congress to act, Klain wrote, including the $1.9 trillion virus relief bill he outlined last Thursday. Klain said that Biden would also propose a comprehensive immigration bill to lawmakers on his first day in office.
“I think there are people in both parties we can work with to move this agenda forward,” Klain said Sunday, noting voters elected a 50-50 Senate, where Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris will serve as the tie-breaking vote. “We’re going to have to find ways to get Democrats and Republicans to work together to get things done.”
Providing a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally will be part of Biden’s agenda, according to people briefed on his plans.
Ali Noorani, president of the National Immigration Forum and among those briefed, said immigrants would be put on an eight-year path. There would be a faster track for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields people from deportation who came to the U.S. as children, and for those from strife-torn countries with temporary status.
On Thursday, the new president’s second day in office, Biden would sign orders related to the COVID-19 outbreak aimed at reopening schools and businesses and expanding virus testing, Klain said. The following day, Friday, will see action on providing economic relief to those suffering the economic costs of the pandemic.
In the following week, Klain said, Biden would take additional actions relating to criminal justice reform, climate change and immigration _ including a directive to speed the reuniting of families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border under Trump’s policies.
More actions will be added, Klain said, once they clear legal review.
Incoming presidents traditionally move swiftly to sign an array of executive actions when they take office. Trump did the same, but he found many of his orders challenged and even rejected by courts.
Klain maintained that Biden should not suffer similar issues, saying “the legal theory behind them is well-founded and represents a restoration of an appropriate, constitutional role for the President.”
Almost two dozen warnings and tickets were issued by provincial inspectors during the first day of a weekend enforcement blitz of retailers in the GTHA.
According to provincial officials, roughly 50 inspectors assigned to ensure stores are following physical distancing protocols and public health rules found 31 violations at the 110 retailers they visited on Saturday.
The Ministry of Labour says inspectors issued 11 formal warnings and 11 tickets.
The blitz comes on the first weekend of the province’s new stay-at-home order which took effect late last week.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said inspectors would be visiting stores in Toronto, Hamilton, Peel Region, York Region and Durham Region, making sure employees and customers are wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and following safety guidelines.
Anyone caught breaking the rules faces fines of between $750 and $1,000. If convicted, fines can escalate up to $100,000 for an individual and a possible year in jail, while corporations can be subject to a $10 million fine.
McNaughton says the inspectors will also have the authority to temporarily close a premise and disperse groups of more than five people.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Ministry says more than 34,200 workplaces have been inspected and almost 35,000 orders have been issued including 55 stop work orders.
Premier Doug Ford has faced criticism for allowing big-box stores to remain open for on-site shopping while smaller businesses are restricted to curbside pickup or online sales. He vowed last week to crack down on big lineups and other infractions at large retailers “like an 800-pound gorilla.”
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
The chairwoman of the board of directors of a hospital in London has resigned a day after its terminated CEO sued the facility.
Dr. Paul Woods was let go this week amid questions about his travels to the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The London Health Sciences Centre says Amy Walby’s resignation is “not an admission of wrongdoing.”
Woods says Walby approved his trips several times last year.
His lawyer says he alleges the hospital network defamed and terminated him “in bad faith.”
Woods is claiming a total of $2.5 million in damages for the alleged wrongful termination, defamation and breach of human rights.
TORONTO — Ontario’s new construction rules allow for ongoing home renovations to continue, but homeowners who haven’t commenced work as of Jan. 12 are out of luck.
The renovation rules are part of tightened COVID-19 restrictions filed yesterday in the Reopening Ontario Act, after Ontario entered a state of emergency to try and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed by the pandemic.
Those regulations say contractors can continue renovations to residential properties and construction work started before Jan. 12 — but the rules won’t allow new renovation projects to start for at least 28 days.
Ontario Construction Consortium executive director Phil Gillies says that while sending workers into an occupied home raises concerns, the industry has a good track record so far.
Amid safety concerns during the first wave of the pandemic, Gillies’ think-tank called for construction sites to be shut down after a construction worker started an online petition describing crowds of up to 100 workers without running water at some job sites.
While Gillies is still watching carefully and urging stringent cleaning of job sites, he says the relatively small portion of construction-related COVID-19 complaints to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board shows that contractors and unions have stepped up to protect workers and tenants.
“But this is no time to be complacent,” said Gillies. “If you have tradespeople in your home – keep your distance and wear a mask.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2021.
The Canadian Press
Siegfried Fischbacher, the surviving member of the magic duo Siegfried & Roy who entertained millions with illusions using rare animals, has died in Las Vegas, his longtime publicist tells The Associated Press. He was 81.
Fischbacher died Wednesday at his home from pancreatic cancer, Dave Kirvin of Kirvin Doak Communications said Thursday. The news was first reported by German news agency dpa.
Fischbacher’s long-time show business partner, Roy Horn, died last year of complications from COVID-19 at a Las Vegas hospital. He was 75.
The duo astonished millions with their extraordinary magic tricks until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s famed white tigers.
In a statement announcing Horn’s death in May, Fischbacher said, “From the moment we met, I knew Roy and I, together, would change the world. There could be no Siegfried without Roy, and no Roy without Siegfried.”
He later told Germany’s weekly Bild am Sonntag newspaper his best friend would always stay by his side.
“For dinner, I will continue to have the table set for him, too. Like it always was the case. I’m not alone,” dpa quoted Fischbacher as telling the newspaper.
For years, Siegfried & Roy was an institution in Las Vegas, where Fischbacher and Horn’s magic and artistry consistently attracted sellout crowds. The pair performed six shows a week, 44 weeks per year.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak called Fischbacher “a `Master of the Impossible’ and an exemplary Nevadan whose contributions — alongside the late great Roy Horn — helped shine a bright spotlight on Las Vegas’s entertainment industry to the world.”
Horn and Fischbacher, both natives of Germany, first teamed up in 1957 and made their Las Vegas debut a decade later. Siegfried & Roy began performing at the Mirage in 1990.
The pair gained international recognition for helping to save rare white tigers and white lions from extinction. Their $10 million compound was home to dozens of rare animals over the years. The white lions and white tigers were the result of a preservation program that began in the 1980s.
The Siegfried & Roy show incorporated animal antics and magic tricks, featuring 20 white tigers and lions, the number varying depending on the night. The show also had other exotic animals, including an elephant.
“Anyone who came to town, their request was always, `I must see Siegfried and Roy!’” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and her husband and mayoral predecessor, Oscar Goodman, said in a statement. “They put Las Vegas on the map not only as spectacular illusionists but also as breeders, trainers and caretakers” of their performance animals.
“A trip to the Mirage Hotel and the Secret Garden was a treat one never could forget,” the Goodmans added.
Born on June 13, 1939 in Rosenheim in Bavaria, Fischbacher learned his first magic tricks as a young boy, dpa reported.
Horn and Fischbacher met on a cruise ship in 1957. Fischbacher performed the magic tricks, while Horn became his assistant, eventually suggesting using the cheetah in the act.
They honed their animal-magic show in small clubs in Germany and Switzerland in the mid-1960s. Their break came in a Monte Carlo casino when an agent in the audience invited them to Las Vegas. The pair made their debut at the Tropicana hotel-casino in the late 1960s.
The illusionists became popular in the 1970s, receiving their first star billing in 1978 as headliners of the Stardust’s “Lido de Paris.” Their show “Beyond Belief” opened in 1981 at the Frontier and played to thousands over seven years.
When they signed a lifetime contract with the Mirage in 2001, it was estimated they had performed 5,000 shows at the casino for 10 million fans since 1990 and had grossed more than $1 billion.
“Throughout the history of Las Vegas, no artists have meant more to the development of Las Vegas’ global reputation as the entertainment capital of the world than Siegfried and Roy,” Terry Lanni, chairman of MGM Mirage, the casino’s parent company, said after the 2003 attack that injured Horn.
Funeral services will be private with plans for a public memorial in the future.
Toronto Public Health is launching a new study that will focus on people who have tested negative for COVID-19.
Calling it a “new approach for public health units in Canada”, the agency says it wants to compare the activities of people who test positive to those who tested negative in similar settings such as work environments, living arrangements and public spaces.
“These comparison data will help us understand how different behaviours, settings and activities can increase a person’s risks for becoming infected with COVID-19,” said Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s Medical Officer of Health.
“The information will then be used to identify which activities and settings place the individuals who contracted COVID-19 at increased risk of infection, where they may have been exposed to the virus and inform actions.”
People who have tested negative will receive a text message (1-833-929-2338) and a link to a survey, which will collect data about their activities in the days before getting a COVID-19 test. These are similar questions asked of people who eventually test positive as part of contact tracing efforts.
Officials say the information collected will help inform decisions about how best to protect people and stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“When it comes to fighting COVID-19, knowledge is power,” said Councillor Joe Cressy, the chair of the Board of Health. “Understanding why some people who may have been exposed to the virus but do not contract COVID-19 is as important as understanding why others do become ill.”
Participants who get the text are asked to complete the survey no later than three days after receiving it.
The City says all responses will be kept confidential and only summary level data will be reported.
Canada’s largest province laid out its plan Wednesday to administer the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in all nursing and high-risk retirement homes by the middle of next month as it works to boost its immunization capacity.
The Ontario government said it is stepping up immunizations in long-term care homes now that it has protocols in place to safely transport the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has strict storage requirements.
The plan builds on an earlier promise to give the COVID-19 vaccine to long-term care facilities in hot spots by Jan. 21.
“We’re moving at a rapid speed right now,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in an afternoon news conference. “We’re building the capacity. We’re emptying our freezers.”
Ford also said the federal government had once again offered the support of the military, which was sent to help the hard-hit long-term care sector during the first wave of the pandemic. His office later clarified, however, that the prime minister made a broad offer of support.
The premier’s office added that the province has requested and is currently receiving help in the form of military field hospitals, military logistics advisors to bolster the vaccine rollout, and Red Cross teams in a selection of long-term care facilities.
Long-term care has borne the brunt of the pandemic, accounting for more than 3,000 of the province’s more than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19.
The province reported 74 more deaths from the virus on Wednesday, and 2,961 new infections. It also said more than 11,000 vaccines have been administered since its last daily report.
An order requiring Ontario residents to stay home except for essential activities was set to take effect at midnight, one of several measures the government announced Tuesday as new projections showed its health-care system is on the brink of being overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Medical Association, which represents more than 43,000 physicians, laid out several recommendations it said would help improve the health of long-term care residents and workers now.
In a virtual panel Wednesday, the association called on the province to speed up its vaccination efforts in the homes.
“I don’t think any of us can say we are moving quickly enough,” said Dr. Hugh Boyd, a medical director of two long-term care homes in Hamilton and Guelph, Ont.
The association also said there is far too much paperwork and bureaucracy involved when an outside doctor or nurse tries to go into the homes, and called on the province to reduce red tape.
In Quebec, where officials have implemented a curfew in an effort to reduce the strain on health care, 2,071 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded Wednesday. Thirty-five more deaths were also reported.
The province said it administered 7,855 doses of the vaccine yesterday, for a total of 107,365.
Saskatchewan reported 247 new infections Wednesday and two more deaths related to the virus. The province said 205 people are in hospital as a result of COVID-19, with 36 in intensive care.
An additional 155 COVID-19 cases and five deaths were reported in Manitoba, which has seen its daily number of new infections trend downwards.
Out east, Nova Scotia recorded eight new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 30 active cases at this time. New Brunswick reported 19 new cases and another death — the third at the Parkland Saint John Tucker Hall long-term care facility in Saint John.
Meanwhile, seven residents of a Montreal long-term care home who received a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine tested positive for the virus.
A notice sent Tuesday to patients at the Maimonides Geriatric Centre noted residents were infected in the first 28 days after they received the first of two vaccine doses.
The province has decided to delay doling out second doses in favour of administering a first dose to as many people as possible — a strategy acknowledged this week by the country’s panel of vaccine experts.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization said briefly delaying the second dose of a vaccine could allow more people to get a first dose sooner, though it stresses efforts should be made to follow the recommended schedules for administering the shots.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada has secured enough of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to immunize every Canadian who wants it by fall, but most won’t arrive until spring and summer.
