adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

News

Ontario has no plans to reintroduce mask mandates even as 6th wave of COVID-19 underway – CBC.ca

Published

 on


The Ontario government has no plans to reintroduce mandatory masking or pause its reopening plans, even as a sixth wave of COVID-19 is underway in the province, Minister of Health Christine Elliott says.

Elliott spoke to reporters at a news conference in Toronto Thursday where she and other provincial officials announced new funding for North York General Hospital.

The minister was asked if there is a threshold of hospitalizations or ICU admissions at which the government might reintroduce restrictions such as masking or hold off on the further reopening at the end of April. 

“At this point it doesn’t appear necessary that we need to take any further precautions,” Elliott said. But she said the province is relying on the advice of Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore.

“There’s really no surprise here,” she said, when asked about the increasing number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations, saying it was expected that key indicators would rise as restrictions were lifted.

‘We need to get on with our lives’

Elliott was also asked why Dr. Moore has ceased holding regular pandemic media briefings and has not been made available for interviews despite the rise in numbers.

To that, she said, Moore is “doing his job” assessing COVID-19 indicators and that “it’s good news” that he isn’t holding regular updates because “we’re now at a stage where the peak of the pandemic has passed us.”

“We need to get on with our lives and learn to live with COVID as it still exists with us,” she said.

Ontario reported another 3,139 COVID-19 cases through limited PCR testing Thursday, marking the first time cases have surpassed the 3,000-mark since Feb. 10. Modelling suggests the actual number of cases to be 10 times the reported number.

Dr. Peter Jüni, who heads the province’s COVID-19 science advisory table, said Wednesday he estimates the real number of cases provincewide to be roughly between 30,000 to 35,000 based on wastewater surveillance data.

On the question of possible fourth doses, Elliott said the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is expected to release its guidance in the coming days, after which Dr. Moore will review it before making recommendations for Ontario.

Hospitalizations on the rise, 6 new deaths

Meanwhile, Ontario reported 807 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday with 166 of those patients requiring intensive care.

The number of hospitalizations is up from 778 on Wednesday and 661 one week ago.

Of the hospitalizations reported, the number of patients in intensive care is up by one from 165 reported a day before and 165 reported at this time last week.

According to the Ministry of Health, 48 per cent of people hospitalized were admitted specifically for treatment of symptoms brought on by the virus, while the rest were admitted for other reasons and then tested positive. Meanwhile, 74 per cent of people in ICU were admitted because of COVID-19, while the rest were added for other reasons, then tested positive for the virus.

Meanwhile, the Ford government announced Wednesday it will continue to provide free rapid antigen tests until July 31 as health experts say a sixth COVID-19 wave is underway with hospitalizations and cases rising. 

There were 18,318 tests completed Wednesday with 6,284 currently pending.

The six additional deaths reported bring the total death toll in the province to 12,433.

Here are some other key pandemic indicators and figures from the Ministry of Health’s daily provincial update:

Active cases: 20,748.

Provincewide test positivity rate: 16 per cent, up from Wednesday’s rate of 15.1 per cent.

Patients in ICU requiring a ventilator to breathe: 93.

Long-term care homes in outbreak: 59.

Vaccinations: 9,457 vaccine doses were administered on Wednesday in Ontario with a total of 32,064,229 given out to date. Ninety per cent of Ontarians aged five or older have received at least one dose, while just over 86.5 per cent have received two doses.

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

News

A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

Published

 on

 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

___

AP college football: and

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

News

Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

Published

 on

 

DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

___

AP NFL:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

News

Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

Published

 on

 

VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending