Ontario is reporting a two-day total of 5,839 new cases of COVID-19 and 95 additional deaths.
Ontario’s health ministry did not release COVID-19 daily figures on New Year’s Day.
The province saw 2,476 cases on Friday and 3,363 cases on Saturday.
Saturday’s figure is a new single-day record for the province. The previous record was set on Thursday when the ministry reported 3,328 novel coronavirus cases.
Altogether, the new cases bring the seven-day average to 2,236.
Saturday’s numbers include 713 new cases in Peel, 700 in Toronto, 395 in York Region, 226 in Windsor-Essex County and 171 in Hamilton.
Friday’s numbers include 480 in Peel, 499 in Toronto, 200 in York Region , 175 in Windsor-Essex County and 111 in Hamilton.
A total of 61,401 tests were completed as of Saturday and 70, 570 as of Friday.
The health ministry noted that the increase in cases on Saturday may have been the result of over-reported numbers stemming from data reporting problems.
“Due to a data issue, cases for Toronto Public Health were underreported on December 31 and over-reported on January 1,” a spokesperson for the ministry said on Saturday.
There are currently 1,003 patients in hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 322 are being treated in intensive care and 220 require ventilators to breathe.
The province’s COVID-19 death toll has now reached 4,626, with a combined 95 deaths reported in the last two days.
York Region begins administering vaccine to workers
York Region Public Health says it has begun the process of delivering Moderna COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to long-term care homes in the region on Saturday.
“This is an exciting and hopeful step forward in our fight against COVID-19,” said Dr. Karim Kurji, York Region’s medical officer of health, said in a news release on Saturday.
“By prioritizing vaccines for residents of long-term care homes, we are protecting some of our most vulnerable York Region residents,” Kurji said.
Staff at the homes will administer the vaccine on-site to their residents, the news release said.
“The vaccine will help to protect approximately 3,700 York Region long-term care residents in 28 homes,” it notes.
“Sadly, to date, York Region has lost 257 residents to COVID-19 within institutional settings.”
As of Saturday at 12 p.m., the province has administered 34,685 vaccines to Ontarians.
“We anticipate getting through the 90,000 doses at our 19 active hospital sites in the next several days as we await future shipments from the federal government,” the health ministry said in an email.
“In addition, Ontario has received its first delivery of approximately 35,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine from the federal government on December 30th. This first, small shipment will be used in Toronto, York, Peel and Windsor-Essex to vaccinate long-term care home residents and we began administering doses to long-term care residents the day after receiving.”
Last week, Retired Gen. Rick Hillier, who is leading the province’s COVID-19 vaccination program, said the Moderna vaccine will be distributed to long-term care and retirement homes.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is already being administered to health-care workers.
Ontario currently has 187 long-term care homes in outbreak with 1,186 residents and 1,050 staff members who have tested positive. A total of 2,749 residents have died. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Natalie Mehra, the group’s executive director, said redeploying the Canadian Armed Forces to the hard-hit facilities is not the coalition’s first choice, but short-term options are scarce.
“The issue is that we’re in such an emergency,” Mehra said. “There are so many homes with outbreaks that are growing extremely quickly, the death counts are mounting, and the hospitals are overstretched now.”
Mehra said hospitals are treating a worrying number of patients, and some are experiencing outbreaks of their own.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), meanwhile, joined the coalition in calling for military intervention to curb infection outbreaks in long-term care homes and manage current outbreaks.
“We are tragically losing the battle to protect long-term care residents. The homes and staff are on the verge of total crisis and collapse,” Candace Rennick, CUPE Ontario secretary-treasurer, said in a news release on Saturday.
“But military assistance is just a temporary solution to the worsening crisis caused by the government’s failure to implement immediate and meaningful reforms needed months ago. This kind of crisis cannot continue to be met with half measures by the province.”
There are currently 187 homes in outbreak with 1,186 residents and 1,050 staff members who have tested positive. A total of 2,749 residents have died.
Eight of the 15 Ontario healthcare staff who have died of COVID-19 worked in long-term care, CUPE said.
The outbreak has been contained to the emergency department, where a positive case was first identified on Dec. 27, according to a news release from the hospital.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
