Premier Doug Ford describes Ontario’s current COVID-19 situation as “a little spike,” but there are plenty of signs that the pandemic’s sixth wave is on a trajectory to become far bigger than that.
By every available measure — hospitalizations, officially confirmed cases and the presence of the virus in sewage — Ontario’s latest wave of COVID-19 infections is showing exponential growth.
Estimates from the viral count in wastewater suggest about 100,000 people are now getting infected daily in Ontario, according to the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. That is a faster infection rate than at any previous time in the pandemic.
All of this leaves no doubt that Ontario is in a sixth wave, even though the province’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Kieran Moore has yet to declare it officially. Moore hasn’t held a news conference or done any media interviews in four weeks, despite repeated requests from a range of media outlets, including CBC News.
Still, plenty of unknowns remain about Ontario’s sixth wave: What kind of impact is it having? How much bigger will it get? What should the province do about it?
The Ford government’s approach to that last question right now is to stay the course after lifting most COVID-19 public measures last month.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford denied he is downplaying the significance of the sixth wave of COVID-19 to hit the province, while Health Minister Christine Elliott said there is ‘no cause to panic.’ (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
“There’s no cause for panic,” Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said Wednesday when asked about the COVID-19 situation at an unrelated news conference. “This is something that we are sure we’re going to be able to get through.”
At the same news conference, Ford was asked if he’s downplaying the significance of the current wave for political reasons, with Ontario’s election campaign due to begin in four weeks.
“I’m not downplaying it,” Ford responded. “But let’s put this into perspective. We have still one of the lowest cases per capita of hospitalizations in the country.”
Ford and Elliott are repeatedly aiming to reassure Ontarians that hospital bed capacity, high vaccination rates and the availability of antiviral medication mean the province’s health system can cope with the current wave.
‘This pandemic is not over’
It’s a message that doesn’t sit well with those who believe “hospitals aren’t overrun” is a low bar for success, including Dr. Amit Arya, a palliative care physician who works in hospitals and long-term care homes in the Toronto area
“Simply just ignoring COVID-19 and pretending that it doesn’t exist and dropping all public health protections is the wrong message at this point in time,” Arya said in an interview.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore has not held a news conference or conducted media interviews since March 8. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
“Many people, including even some of my own friends and family, are believing this message and sort of interpreting this to say that the pandemic is over,” Arya added.
Anthony Dale, the president of the Ontario Hospital Association, says Elliott’s call not to panic is appropriate, but adds a caveat.
“Panic doesn’t solve anything. But in saying, ‘Don’t panic,’ that also doesn’t mean ‘Look away. there’s absolutely nothing to see here, everything’s fine,'” Dale said in an interview. “Our number one message is that this pandemic is not over.”
The province reported 1,074 patients in hospital with COVID-19 on Wednesday, a jump of 36 per cent in a week. Looking beyond that current figure, what concerns many health experts is the number of patients to come, especially given the record high number of cases.
“We’re headed in the wrong direction,” said infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch in an interview Wednesday.
“There’s widespread COVID in the community and that makes it easier [for the virus] to find vulnerable individuals and at-risk populations, which means we will see more hospitalizations,” Bogoch said.
A crowd heads into Scotiabank Arena in Toronto for a Justin Bieber concert on March 25, a few days after the Ontario government ended mandatory masking rules in most indoor spaces in the province. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Throughout the pandemic, experts have tried to make it clear that hospitalization statistics are what’s called a “lagging indicator” of the COVID-19 case rate: the severity of the trend doesn’t become apparent until a couple of weeks after infections happen.
Some portion of the 100,000 people getting infected every day now will end up in hospital later this month, and some of those will die. Meanwhile, many hospitals are beginning to face staffing challenges as health-care workers call in sick because they or a family member has contracted COVID-19.
Doctors are questioning Ford’s insistence that the province can easily handle a surge in patients by adding more bed capacity.
‘Head-in-the-sand approach’
“Health-care workers are getting COVID-19 at a rate in Ontario never seen this pandemic. We can’t staff any extra beds in the hospitals,” Dr. Lisa Salamon, an emergency physician in Scarborough, tweeted this week. She added that many of the cases involve health workers infected by their children, bringing the novel coronavirus home from school.
Dr. David Fisman, a physician and epidemiologist with the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, says the province is taking a “head-in-the-sand approach” to the current wave and “de facto encouraging people to spread disease” by doing so.
“It’s particularly concerning because these waves are hitting young kids in a manner out of all proportion to what’s happened earlier in the pandemic,” Fisman said in an email to CBC News.
Ontario has extended its plan to distribute COVID-19 rapid test kits for free until the end of July. The province allows only a limited segment of the population to get a full-fledged test for COVID-19 that is confirmed in a laboratory. (Paul Smith/CBC)
The government’s decision to end mandatory mask rules in mid-March in most indoor locations, including schools, was accompanied by a shift in message. Moore, Ford and Elliot began describing masking as a personal choice for those at higher risk.
This consigns to the dustbin the idea that people should wear masks in public indoor settings to prevent spreading COVID-19 to others.
‘We should all be wearing masks’
Ford and Elliott have repeatedly said no to re-imposing the mask mandate, saying that Dr. Moore is not recommending it. By contrast, Quebec extended its mandatory masking rules this week until the end of April.
“We should all be going back to wearing masks,” said Dr. Mustafa Hirji, the medical officer of health for Niagara Region. “It’s definitely going to be much harder to bring the people back to masking once they have stopped.”
Given all this, how bad will the sixth wave get?
“I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that necessarily this wave is going to be less bad than the previous wave,” Hirji said. “It’s not a guaranteed outcome, and I don’t think we should be banking on that.”
Dr. Kashif Pirzada, an emergency room physician in Toronto, said he is hopeful that the protection from vaccines and the arrival of better weather will work in Ontario’s favour.
“Fingers crossed it’ll be okay,” Pirzada said in an interview.
“But overall, dropping precautions right when a wave is starting was a really bad move and it’s going to cost us all, unfortunately.”
EDMONTON – The legendary k.d. lang got the band back together at the Canadian Country Music Association awards show.
Lang teamed up with the Reclines for the first time in 35 years to belt out “Big Boned Gal” from their last album together in 1989.
Clad in a blue and green western-style dress, lang strut across the stage in Edmonton to embody the “big boned gal from southern Alberta.”
The awards show saw Alberta’s MacKenzie Porter and Ontario’s Josh Ross take home hardware for being best female and male artists of the year.
Ross also won entertainer of the year and single of the year for “Trouble.”
Ontario artist Jade Eagleson won album of the year for “Do It Anyway.”
The James Barker Band from Woodville, Ont., won fans’ choice and group of the year.
During their acceptance speech, frontman Barker hinted at new music and a possible tour in 2025.
Ross says he and his band play roughly 150 shows every year and are never home, but says taking home entertainer of the year made the hard work worth it.
Porter won for female artist of the year and top video for “Chasing Tornadoes.”
The female artist win ends the five-year streak of Tenille Townes being awarded the coveted hardware.
Porter had been nominated seven times previously for the award in the past decade but hadn’t won until now.
The artist from Medicine Hat, Alta., says it takes a lot of hard work and hustle to succeed as a female in the country music industry and gave a shout out to her fellow singers and her newborn daughter.
Joining the two artists in the winners’ circle was Ontario singer-songwriter Owen Riegling, who won for breakthrough artist of the year.
The show began with American artist and co-host Thomas Rhett being dubbed an honorary Canadian by Edmonton Oilers players Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl.
Rhett donned an Oilers jersey that was gifted to him by the pair.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
EDMONTON – Ontario country artist Jade Eagleson has won album of the year at the 2024 Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Edmonton.
The singer from Bailieboro, Ont., was up for six awards alongside Alberta’s MacKenzie Porter.
Eagleson took home album of the year for “Do It Anyway” and says he’s thankful to his wife and management team for helping him reach the level he’s at.
The James Barker Band from Woodville, Ont., also won fans’ choice and group of the year at the award show, held in Edmonton.
During their acceptance speech, frontman Barker hinted at new music and a possible tour in 2025.
Another Ontario crooner, Josh Ross, has taken home a trio of awards, receiving entertainer of the year, male artist of the year and single of the year.
He says he and his band play roughly 150 shows every year and are never home, but says taking home entertainer of the year makes the hard work worth it.
Porter took home female artist of the year, ending the five-year streak of Tenille Townes being awarded the coveted hardware.
Porter had been nominated seven times previously for the award in the past decade but hadn’t won until tonight.
The artist from Medicine Hat, Alta., says it takes a lot of hard work and hustle to succeed as a female in the country music industry and gave a shout out to her fellow singers and her newborn daughter.
Joining the two artists in the winners’ circle was Ontario singer-songwriter Owen Riegling, who won for breakthrough artist of the year.
The show began with American artist and co-host Thomas Rhett being dubbed an honorary Canadian by Edmonton Oilers players Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl.
Rhett donned an Oilers jersey that was gifted to him by the pair.
The return of k.d. lang and the Reclines was expected to be a highlight of the show.
The appearance will mark the first time the Alberta songstress has teamed up with the band in 35 years and is tied to lang’s induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.
The awards show is back in Alberta’s capital for the first time since 2014. It was held in Hamilton last year and in Calgary in 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
VANDERHOOF, B.C. – British Columbia Conservatives are promising changes they say will bring more stability to the province’s struggling forest industry.
Leader John Rustad announced his plan for the sector a week before the official launch of the provincial election campaign, saying a Conservative government would do away with stumpage fees paid when timber is harvested and instead put a tax on the final products that are produced.
Rustad said Saturday that under a provincial Conservative government, a small fee may be charged upfront, but the bulk would come at the end of the process, depending on what type of product is created.
He also promised to review how wildfires are managed, as well as streamline the permit process and review what he calls the province’s “uncompetitive cost structure.”
“British Columbia is by far the highest cost producers of any jurisdiction in North America. We need to be able to drive down those costs, so that our forest sector can actually be able to do the reinvestment, to be able to create the jobs and make sure that they’re still there to be able to support our communities,” he said.
The governing New Democrats meanwhile, say eliminating stumpage fees would inflame the softwood lumber dispute with the United States and hurt forestry workers.
In a statement issued by the NDP, Andrew Mercier, the party’s candidate in Langley-Willowbrook, said Rustad failed to support the industry when he was in government under the former BC Liberals.
“Not only will Rustad’s old thinking and recycled ideas fail to deliver, his proposal to eliminate stumpage would inflame the softwood lumber dispute — punishing forestry workers and communities,” Mercier said, accusing Rustad of ignoring the complexity of the challenges facing the industry.
The softwood lumber dispute between the U.S. and Canada stretches back decades. In August, the U.S. Department of Commerce nearly doubled duties on softwood lumber.
International Trade Minister Mary Ng has said Canada has taken steps to launch two legal challenges under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.
Rustad said a provincial Conservative government would push hard to get a deal with the United States over the ongoing dispute “whether it’s with the rest of Canada or by itself.”
He said his party’s proposed changes are in the name of bringing “stability” and “hope” to the industry that has seen multiple closures of mills in rural communities over the last several years.
Most recently, Canfor Corp. decided to shutter two northern British Columbia sawmills earlier this month, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed by the end of the year.
According to the United Steelworkers union, Canfor has closed 10 mills in the province since November 2011, including nine in northern B.C.
Jeff Bromley, chair of the United Steelworkers wood council, said Saturday the idea of changes in favour of taxing the final product has been floated in the past.
He said the finer details of the Conservative plan will be important, but that the system needs to be improved and “new ideas are certainly something I’d be willing to entertain.”
“Something needs to happen, or the industry is just going to bleed and wither away and be a shadow of its former self,” Bromley said.
“Politics aside, if (Rustad) can come up with a policy that enables my members to work, then I would be supportive of that. But then I’m supportive of any government that would come up with policies and fibre for our mills to run. Period.”
When Canfor announced its latest closures, Forests Minister Bruce Ralston said the sector was a “foundational part” of the province and the current NDP government would work to support both local jobs and wood manufacturing operations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024
