Month: January 2021

Veteran John Boyd will be 108 on January 26/SHSC

Sunnybrook veteran John Boyd, 107, received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today. As his life-extending shot was given, Mr Boyd recalled that he had survived another nasty pandemic, the Spanish flu ordeal of 1918 to 1920. Read the story on the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Facebook page.

Canadian Press says the government is expected to provide details Wednesday on how its stay-at-home order, which takes effect Thursday, will be enforced. The province says it will publish the “legal parameters” for the order online and offer more clarification on the measure. The order requires residents to stay home except for essential purposes such as grocery shopping, accessing health care and exercising. A tweet from Cynthia Mulligan of City News says those who live alone will be permitted to visit other households.

Just checked. Yes people who live alone can still join another household. https://t.co/QQTosgZOU8

— Cynthia Mulligan (@CityCynthia) January 12, 2021

The Ontario government has issued an extraordinary stay-at-home order to all citizens which requires everyone to remain at home with exceptions for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work. The expectations created by the 24-four hour order stretch the mind. It looks like a curfew by a different name. The order will doubtlessly have a different meaning for different people and how the police are expected to respond is not clear. News release

• Premier’s news conference Tuesday (34 minutes)

Summary of new restrictions

New restrictions

• All non-essential retail stores, including hardware stores, alcohol retailers, and those offering curbside pickup or delivery, will not be allowed to open earlier than 7 a.m. or close after 8 p.m. Stores that primarily sell food, pharmacies, gas stations, convenience stores and restauraunts open for takeout or delivery will be exempted.
• Outdoor public gatherings and social gatherings of more than five people will be prohibited. Previously, up to 10 people were allowed to gather outdoors.

Schools

• Schools in Toronto, Peel Region, York Region, Hamilton and Windsor-Essex will not return to in person instruction until at least Feb. 10
• The Chief Medical Officer of Health will advise the Ministry of Education by Jan. 20 on which public health units elsewhere in southern Ontario will be allowed to resume in-person learning the following week
• Students in Grades 1-3 will now be required to wear masks. Masks will also be required outdoors when physical distancing cannot be maintained. The province is also expanding screening protocols and targeted testing at schools

Child care

• Child care centres for non-school aged children will remain open
• Child care remains suspended for school-aged children in areas where in-person learning is on hold, with the exception of emergency centres for the children of essential workers

Workplaces

• Each person responsible for a business or organization that is open shall ensure that any person who performs work for the business or organization conducts their work remotely except where the nature of their work requires them to be on-site at the workplace
• The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development will conduct a workplace inspection blitz with a particular focus on “areas of high transmission, including break rooms
• The province will provide up to 300,000 rapid COVID-19 tests per week to key sectors such as manufacturing, warehousing, supply chain and food processing, as well as additional tests for schools and long-term care homes

Other

• The province is now recommending that residents wear masks outdoors when they can’t maintain two metres of physical distance
• The government is issuing a stay-at-home order requiring everyone to remain at home with exceptions for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work

Who will inject public and where?

The City plans to open a large C-19 vaccination clinic at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre next week. The organization of how and where people may be vaccinated as supplies increase has fallen to Fire Chief Pegg. The MTCC clinic seems to be an attempt to develop a blueprint for how shots could be administered in non-medical settings as soon as this Spring.

No word on the role of physicians, pharmacists

The enormous task of making and moving enough vaccine to immunize billions of people is easily understood by most people. But many wonder about the potential for enlistment (however long the wait) with known local sources like private practice physicians and pharmacies. Chief Pegg has said that the MTCC clinic will operate for at least six weeks, at which point officials will use the lessons learned from the experience to create a “playbook” that will inform efforts to open additional mass vaccination facilities in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario.

Gov’t has terrifying view of death, infection, hospital overload

New modelling released Tuesday by the Ontario government seems to offer even more terrifying forecasts of C-19 death, illness and paralyzed hospitals. City News is one source of this information.

Closed til further notice

Good times at McSorley’s

McSorley’s Saloon at 1544 Bayview Ave. has announced that it will close until further notice in the face of business and regulatory bad times. A letter sent Monday says that after “10 months (of the pandemic) we think we deserve a little vacation from all this mess.” It looks forward to “the warmer weather (when) maybe the majority have been vaccinated, we will all have a street filled with unique shops, activities and restaurants for us to enjoy.”

Remembering Georgia

This photo was posted Sunday showing a bouquet and card remembering the late George Walsh. The little girl was 7 when she was killed in a motor accident at the corner of Millwood Rd. and McRae Drive as she made her way home from the playground. FB

• May Georgia’s playground delight kids, keep memories new

A ticket holder in Ontario won Saturday night’s $8.7 million Lotto 649 jackpot. The draw’s guaranteed $1 million prize also went to a lottery player in Ontario. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on January 13 will be approximately $5 million.

The Quebec curfew law has gone into effect. The rules will see most residents face police questions or fines of up to $6,000 if they’re out between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. for the next four weeks. There are exceptions for essential workers, people walking the dog near their homes and those who have medical reasons to be out, such as a doctor’s appointment.

New location of Your Clothes Friend/Bulldog

Long-time women’s wear retailer Your Clothes Friend has moved north to a new location at 1633 Bayview Ave. beside Pagnello Antiques. For many decades Your Clothes Friend was located at 1575 Bayview.

Parking garage collapse at hospital in Florence, Italy

Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand speaks in a straightforward way to the CBC about just how and when the country will get access to the C-19 vaccine. Ms. Anand stuck to her belief that all Canadians will be able to have the shot by the end of September, at the latest. Then, the bad news is we have to get there without an even worse cost in lives and suffering. Ontario hospitals are groaning with cases and the health care system is paralyzed. Below that, be happy for this Calgary couple who spontaneously bought a $100 World Juniors Hockey 50/50 draw. They landed a neat $9 million win. Nice going. Finally, gracious Naples, Italy has seen a wild sinkhole at a hospital parking garage. Happily, it seems no one was hurt.