TORONTO — Experts are divided on whether travel is advisable in light of the Omicron variant spurring restrictions at the border and new travel bans leading into the holiday season. On Tuesday, the government announced travel bans for 10 countries and added that fully vaccinated travellers arriving by air from international destinations other than the…
Category: Community News
I made it back to Canada from southern Africa just ahead of the Omicron travel ban. No one knew what to do with me
This is mildly embarrassing to admit publicly, but as soon as I got off the plane in Calgary, I power-walked straight into Tim Hortons. Even worse, I snapped a picture of my large coffee — three milks, no sugar — and posted it to my Instagram stories with a pink flashing “Home Sweet Home” banner….
‘Good politics, not too great epidemiology’: Ottawa’s new COVID-19 travel rules are a mess, experts say
OTTAWA—As COVID-19 cases tick upward around the globe and evidence mounts of the Omicron variant’s rapid spread, frustration is rising over the federal government’s attempts to keep the virus outside Canada’s borders. Since Ottawa imposed its most recent travel ban — along with new testing and quarantine rules — confusion has plagued passengers in airports at home…
Ontario keeps capacity limits on night clubs, wedding venues
Ontario is keeping customer capacity limits on strip clubs, night clubs and wedding receptions as COVID-19 cases head higher and the science table warns hospitals will soon be “under strain” from rising intensive care admissions. “While we expected to see increases as we entered the winter months, the emergence of Omicron serves as a stark reminder of…
The team of scientists guarding Canada against COVID variants—’the known unknown’
The Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network will serve as Canada’s early warning system for variants that could hurl us back into pandemic misery NOTE, Nov. 29, 2021: The print version of this article was published before the Omicron variant was identified in late November by researchers in Botswana, and cases of it were discovered in Canada. The…
COVID-19: Canadian zoos prepare to vaccinate animals with experimental vaccine
Six Canadian zoos are eagerly awaiting a package this holiday season — a shipment of COVID-19 vaccine for their animals. U.S. pharmaceutical company Zoetis is donating 900 doses of a vaccine that it developed specifically for animals. According to Dolf DeJong, chief executive of the Toronto Zoo, the vaccines have been produced and are ready to be…
Omicron COVID-19 variant confirmed in London region: MLHU
A day after a cluster of COVID-19 cases “highly likely” linked to the Omicron variant were reported, one case with the new variant has been confirmed, according to the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU). The health unit was informed Tuesday afternoon that whole genome sequencing of the sample was completed and confirms that Omicron has arrived…
Omicron will change things. What the early signals may mean for Ontario
The world is still feeling its way around the contours of Omicron, but what seems to be emerging is a picture of what might be emergency. COVID was already a national crisis in so many places — Europe, for example, has seen towering Delta variant waves through the autumn, and the United States is on the verge…
Superspreader event at restaurant leads to 42 positive COVID tests, warnings about new restrictions
As COVID-19 cases climb in Ontario — with infections surging past third-wave peaks in some swaths of the province — experts warn that more health units may be forced to implement stricter public health measures to keep up with contact tracing and slow the virus’s spread. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit will on Friday reinstate capacity limits…
In a small Ontario town caught in COVID’s rural-urban divide, ‘people don’t even talk to each other’
DUNNVILLE, Ont.—At Stefanie’s Family Hair Care in downtown Dunnville, beside a statue of a blissed-out frog, a sign greets customers: “Out of respect for everyone’s ‘Personal Choice’ no talk of vaccines in the shop.” Owner Stefanie Price was tired of the arguments. Clients would come in for highlights only to find themselves in a heated…