Move In Day at the University of Guelph is on the Labour Day long weekend, which is only a little over a week away now. Two questions have been in the mind as we approach September: Will there be enough room for all the students looking for a spot in residence, and what will the COVID-19 protect rules be for everyone on campus? We now definitely know the answer to that second question. Continue reading “U of G Only “Strongly Encourages” Masks and Vaxes for the Fall Semester”
It was at the beginning of March 2020 when Dr. Mercer first appeared on the Guelph Politicast to talk about COVID-19: What would happen if, and when, COVID-19 came to Canada? A few weeks later, COVID was here. After that, Dr. Mercer became a regular guest on this podcast, stopping by once every quarter to talk about the pandemic, and now we have arrived at this, the final edition of “Still COVID.” Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #330 – Still COVID (Series Finale)”
The number of mandatory masking spaces in Guelph continues to grow smaller, and it will draw considerably smaller again on Canada Day when the University of Guelph ends all its masking mandates. Once delayed by the U of G administration, the masks will be able to finally come off while people are indoors on campus, but it comes with a caveat that masks might need to go back on sometime in the future. Continue reading “University of Guelph Pauses Mask Mandates as of July 1”
Mask mandates come to a predictable and unceremonious end this Saturday with only a couple of exceptions. Just a few days after the election, and announced with a simple media release on Wednesday, the Chief Medical Officer of Health says that outside long-term care and retirement homes, masks in Ontario will be optional as of June 11, but at least one Guelph institution says that the masks will stay on for now. Continue reading “Most Mask Mandates End on Saturday, But Not at Guelph General Hospital”
While there was no word on bringing back mask mandates this Friday, there was an announcement concerning the ones that remain. All remaining masking requirements in Ontario were scheduled to be lifted on April 27, but in the wake of the increased number of cases without a more general mask mandate, and the spread of the BA.2 variant, the Provincial government is now waiting till June 11 to get rid of those other mandates. Continue reading “Government of Ontario Extends Last Mask Mandates to June”
Remember mask mandates? We had them just a few weeks ago, and mysteriously, once they were removed by the Government of Ontario as of March 21, COVID-19 cases started going up again. Using this advanced scientific reasoning, Ontario’s three main opposition party leaders spend their Thursday calling on the provincial government to bring back mask mandates in some form. Continue reading “Opposition Parties Unite… To Call For Mask Mandates”
*You might be forgiven to think this whole COVID-19 pandemic is in the bag. It’s been a week-and-a-half since the mask mandates were repealed in Ontario and in the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health region, and like clockwork the number of COVID cases in the public, and in the hospital, are going up. You might be fed up, you might be fully vaccinated and boosted, but that doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #317 – Is This the End of the Pandemic*?”
As you may have heard, mask mandates in Ontario are coming to end on March 21 in almost all settings, and that includes City of Guelph facilities. City Hall confirmed as much today, and so did the Upper Grand District School Board who confirmed that masks will become optional in their schools after March Break, and that they have no power to change that even if parents want them to. Continue reading “Mask Mandates: City Changes Rule and School Board Has No Power to Contest”
Mask mandates are done in Ontario as of March 21. The new broke yesterday, and with all things COVID-19 there was an immediate reaction that was far from universal. While some people are looking forward with relief and optimism that the worst is over, there are still a lot of people raising the red flag that the province could be in danger in the short-term without masking mandates. Here’s some of the reaction from politicians, educators, and health workers. Continue reading “Mask Mandate Removal Reaction is Generally Very Concerned”
Guelph Politico 