In mid-January, there was a super-spreader event on the University of Guelph campus where over 50 people had gotten together in the townhouse of East Residence for a Frost Week party. A couple of days before that though, there was another serious public health matter related to the pandemic, a case of one of the COVID-19 variants had infected a Guelph resident, and the public never knew it… Until now. Continue reading “Guelph Had a Case of the U.K. COVID Variant. A Month Ago.”
As this week started, the 7-day moving rate of confirmed cases is just a few points above the red line of 40 per 100,000, while the test positivity rate is now at 3.6 per cent. This is good news since it was just a month ago that the numbers were over 115 per 100,000 and five per cent. The numbers are going down, but where does the local medical officer think we stand in all this? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #260 – Still COVID [Winter Edition] with Dr. Mercer”
The first Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Board of Health meeting for 2021 offered some hope for the future even if it wasn’t an immediate hope. With vaccine delays out of her control, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer focused on the swift delivery of what vaccines have been received, and the fact that it looks like the virus has peaked in Guelph and area for this second wave. Continue reading “Outlook Still Positive Despite Vaccine Concerns at Board of Health”
Do you have some questions about when you might get one of the COVID-19 vaccines, how they work, or what considerations are going into the vaccine distribution? Then this is the Twitter thread for you! On Friday, Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner hosted a town hall with Dr. Nicola Mercer, the medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health to talk about vaccine facts, and the current state of the pandemic in Guelph. Continue reading “RECAP: Mercer Talks About Local Vaccine Distribution, Debunks Myths”
One month ago this past Monday marked the last time that most students in Guelph stepped foot inside their schools and classrooms, at least the ones that were physically going to school in the first place. On Wednesday, it was announced that January will end without kids going back to school as Public Health has extended the order for mandatory virtual learning for another week as the case count slowly declines. Continue reading “No In-Person Classes for Guelph Schools Till February 1”
This coming Monday was supposed to be back to school day for all but post-secondary school students in southern Ontario, but the rising case numbers have been making both parents and educators thinking twice about going back to in-person classes so soon. On Thursday, Premier Doug Ford publicly agreed that it might be too much of a risk to send thousands of students back to school right now. Continue reading “Schools Closed Till January 25 By New Provincial Order”
At a media even on Wednesday morning, Sarah Ricci of the Shelburne Long-Term Care home became the first person in Wellington, Dufferin or Guelph to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Ricci said “Today represents hope!” and in more than one way it does after a couple of days of confusion about exactly how many does of the Pfizer vaccine our public health authority would receive, and when they would get here. Continue reading “Vaccine Distribution Finally Begins in Guelph, Wellington, Dufferin”
We talk a lot about the dangers faced by frontine workers during the pandemic, and Monday we saw that first hand with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health declaring an outbreak at the Guelph Police Service. And since it doesn’t rain but it pours, public health itself announced Monday that they will not be rolling out vaccines today as originally planned. Continue reading “COVID Outbreak Declared for Guelph Police as Local Vaccine Distribution Delayed”
In what is perhaps the best bit of good news we might receive in these waning days of 2020, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health has announced that they will be getting their first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer next week. The vaccine will arrive on Monday January 4, and be ready for distribution the same day with a full rollout scheduled for Tuesday. Continue reading “Pfizer Vaccine Arrives in Guelph Next Week”
When you woke up this morning, it was two days till Christmas and three days till the start of a province-wide lockdown, and on this morning there was some good news and some concerning news. While the Government of Canada has approved the second vaccine for widespread distribution, there’s still no news about when our region might start getting the vaccine, but Public Health says they’re prepared when it happens. Continue reading “Countdown to Lockdown: The State of COVID in Guelph on December 23”
