OTTAWA Ottawa Public Health says 61 more people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19 and one more person has died. The health unit s COVID-19 dashboard now shows 15,757 total laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Ottawa since the first case was confirmed on March 11, 2020. The death toll from the pandemic now stands at 450 citizens of Ottawa. No new variants of concern were confirmed in Ottawa on Wednesday, but eight more cases have tested positive for mutations. To date, Ottawa has seen 14 confirmed cases of the B.1.17 variant, two confirmed cases of the B.1.351 variant and 188 cases that have screened positive for a mutation whose lineage has not been confirmed.
If you are Irish you will know that means ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’. Everyone, from the Irish to those who wish they were Irish, is welcome to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, just very quietly and safely this year. Michael Cox, owner of The Scottish and Irish Store, says there is always a steady stream of people popping in to learn more about their heritage. Cox, whose father was Irish and mother was Scottish, has two retail locations brimming over with Celtic history, gift ideas, and foods. This business has interesting entrepreneurial roots. Cox first set up a stand at the Stittsville Flea Market many years ago.
KINGSTON Kingston s top doctor is extending limits on social gatherings and the number of people sitting together at bars and restaurants within the Limestone City until the end of the university school year in April. Medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore issued a Class Order under Section 22 of the Ontario Health Protection and Promotion Act to extend some of the measures implemented for St. Patrick s Day celebrations for another six weeks. The Kingston region is currently in the green-prevent level in Ontario s COVID-19 reopening framework, which includes private gatherings of 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. There are no limits on restaurant hours or the number of people sitting at a table.
OTTAWA The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit (LGLDHU) has issued a class order to place new restrictions on businesses and gatherings in the towns of Smiths Falls and Perth after a rise in COVID-19 cases. In a press release, the health unit said it detected a significant increase of COVID-19 in West Lanark County with 36 active cases in the communities of Perth, Smiths Falls, Tay Valley and Lanark Highlands. Most of the cases were in Perth and Smiths Falls. The Health Unit has observed inconsistent mask use and close environments (where a distance of 2 metres between individuals is not being maintained) as factors that are contributing to the spread of COVID-19 in local workplaces, the LGLDHU said in its release. As well some individuals with COVID-19 are going to work with mild symptoms and infecting other co-workers.