The City of Toronto has announced all their planned holiday camps and winter instructional programs have been cancelled due to COVID-19.
The camps were expected to begin on Dec. 21 to align with the winter break for schools. Just over 700 people had signed up for the camps at this point.
The city’s Learn-to-Skate, which had close to 450 registrations, and Instructional Ski programs have also been cancelled.
Registration had not yet begun on the ski programs.
Residents who registered for camps or programs will be issued an automatic refund.
City staff were able to run summer camps through their CampTO programming with COVID-19 measures in place, but the city says Toronto’s overall case numbers and daily case counts are much higher now.
Toronto is also reviewing operations at the Centennial Park and Earle Bales Park ski and snowboard centres and working to determine whether the ski hills will be opened.
More information on whether the city will be offering winter recreation programming is expected to be shared in January.
According to the province, Toronto recorded 737 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, and the region remains in the Grey-Lockdown category of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework.
Mayor John Tory, along with other GTA mayors, have been calling for additional restrictions over the winter holidays.
As the NHL continues to work through discussions with five different provincial health authorities about its plans to stage the upcoming season, a fallback option looms in the background.
The possibility of playing entirely in the United States.
Sources say that’s the likely outcome if agreements can’t be reached to make the all-Canadian Division a reality for 2020-21.
While there’s nothing concrete to indicate that the necessary government bodies won’t eventually sign off on the NHL’s plans, that had yet to happen as of late Thursday afternoon.
The NHL would prefer to have each of its seven Canadian teams based out of its own city and arena for a 56-game regular season. The travel would be limited to within the country and would therefore be unaffected by any border issues.
However, the plan requires approval from health authorities in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia. They need to be comfortable with the league’s protocols, which have been an ongoing point of discussion with the NHL Players’ Association.
Should that fail to happen, the NHL is willing to have the Canucks, Flames, Oilers, Jets, Maple Leafs, Senators and Canadiens play out of the U.S., if necessary.
That would follow what has happened in other sports. MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays were forced to play home games out of Buffalo last summer while the NBA’s Toronto Raptors have relocated to Tampa for the upcoming season.
On Thursday, Ontario’s minister of sport said the provincial government is examining how a Canadian division in the NHL might work.
Lisa MacLeod said that discussions about the league’s return-to-play plan are happening at Ontario’s public health table with the province’s chief medical officer of health, as well as officials from Toronto and Ottawa.
MacLeod said that she expects to join those conversations in the next few days, as will her federal counterpart Steven Guilbeault.
“In terms of (the NHL’s) direct proposal, I believe I’m going to be briefed on that in the next day or so,” said MacLeod.
MacLeod said she spoke to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday and is scheduled to again on Friday. She said she has also had conversations with the Ottawa Senators over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the Ontario Hospital Association today asked the Ontario government for a strict four-week lockdown in regions with high rates of COVID-19 positivity that would include Toronto and Ottawa.
Also, the mayors of Toronto and Mississauga, Ont., both said on Wednesday that they want a strict four-week lockdown to begin over the winter holidays to slow the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the GTA.
Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report
French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday.
It said the president took a test “as soon as the first symptoms appeared.” The brief statement did not say what symptoms Macron experienced.
It said he would isolate himself for seven days. “He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance,”it added.
It was not immediately clear what contact tracing efforts were in progress. Macron attended a European Union summit at the end of last week, where he notably had a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He met Wednesday with the prime minister of Portugal. There was no immediate comment from Portuguese officials.
Macron on Wednesday also held the government’s weekly Cabinet meeting in the presence of Prime Minister Jean Castex and other ministers. Castex’s office said that the prime minister is also self-isolating for seven days.
The French presidency confirmed that Macron’s trip to Lebanon scheduled for next week is being cancelled.
Macron and other government officials repeatedly say that they are sticking to strict sanitary protocols during the pandemic, including not shaking hands, wearing a mask and keeping distance from other people.
Macron is following French health authorities’ recommendations that since September have reduced the self-isolation time from 14 days to seven. Authorities said at the time that this is the period when there is the greatest risk of contagion and that reducing it allows better enforcement of the measure.
French health authorities argued this week that the 14-day quarantine was not well-respected by many in the country who considered it too long.
The owner of Fran’s Restaurant says it will be permanently closing its Yonge and Front streets location at the end of this year.
Robert Kim, whose family now owns the business which opened its first restaurant in 1940, says the combination of an “uncooperative landlord” and the current COVID-19 measures preventing restaurants from operating has forced them to shutter the location as of December 31st.
Kim says they were in the process of negotiating a new lease when COVID hit earlier this spring, forcing them to table those talks and move forward on a month-to-month basis. He says that while the property management were supportive during the initial lockdown phase, things changed as the second wave forced the business to close once again.
“I think what small businesses are looking for is a more timely application of the programs that [government’s] put in place to support small businesses, such as rent relief,” said Kim. “Announcing it is one thing but when you lift the moratorium on evictions, but don’t release rent relief, it provides a massive loop hole for landlords to evict their tenants. Unfortunately, that is what happened to us.”
Kim says the last two weeks have been difficult for his family, as all the hard work and sweat equity they put into making the location a success falls by the wayside.
“We’re all in a tough spot here,” explained Kim. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic, there’s so many moving parts and there’s a lot of risks and its tough no matter how you look at it, whether you’re a landlord, a tenant. I think that the best that we can do is to continue to support small businesses, shop local.”
Kim says despite the closure, they will be looking for alternate locations and hopefully expand “in the near future.”
Francis “Fran” Deck opened the first restaurant at Yonge and St. Clair, described as a “modest, ten-stool diner” that offered comfort food classics such as burgers, homemade apple pie and all-day breakfast that was available 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Kim’s family took over the College Street location in 1997 from a group of investors who had bought the family-owned chain following Deck’s death in 1976. Then in 1998, the family acquired the rest of the Fran’s Restaurant company.
Originally opened in 2010 across from the Meridian Hall, the closure of the Yonge and Front restaurant will leave just two locations open – one at Yonge and College and the other at Victoria and Shuter streets.
The province is preparing for the possibility that the Christmas break for in-person learning in schools may be extended in the new year.
In a memo issued to school boards, Education Minister Stephen Lecce says while the transmission of COVID-19 in schools has remained “low” they should prepare for the possibility of remote learning beyond January 4.
“We are recommending that boards encourage students and staff to take home any materials that they may require for remote learning before they leave school for the holiday period so that we can continue to be ready for all scenarios,” reads the memo.
Lecce further recommends that school boards continue to ensure that students and families are provided the resources required to successfully participate in remote learning, including ensuring the availability of remote learning devices for all students.
The memo points out that the public health environment in the province is evolving rapidly and they will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation, including increasing hospitalizations and patients in intensive care.
Last month, Lecce said there was no need to extend the Christmas break, pointing out Ontario schools have been “remarkably successful at minimizing outbreaks” during a second wave that has seen record-breaking daily counts, most notably in Toronto and Peel Region.
“We have consulted with the Chief Medical Officer of Health as well as the Public Health Measures Table and have determined that an extended winter holiday is not necessary at this time, given Ontario’s strong safety protocols, low levels of transmission and safety within our schools,” he said back on November 18.
Warning: Details of the trial are graphic in nature, discretion is advised
The defence is set to give its closing arguments Thursday at the trial for the man who killed 10 people in Toronto’s van attack.
Alek Minassian has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 of attempted murder.
CityNews reporter Adrian Ghobrial is covering the trial, follow his tweets below:
The defence argues Minassian is not criminally responsible for his actions on April 23, 2018, due to autism spectrum disorder.
The prosecution argues the 28-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., knew what he was doing was wrong.
Minassian has admitted to planning and carrying out the attack.
The only issue at trial is his state of mind at the time of the killings.
RELATED: What would a not criminally responsible verdict mean for Toronto van attacker’s future?
At the judge-only trial, Justice Anne Molloy heard testimony nearly exclusively from forensic psychologists and psychiatrists. The experts had interviewed Minassian and administered tests to understand his state of mind.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating a crash in Brampton that sent one person to hospital by air ambulance.
According to police, officers were involved in the pursuit of a stolen vehicle on Williams Parkway, west of Kennedy Road, just after midnight on Wednesday.
Police believed the driver of the vehicle may have also been impaired.
No details on the crash have been released but images from the scene show damage to the front end of a Peel police cruiser and a van crashed into the concrete barriers that line the road.
The driver of the van was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
There has been no word on any other injuries.
Police have also closed off a second scene at Kennedy Road north of Church Street.
Aurora Cannabis says it is laying off 214 workers and its chief science officer is retiring, the latest of a series of cuts to hit the Edmonton-based cannabis company.
Aurora spokeswoman Michelle Lefler says in addition to the layoffs, operations at the company’s Aurora Sky facilities will be reduced by 75 per cent.
Lefler says the move will help the company focus on its “premium flower product” at the site.
Chief science officer Jonathan Page will be retiring and will assume an advisory role to help with the transition.
The company previously announced it would pause operations at its Aurora Sun facility, with the shutdown affecting 30 workers.
Lefler confirmed that facility would be wound down on Dec. 18.
Miguel Martin, who was named the new CEO in September, said the moves will help the company.
“This is a difficult decision but one we must make for the health of our entire business,” Martin said in a statement.
The move is part of the company’s work to evolve its operations network with sales trends and help its ability to meet the evolving needs of the consumer, he added.
“The operational excellence of Aurora Sky is core to our strategy and growth ambition, which includes a greater focus on delivering high quality, premium products and innovation led by deeper plant science and genetics expertise,” Martin said.
This month’s job cuts are the latest to hit the company.
In June, the company laid off 700 workers and announced plans to cease operations at five facilities in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec. It also said it planned to consolidate production and manufacturing at four facilities in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada has signed a contract to receive up to 168,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December.
The Moderna vaccine is still in the final stages of its review by Health Canada but Trudeau says deliveries could begin within 48 hours of the department’s experts giving it the green light.
Canada has contracted to receive two million doses from Moderna by the end of March, and 40 million by the end of 2021. But initially the first doses weren’t going to arrive until January.
Now they will start arriving within two days of the vaccine’s authorization by Health Canada. The Moderna vaccine’s less stringent storage requirements will allow remote communities and northern territories to start receiving vaccine for the first time.
Health Canada approved the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech Dec. 9 and injections began in Ontario and Quebec Monday morning, with most provinces on track to deliver their first vaccinations by the end of the week. There are 30,000 doses arriving this week, and Trudeau said 200,000 more will arrive next week.
Because the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine must be stored at ultralow temperatures – between -60 C and -80 C until shortly before injection – it was initially limited to 14 delivery sites in the 10 provinces. Trudeau said by next week there will be 70 sites.
Moderna’s vaccine is stored in regular freezers at about -20 C, which makes it easier to ship and store. Trudeau said the territories and remote communities, which asked not to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine because of the cold-chain complexities, will be prioritized for the Moderna vaccine.
In all there should be 417,000 vaccine doses in Canada before Dec. 31, which will be distributed to provinces and territories based on population share, but the territories will get all of their doses from Moderna.
“This is the good news we all needed,” Trudeau said. “This pandemic will end. We will get through this. But for now, we need to be incredibly careful.”
Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada, told The Canadian Press the department’s review of Moderna’s vaccine is in the final stages. She said the final clinical data from the Massachusetts-based biotech company were received Dec. 11, and the final data on the manufacturing process is expected before the end of the week.
“It does look promising and it does look positive,” said Sharma.
She said she will know better when the manufacturing data comes in how much longer it could be until a decision is made.
Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines require two doses – 21 days apart for Pfizer’s and 28 days apart for Moderna’s. Sharma said with the Pfizer vaccine, a recipient’s immune system generates some protection after the first dose, with maximum immunity in place seven days after the second dose.
Pfizer is shipping its doses to Canada from its manufacturing facility in Belgium but Canada has contracted FedEx to bring over the Moderna vaccine from Europe. Health-logistics firm Innomar will use its network of cold-storage facilities to receive the Moderna doses and repackage them for deliveries to the provinces and territories.
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the vice-president of logistics at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said a dry-run of the Moderna delivery is taking place Tuesday.
Six million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines are expected by the end of March, enough to vaccinate about three million people. The priority for the first doses are residents and workers in long-term care homes, front-line health workers at high-risk for exposure to COVID-19, people over the age of 80 living independently, and adults in remote Indigenous communities.
The vaccine program will be expanded to others in April, when more doses start arriving. There are also two other vaccines, from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, under review by Health Canada. Sharma said AstraZeneca’s review team is determining if it will request further trials, after the drugmaker discovered some of the patients in the Phase 3 trial didn’t receive the full doses of its vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson submitted its application Nov. 30, so that review is in the very early stages, said Sharma.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized for use on people over the age of 16, who are not allergic to any of the ingredients. However pregnant or breastfeeding women and people with compromised immune systems are warned to talk to their doctor before getting it.
Canada’s vaccine advisory panel Wednesday recommended more testing before COVID-19 vaccines are routinely offered to pregnant or breastfeeding women, kids under 16, or patients with compromised immune systems.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization is encouraging vaccine-makers to expand clinical trials to include more study of their products in those groups.
But the committee’s experts also say if there is evidence the benefits of getting the vaccine outweigh the potential risks of COVID-19, it could be offered to pregnant women, kids as young as 12, or people who are immunosuppressed, with informed consent.
The only COVID-19 vaccine authorized in Canada so far is from Pfizer-BioNTech for people as young as 16, but people who are immunocompromised, pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or breastfeeding are advised to talk to their doctors before getting it.
Pregnant women were not specifically included in Pfizer’s clinical trials but almost two dozen women who got the vaccine later became pregnant and reported no complications.
Pfizer tested the vaccine on a small sample of children between 12 and 15 years old in the fall, with no safety concerns reported, and intends to expand trials to children as young as five next year.
The head of the association representing the province’s hospital workers warns Ontario hospitals face an “imminent risk of overwhelming conditions” as they brace for a spike in COVID-19 patients.
The Ontario Hospital Association has called an emergency meeting of its board of directors for Wednesday, to determine how to cope with the surging second wave.
Provincial health officials on Tuesday reported 921 people hospitalized with the virus, with 249 being treated in the ICU. That’s more ICU patients than at any other point during the pandemic.
It’s a situation the OHA tells 680 NEWS risks getting more dire, if people gather in person over the holidays.
“In late December and into January, hospitals appear increasingly likely to face a wave of seriously ill COVID patients that will almost certainly disrupt other acute care services and operations,” said the OHA. “This is a far more serious situation than wave one given the need to maintain access to elective surgery.”
This comes as hospitals across the province have reportedly been ordered to be ready to clear beds.
The CBC reports Ontario Health has warned every hospital CEO in the province to prepare to activate their emergency plans within 48 hours if needed.
That’ll mean hospitals in locked down Toronto, Peel and York Region, as well as those in red control zones, could have to make up to 15 per cent of their beds available for COVID patients.
A spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott said the increasing pressure on Ontario’s hospitals is a result of community spread.
“We continue to closely monitor the evolving situation,” Alexandra Hilkene said in a statement, “and are committed to working with our partners to ensure there is capacity in hospitals across the province to provide care for any Ontarian requiring hospitalization.”
