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Scrapping The NWO Scotties

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No Northern Ontario curling playdowns for the Scotties.

The co-chair of the Kenora organizing committee told Acadia News Wednesday that the women’s event is being cancelled while the men’s playdowns will be pushed to either late next month or early February.

A team will be designated as the Northern Ontario representative for the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which is set for January 28th until February 6th at the Fort William Gardens.

The playdowns were expected to begin on Wednesday, January 5th.

Curling Canada suspended ticket sales on December 16th until further notice following the move by the provincial government to re-institute capacity limits in certain indoor settings.

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Province Changes Gathering Sizes, Capacity Limits

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The provincial government is enacting further measures in the fight against the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Alongside Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore Friday, Premier Doug Ford enacted the following measures will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, December 19th:

  • Indoor settings, except religious facilities, will be limited to 50 per cent capacity
  • The number of patrons permitted to sit at a table will be limited to 10 people and patrons will be required to remain seated in restaurants, bars and other food or drink establishments, meeting and event spaces and strip clubs
  • Bars and restaurants, meeting and event spaces and strip clubs will be required to close by 11:00 p.m. with take out and delivery will be permitted
  • Food and/or drink services will be prohibited at sporting events; concert venues, theatres and cinemas; casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments; and horse racing tracks, car racing tracks and other similar venues
  • The sale of alcohol will be restricted after 10:00 p.m. and consumption of alcohol in businesses or settings after 11:00 p.m.
  • Maximum allowable size of indoor social gatherings will be 10 while 25 people can gather outdoors
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Drop In Gas Prices Coming: GasBuddy

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It may be inevitable that the price you pay at the pump for fuel will drop in Northwestern Ontario.

In other parts of the province, the cost dropped as much as 11 cents per litre Sunday following the news of Omicron, the newest COVID-19 variant.

Those savings didn’t appear up here but Patrick De Haan, the Head of Petroleum Analysis with GasBuddy, feels it’s just a matter of time.

“There’s just no way that stations could maintain holding onto the level of margin,” De Haan added. “The drop has been around for a day or two, so many stations still haven’t found it necessary to buy fuel, either that or their tanks are full of expensive gasoline.”

De Haan noted many stations in North America refill their tanks every 3-5 days.

According to Gasbuddy the price in Dryden remains at around 153 a litre.

If you are headed west and stopping in Kenora, expect to pay 155.

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More In Ontario Can Register For A Booster Dose Saturday

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The province is expanding the eligibility for a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Starting Saturday, November 6th at 8:00 a.m. you’ll be able to book the third shot if you fall into one of these categories:

  • People aged 70 and older
  • Health-care workers, essential caregivers in congregate settings
  • Those who received both doses of AstraZeneca
  • First Nations people and their non-Indigenous household members

To qualify, between six and eight months needs to have passed since your second dose.

The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said Wednesday that this decision aligns with recommendations made by Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).

Bookings can be made through the province’s online portal, through either the Thunder Bay District or Northwestern Health Unit‘s website or at select pharmacies.

Ontario is looking for a broader eligibility for the booster dose starting in January 2022.

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NWHU Active COVID Cases Drop Over Weekend

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The Northwestern Health Unit says there is one new case of COVID-19 in the region since their last update on Friday morning.

It’s one of the five total active cases within their catchment area and comes from the Rainy River district.

All of the active cases, including one hospitalization, are currently in the Rainy River health hub.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kit Young Hoon says the health unit is continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation in the Emo area, following an outbreak at Sturgeon Creek Alternative Program and SonShine Christian Kindergarten.

The regional health authority tells us that they’ve now administered 125,255 doses of vaccine to date.

“Our vaccination coverage rate is getting higher,” says Dr. Kit Young Hoon. “Of those in our region aged 12 and older 87.5 per-cent have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while nearly 81 per-cent have had two doses. We do continue to offer COVID-19 vaccine appointments in many of our communities.”

Dr. Young Hoon stresses it’s important that anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 gets tested, even if the symptom is mild.

Provincially, the number for one dose is 87.1 per-cent while the two-dose rate sits at 82.4 per-cent.

To the east, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit is also reporting one new case.

Christine Elliott, Ontario’s Health Minister, says there are 390 new cases Monday across Ontario. Just under 67 per-cent of those (260) are people who are either not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccine status.

(With Files From Sarah McCarthy)

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Stay Tuned For Results…

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With the polls closed, we’ve got you covered.

Listen for updates three times an hour with our Thunder Bay News Director Kevin Jeffrey.

Kenora News Director Tim Davidson and Dryden anchor/reporter Sarah McCarthy will focus on that race.

Dryden News Director Mike Ebbeling will have the national perspective and Kenora reporter/anchor Stuart Walter will update the numbers you see here.

Vasilios Bellos will be all over the race in Thunder Bay-Superior North while our Fort Frances News Director Randy Thoms has the Thunder Bay-Rainy River perspective.

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Drop In Gas Prices Coming

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Expect a dip in how much you pay when you fill up your vehicle.

With fall set to start Wednesday, September 22, the winter blend of gasoline will flow as the Canada market mimics what the United States does with oil.

The Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan tells Acadia News that between June 1st and September 15th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates gasoline to ease emissions in the warmer months.

“It may bring a relief by the end of the month between three to five cents a litre,” says De Haan. “The relief may take a while to realize because of the hurricanes that have impacted several key refining hubs in the United States and oil production.”

De Haan admits this summer was abnormal as compared to 2020.

“Because of what COVID-19 brought last summer, Canadians stayed far closer to home, which reduced demand and as result oil companies lowered production. This summer, on an account potentially of the vaccine boosting consumer confidence and bringing down cases at least early on, Canadians got out in very significant numbers, as a result of oil companies that had just trimmed production last year, we saw a very remarkable jump in demand which was not accompanied by an increase in supply.”

According to GasBuddy the price in Thunder Bay at most stations Wednesday is close to 147 a litre although there are a few that sell it for as low as 121.6.

Stations in Kenora and Dryden sell fuel for 141.9 while the Fort Frances price remains at 147 a litre.

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NWHU COVID Vaccination Numbers Going Up

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Improved, but still below the provincial numbers.

That’s the latest update when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine uptake within the Northwestern Health Unit.

The new numbers show that 83.7 per-cent of those 12+ within the catchment area have had at least one dose of vaccine, while 75.3 per-cent are fully vaccinated.

Those numbers are compared to 84.5 per-cent (at least one dose) and 78.2 per-cent (fully vaccinated) for Ontario as a whole.

The numbers from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit are similar to the NWHU (82.5 per-cent with one dose, 74.6 per-cent fully vaccinated), while in Manitoba those numbers sit at 83.6 per-cent (at least one dose) and 78.7 per-cent (fully vaccinated).

To date, the NWHU has administered 117,647 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

The health unit tells us they are hosting vaccines clinics throughout the week, with all of them taking place at area schools.

The Health Unit says that if you’d like to book an appointment you can click here to use their online booking system or call them at 1-866-468-2240.

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NWHU Adds Four New Cases

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The Northwestern Health Unit is reporting four new cases of COVID-19 within their catchment area Tuesday morning.

All four come from the Kenora region, though they tell us one case is considered resolved.

The regional health authority says there are currently a total of four active cases with two isolating outside of the catchment area.

The Thunder Bay District adds one new case and now has two actives.

Throughout the province, Ontario added 348 new cases Tuesday morning as well as ten deaths.

203 of the new cases were unvaccinated people.

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NWHU: One New, Four Active COVID Cases

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The Northwestern Health Unit says they were made aware of one new confirmed case of COVID-19 since their last report on Friday.

The case comes from the Rainy River District, though the Health Unit tells us that following their investigation it is now considered resolved.

As of Monday morning, the NWHU says there are a total of four cases on record in their catchment area. Three are in the Kenora region while the other is in the Rainy River district.

Despite being listed by the Northwestern Health Unit, one case in the Kenora area and the case in the Rainy River region are isolating outside of the area.

Of the two active cases within the NWHU area, one is currently in the hospital due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, there are no new cases in the Thunder Bay District.

As for the province, there are 526 new cases in Ontario with 353 of those being unvaccinated individuals.

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