COVID UPDATE
There 27 new COVID-19 cases reported Friday in the Middlesex-London region, including 15 recoveries.
Meanwhile, a total of 1400 COVID-19 cases were reported throughout Ontario today. 8 new deaths have been reported and the death toll has risen to 3400, marking 15 straight days of the case count being above 1000 in the province. The majority of cases are in the Peel, followed by Toronto, the York Region, and Ottawa.
Premier Doug Ford met with his cabinet today to discuss new public health measures for Toronto and two other Covid-19 hot spots after the province’s chief medical officer of health submitted recommendations a day earlier. restrictions will affect Toronto, Peel, and York regions, where there have been increasing cases in the past weeks.
On Thursday Doug Ford stated that “These measures, they will have to be tough in the hardest hit areas.” “We’re seeing concerning trends, our hospital ICU beds are in jeopardy and our long-term care homes are at risk. We have some difficult, but necessary decisions to make.”
CAMPUS
A COVID outbreak has been declared inside Saugeen-Maitland Hall on Thursday.
The eight infected students are currently self-isolating at an undisclosed location off campus.
The outbreak happened despite the reduced occupancy per room at the residence. The residence mostly houses first-year students.
Health officials have not stated whether all the infected individuals lived on the same floor. However, they have tested a large number of students inside the residence.
LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The 14th annual Pillar non-Profit Awards Ceremony was held last night.
The awards were handed out in the categories of Innovation, Leadership, Impact, Collaboration and Community Choice.
The Atrium Project won the community innovation award for its work as an app that connects volunteers to individuals unable to access groceries on their own during this pandemic.
The collaboration award went to Free Rides for Essential Workers, a collaboration between Big Bike Giveaway and Squeaky Wheel Bike Co-op that provides refurbished bicycles as a safe commute option for essential workers.
The leadership award went to Coun. Arielle Kayabaga, the first Black woman elected to London city.
The impact award went to Dribbling Down Barriers, a training program that “uses basketball as a platform to promote diversity and inclusion. It was inspired by “the stunted professional career of the program’s co-founder, due to an unjust ruling against hijab-wearing.”
Andrew’s Legacy was the recipient of the community choice award. The charity works to get automated external defibrillators (AEDs), into schools, sports fields and recreation centres.
WEATHER
Today’s high will be a comfortable 17 degrees, with a low of 2 degrees. For this weekend we can expect a cloudy Saturday with a high of 6 degrees, and 90% chance of snow on Sunday with a high of 2 degrees.
