It was a whirlwind weekend for Doug Ford after an announcement of controversial new lockdown measures led to several rollbacks less than 24 hours later.
"Non-natives don't understand:" Backlash from a documentary's social media post caused important conversations about the seal hunt in Canada — as well as an apology from the original poster.
Along with allowing playgrounds to now remain open, Ontario is walking back the increased powers it gave to police after intense backlash.
New Ontario COVID-19 restrictions are giving police the power to stop and question people who are outside of their homes and ask for their address. The option to increase police powers is a bit alarming and dishevelling to Chris Rudnicki, a partner and legal counsel at Rusonik, O'Connor, Robbins, Ross, Gorham and Angelini, who admitted he's concerned there could be some overstepping by police and are constitutionally concerning.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announce Friday that the provincial government will be extending the stay-at-home order for an additional two weeks, six weeks in total. "The reality is, there are few options left," Ford said. "The difficult truth is, every public health measure we have left comes with a massive cost to people and their lives."
New modelling of the COVID-19 situation in Ontario shows that extending the stay-at-home order to six weeks, with 100,000 vaccines doses being administered each day, is the "only way to flatten the curve." "What the models are suggesting now...is that the case growth is going to be much less substantial and if the public measures extend for six weeks instead of four weeks, we really blunt the second round of growth as part of this wave," Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, explained on Friday.
Prime Minister Trudeau stressed to Canadians on Friday that Canada is facing "an incredibly serious situation" in the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. He called out Toronto, in particular, which is seeing record-breaking COVID-19 cases and shrinking ICU capacity. "There’s no doubt that Canada’s largest city is struggling under the weight of this third wave so we are going to do whatever it takes to help," the prime minister said.
While British Columbia's latest COVID-19 modelling shows a "levelling off" in some key data points, Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, stressed that with variants of concern spreading, people need to continue to diligently follows the public health measures in place.
Make no mistake, this isn't 'Uncle Jesse.' Full House star John Stamos is starring in a new role on Disney+'s show 'Big Shot' (releasing on Friday, April 16) which pitches him as a gruff, angry coach that is a contrast to the cool, sitcom-uncle generations of viewers have come to love. In the 10-episode series, Stamos plays Marvyn Korn, a NCAA men’s basketball coach who is relegated to coaching at a girls private school after his aggressive antics get him kicked out of the league. Now, he works under the school’s dean, played by Yvette Nicole Brown, with assistant coach Holly Barrett (Jessalyn Gilsig)
All eyes are on daily COVID-19 case data, test positivity and the number of vaccine being administered as Canadians push through this third wave of the pandemic, but actually understanding what the data means is another important aspect of navigating COVID-19. On Tuesday, Ontario's test positivity exceeded a record 10 per cent for the first time, with 42,167 tests completed, going back down to 8.6 per cent on Wednesday, with 54,211 tests completed in the past 24 hours, and eight per cent on Thursday, with 65,559 test completed in the last day. New confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday totalled, up from 4,156 the day before. The seven-day average for cases in Ontario is currently 4,208.
While COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Canada continue to rise, Ontario in particular is being called out in international warnings. Japan has designated Ontario, specifically, as a region with community transmission of variants of concern, which requires anyone travelling to the country from the province, in addition to a 14-day quarantine, to isolate for three days at a designated facility, with a COVID-19 test on the third day.
Following the first reported case of a blood clot with low platelets after an individual in Quebec received the the COVISHIELD Serum Institute of India version of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Health Canada still maintains that the vaccine is safe, even for all age groups. "We know that the risks of getting these side effects from the vaccine are very rare and we know that the risk of getting infected with COVID-19 and potentially experiencing serious health consequences, hospitalization or even death from the disease, are very real," Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser with Health Canada said at a press conference on Wednesday. "Health Canada wants to reassure people that the AstraZeneca vaccines continue to be safe and effective at protecting them against COVID-19 and that the benefits of immunization outweigh the risks."
If you’re a fan of the MTV Catfish series, a new Netflix documentary titled Why Did You Kill Me? (releasing on April 14) tells the ultimate catfishing story about a mother who used MySpace to try to find the person who killed her daughter, Crystal Theobald. The documentary starts with images of Microsoft Windows XP computer booting up and the MySpace site launching on web browser, with a banner to watch a Brooke Hogan music video. So it very quickly takes you back to the MySpace era of the internet, while you try to wrap your head around a family trying to catch a killer on a social networking platform.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has confirmed the first reported case of an adverse event involving blood clots after someone in Canada received the COVISHIELD Serum Institute of India version of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
While Muslims were hoping this Ramadan would be COVID-restriction-free, the vaccine provides a ray of light in these dire times. Global COVID-19 vaccine campaigns are underway, and although experts have encouraged Canadians to get the vaccine if they are eligible, some hesitancy from the Muslim community is expected around this time considering Muslims need to abstain from all food, drinks entering the body.
The Ontario government has announced that all elementary and secondary schools in the province will move to remote learning after the spring break.
Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford received his first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a local Etobicoke pharmacy. Unfortunately for the premier, there was one moment at the pharmacy that got some unwanted attention from Ford critics when, after getting the shot, he jokingly fell slumped to one side when the vaccination was done.
Early on Friday morning news broke that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died at the age of 99. While many people around the world shared their condolences to the royal family, several also highlighted Prince Philip's past racist, sexist, discriminatory comments. In many circumstances, his comments have simply been reported as "gaffes" throughout his life.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, warned Canadians on Friday that "the race" between COVID-19 vaccines and variant cases is at a "critical point."
COVID-19 cases continue to rise domestically and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning people in the U.S. about international travel to Canada.
On the first day of Ontario's COVID-19 stay-at-home order, set to be in place for four weeks, people in the province took to social media to express concerns about what "essential" products really are.
As of April 8, more than seven million million vaccine doses have been administered in Canada.
On Wednesday, the Ontario government announced that it will be expanding its COVID-19 vaccine distribution to people 18 and older in hotspots areas of the province, as mobile testing units and pop-up clinics are organized.
After the Ontario government formally announced the implementation of a stay-at-home order, set to begin at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, April 8, people across the province took to social media to react to the news.
The Ontario government has announced a four-week shut down across the province, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, April 8.