COVID-19

A number of residents braved the cold and lined the streets of Kenora Tuesday night waving their signs, and honking their horns in support of the Freedom Convoy 2022 making its way east to the nation's capital.

The convoy made its arrival into Kenora at just after 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night and made its way slowly through town welcomed by an abundance of patrons showing support.

The convoy has spread all across the country, and thousands of truckers have united, and are making their way from all parts of Canada en route to Ottawa to stand up against the vaccine mandate.

A federal vaccine requirement for cross-border travel for truck drivers has sparked the creation of the Freedom Convoy 2022.

The convoy has spread all across the country, and thousands of truckers have united, and are making their way from all parts of Canada en route to Ottawa to stand up against the vaccine mandate, and government control.

The convoy left British Columbia on Saturday, and Sunday (January 22, 23, 2022) is scheduled to roll into Kenora at around 7:00 p.m. Their destination once arrived in Kenora is the Husky gas station (420 Lakeview Drive).

Peace Wapiti Public School Division (PWPSD) has been advised of a high number of absences in students and staff at Penson School, which has caused the Division to request a temporary shift to at-home/remote learning from the Minister of Education.

Students will transition to at-home learning on Wednesday, January 26 until Thursday, February 3 inclusive. Friday, February 4 is a Division-wide Professional Development day. Students will be welcomed back to in-class learning on Monday, February 7.

The province says they have a new tool to combat COVID-19. 

Shipments of Pfizer’s Paxlovid anti-viral medication are on their way to Alberta and will be available to patients by the end of the month, health minister Jason Copping confirmed on Tuesday (Jan.25). 

However, due to the limited supply and side effects associated with the drug, the pill will only be available to select groups to start. 

Alberta reported 8,503 new COVID-19 cases since Friday.

Friday there were 4,069, Saturday 2,633, and Sunday 1,801. 

Hospitalizations increased by 113 admissions to a total of 1,304. 

ICU admissions increased by one to 108. 

The death toll in the province is at 3,470.

The active case count dropped to 55,685. 

Due to website issues, regional numbers were not updated on Monday, January 24, Grande Prairie currently has 363 active cases of COVID-19, while the County of Grande Prairie has 99.

There are six new COVID-19 deaths as of Tuesday morning.

The provincial COVID-19 dashboard is showing 729 people are in the hospital with COVID-19. This includes the 662 active cases.

In intensive care, there are 49 people; 44 of which have active cases.

Hospitalizations by health region include:

Chris Warkentin, Member of Parliament for Grande Prairie – Mackenzie, recently raised concerns about the Vaccine Mandate for cross-border Truckers that took effect on January 15, 2022.

The Liberal government announced in November that all Canadian truckers crossing the border from the United States would need to be vaccinated in order to avoid a 14-day quarantine.

Canada’s December inflation rate climbed to 4.8 per cent, the highest seen in 1991, which has caused worry among residents of Northwestern Ontario.

The recent spike has caused the price of food, housing, and gas to increase drastically.

Ontario Premier, Doug Ford spoke on the province's economic plan with the Q Morning Show on Tuesday (January 25, 2022).

“We’ve created the environment for companies to come from all over the world and invest, grow, and prosper here in Ontario,” Premier Ford said.

The City of Kenora has announced they will be reopening all of its city buildings and facilities on January 31, 2022. They are saying the Muse will open on February 1, 2022. 

The reopening is due to the province's January 20, 2022, announcement that laid their three-step plan to reopen the province starting on Monday (January 31, 2022).

Kenora MP Eric Melillo says he’s frustrated and disappointed to see Canada’s mandatory vaccination policy for truckers take effect – prompting thousands of truckers to protest and convoy across the country.

Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all truckers took effect on January 15 after making the announcement in November, while the United States’ requirement took effect on January 22. The mandatory vaccines aim to avoid a 14-day quarantine when truckers cross the border.