COVID-19

Members of the Canadian Rangers and volunteers have been sent to Deer Lake First Nation, north of Red Lake, to help the community manage a major COVID-19 outbreak.

The Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority says as of March 24, Deer Lake First Nation has 121 active cases of COVID-19. Throughout the entire pandemic, the community has only seen a total of 324 cases.

Leaders of the Far North are working alongside staff with the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority to address a massive spike of COVID-19 cases across the region.

SLFNHA’s Director of Approaches to Community Well-being and the acting Incident Commander for their Regional COVID-19 Response Ream, Emily Paterson, says as of March 24, SLFNHA is reporting a total of 513 active cases in their catchment area, which includes 31 northern Indigenous communities.

Public health officials advise 15 deaths in people with COVID-19 are being reported today:

Provincial post-secondary students can expect to see the tuition freeze continue for the 2022-2023 school year.  

The provincial government announced on March 23, 2022, that they will be extending the current tuition freeze for Ontario colleges and universities with hopes of further alleviating some of the financial stress of students and families.  

More Albertans are heading back to the office for the first time in nearly two years, and as luck would have it gas prices are at an all-time high.

The Town of Cochrane's Community Connectivity Advisor, Devin LaFleche says whether or not it's a coincidence more locals are relying on public transportation.

"As restrictions eased, ridership really spiked," explains LaFleche. "Now we're seeing a much more levelled out, higher level of ridership. We're back to almost pre-COVID [numbers]. We're not quite there, a couple percent short."

With over 500 active cases of COVID-19 across much of the far north, some are wondering why the province moved to remove mask mandates and many public health restrictions across the province, opposed to a more regional approach.

“Southern Ontario is putting the pandemic behind them, but for those of us that live in the far north, the pandemic is not over,” said Kiiwetinoong MPP and the NDP’s Indigenous and Treaty Relations Critic, Sol Mamakwa.

The COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years has hit regional airports in the region and across Canada hard forcing layoffs and economic hardships.

The Kenora Airport is hopeful for a sense of normalcy now that federal border restrictions and provincial public health measures are loosening

“We’re very excited for what we’re hoping is the end of the pandemic and getting a return to normal,” said Ryan Reynard, Board Chair of the Kenora Airport Authority

A spokesperson for Doctors Manitoba says the diagnostic and surgery backlog in our province has reached a new high.

New estimates suggest the pandemic backlog has reached nearly 168,000 cases. This is an increase of more than 6,300 from last month's estimate.

More than 20 Kenora health care workers rallied in front of Kenora-Rainy River MPP, Greg Rickford's office on Monday (March 21, 2022) to demand Bill 124 be repealed.

Bill 124 is to ensure that increases in public sector compensation reflect the fiscal situation of the province, are consistent with the principles of responsible fiscal management, and protect the sustainability of public services.

The Bill limits compensation increases, including salaries, pensions, and benefits, to 1 per cent for three-year periods for unionized public sector workers in Ontario.

Supporters of northwestern Ontario’s tourism industry are excited to see the federal government finally loosen measures at the international borders.

The federal government announced on March 17 that effective April 1, fully vaccinated travellers will no longer need to provide a pre-entry COVID-19 test result to enter Canada by air, land or water.