COVID-19

As COVID-19 cases surge across the region and now the worry of the Omicron variant, Northwestern Ontario is facing a shortage of rapid antigen test kits.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP, Greg Rickford, said in an interview earlier this week, Northern Ontario has gone through the 2.5 million rapid test kits it received.

“Look we ran out, we didn’t waste any time distributing them. They were distributed to the Chambers of Commerce, the hospitals, long-term care homes,” said Rickford.

The Keewatin Patricia District School Board has confirmed COVID-19 exposures were discovered at Evergreen Public School on December 21, 2021. 

The school board said that notification of exposure emails have been sent out by email, and families should check their email. 

The KPDSB is working closely with the Northwestern Health Unit. 

For reasons of privacy, the school board will not share personal information about any case and encourage others to avoid identifying individuals.

The IIHF World Junior Championship won't have as many fans as first intended. 

The tournament, which is taking place in Edmonton and Red Deer, is affected by Alberta's new restrictions coming into place on Christmas Eve.

“Following the announcement that the Province of Alberta will be implementing capacity limits for indoor sporting events, the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship will be reducing capacity to 50 per cent for all games, effective immediately," Hockey Canada said in a statement.  

The provincial government has announced new measures to combat the spread of the Omicron variant.

According to Premier Jason Kenney, Omicron accounted for 1 per cent of the province's COVID cases between Dec. 3-9 and now represents over 50 per cent, making it Alberta's dominant strain.

The following measures take effect on Christmas Eve:

The provincial government has announced new measures to combat the spread of the Omicron variant.

According to Premier Jason Kenney, Omicron accounted for 1 per cent of the province's COVID cases between Dec. 3-9 and now represents over 50 per cent, making it Alberta's dominant strain.

The following measures take effect on Christmas Eve:

Following the City of Kenora's announcement earlier Tuesday, declaring a state of local Emergency, the city has now closed a number of facilities effective immediately. 

Currently, Kenora is reporting 53 active cases, as another two confirmed cases were reported Tuesday, to add to the 102 active case count across the region. 

Effective immediately following facilities will be closed to the public:

•             Kenora Recreation Centre

•             Lake of the Woods Museum

•             Douglas Family Art Centre

This Christmas, churches will be able to have services of various sizes, depending on vaccination statuses and cohort capabilities.

Many pastors have been reaching out, seeking clarifications on the new public health orders after two subsections appear to contradict each other.

All Alberta aged 18 and older who have had their second dose at least five months ago can now book appointments for third doses at participating pharmacies, or through Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Today, the province of Alberta announced they are opening COVID-19 boosters to all Albertans 18 and older, and launching a booster shot campaign.

The province is expanding its booster shot campaign. 

Effective immediately, all Albertans aged 18 and older who received their second COVID-19 dose at least five months ago can now book a third dose.  

Public Health says 230 more people who are fully vaccinated have contracted COVID-19 as hospitalization and intensive care rates remain low for this group.

There are 302 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, bringing the total number of cases to 71,888. Most of the new cases come from Winnipeg.

The province would not say how many omicron cases Manitoba has as of Tuesday, saying there wil be a press conference and bulletin will be released Wednesday.