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March 27th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The COVID-19 virus is being passed from person to person – that has to stop.
March 27th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
One of the things that struck us as we spent some time in supermarkets – the shelves with flour were empty!  Empty shelves – been that way for a few days. Were people hoarding the product? We reached out to Ron Foxcroft whose Fluke Transport has 150 trucks on the road moving product from manufacturers and processors to supermarkets and asked if he could shed some light on why there is a shortage of flour – at least at the supermarket level.  There are 150 of Fluke trucks on the roads running between Ontario, New York state and Pennsylvania Foxcroft came back to us with this: Institutions and homes are using lots of flour. We are trucking 5 to 10 loads a day of bulk flour for commercial use. Bakeries, etc. etc. There is a challenge getting labour to put it in smaller bags and getting labour to put it on store shelves. It takes time to load, unload, and put on shelves. It just seemed odd to us that something as basic as flour would not be on the shelves – bread shelves were stocked. We’ll keep an eye on it.
March 27th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The Food Bank was very busy this morning picking up donations from several grocery stores, assembling delivery food supply hampers and arranging deliveries. Some brand new volunteers and some drivers from Burlington Rotary – thank you so much for helping us out right now.  Diane Gris talks about the Food Bank volunteers, the clients and about managing production. Diane Gris manages the production – she makes sure that the families requesting food, not only get the food supply hamper but any special needs they may have as well. We’re trying our very best to keep distance from each other as we work at the food bank and taking every precaution so that the food delivered is as safe as possible. The short video gives you a look at the inside of a Food Bank – the unfortunate part is they are now a part of life in every community.
March 27th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
We used to say we were always so busy – now hundreds of us are sitting at home and just plain bored. There is only so much Netflix you can take. And reading those books you always wanted to read requires an approach to life that many of us have lost – just being quiet is something we find ourselves having to learn. Yesterday, and again this morning, we were sent pictures of little painted rocks by people who were out for a walk and came across them. Who put them there – and why?
Painted rocks story HERE We are waiting to hear what you learn? Send whatever you find out to publisher@bgzt.ca or put a comment at the bottom of the news story.
By Pepper Parr The number of people infected and the number of people dying of COVID-19 are higher now in the United States than they are were in China. Our data comes from a reputable source – you might want to review all the data. It can be found HERE The increase for New York city was 40% in one day. The data below shows what has taken place in one week.  March 27th, 2020  March 26th, 2020  March 23rd, 2020
March 26th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The city is going to hold an electronic town hall this evening – it will not be a web cast. It will be audio only – to hear what is said you apparently dial into the 1-800 number – which we thought was for people who were going to ask question.
Cogeco TV is involved – a senior political staffer used the phrase “so I am told”. Cogeco was apparently a late comer to the initiative. Earlier in the week the Mayor was doing robo calls to random telephone numbers asking people to participate. Council members sent notices out to their participants saying: “We know there are a great deal of questions in our community related to health, finances, and supporting those in need. Call 1-800-280-9610 if you want to listen in. The people who will be asking questions have apparently been selected. “Important information is changing daily, and not everyone in our city has access to channels like television, the internet, and print media. “This one-hour town hall will be open to all members of the public and provide an opportunity to hear from a panel of leaders including:  President and CEO of Joseph Brant Hospital City Council and the Mayor How to Participate “For those individuals calling into the town hall, please be advised that more than one attempt may be required to connect to the call due to the high volume of traffic on the phone lines. If your call does not connect you to the town hall on your first try, please hang up and dial the 1-800 number again. “Information about the town hall has also been shared across the city through the City’s website and social media channels. “We ask our residents to help spread the word to their friends and neighbours so that anyone who is interested may participate. “Once the call begins, participants will be provided instructions by a moderator for submitting their questions to the leadership panel. “Any questions that are not answered within the hour-long call will be posted, with answers, to the City’s website at burlington.ca/coronavirus, along with an audio file of the call and a full transcript as soon we can.”
March 26th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The not for profit sector in Burlington has shown that it can be nimble and innovative when the need is evident. The Compassion Society, located in Aldershot had to close their doors due to COVID-19 issues.  Robin Bailey, Executive Director, Burlington Food Bank The Burlington Food Bank found that the demands being made on their services were increasing at a time when their normal sources of food were not as available. With COVID-19 something that had to be dealt with – the Food Bank changed the way they delivered food. Instead of people coming in for food – the Food Bank created a group of volunteers who would drive the food from the Food Bank to the needy household. With the closure of the Compassion Society St. Matthews United Church jumped into the breach and set up a food collection service open every Monday and Wednesday from noon to 3:00 pm. At the end of those two days the St Matthews volunteers took the food to the Food Bank.  Lisa Lunski at Wellington Square United Church Lisa Lunski, who runs the helping side at Wellington Square United Church, brought up a concern. Is the food being dropped off at St Matthews secure? “People drop off their non-perishable food at St. Matthews’s driveway between 12 and 3pm on Mondays & Wednesdays. After 3pm the transportation volunteers one at a time put the food in their vehicles and take it directly to the Burlington Food Bank who keeps it separate in their facility for 2 weeks before using it in their food hampers. They do not want the possible contamination of the public coming to drop off food any longer. They are concentrating on making up and delivering the food hampers to people who have contacted them. Their drivers leave the boxes at the recipient’s door and then from their car, call them to tell them it is there. Connie Price assured The Wellington Square United Church people that the food wasn’t compromised in anyway.  Dominique Wildeboer getting ready to show how the food hampers are put together at the Food Bank Burlington Food Bank volunteer Dominique Wildeboer demonstrates the assembly of hamper baskets for non perishable items. Currently these 30-40 lb baskets get delivered to family doors by our volunteers.
In video updates the Food Bank does every couple of days Wildeboer demonstrates a family donation assembly and Robin Bailey shows the fresh produce portion. What we were seeing is four different non-profit organizations working together and changing as quickly as necessary to ensure they didn’t become part of the problem and at the same time ensuring that people who were food insecure were fed.
March 26th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The growth of the COVID-19 in Burlington is very very small when looked at from a global perspective. Part of the reason for that is the diligence most people have shown and the way the public is listening to the leadership from the Mayor. On Thursday there will be a telephone Town Hall that will give the public a chance to ask questions. To give the public a chance to get a sense as to just how bad things are in the rest of the world we have excerpted some data from a web site we refer to frequently. The source is very reputable. A link to the site with the data is here. Set out below is data that shows the world wide status for three different dates.  March 24th, 2020  March 25th, 2020  March 26th, 2020 The best way residents can prevent the spread of respiratory viruses including COVID-19 is to: • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands. • Avoid close contact with people who are sick. • Stay home when you are sick. • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. If you don’t have a tissue, cough into upper sleeve, not hand. • Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
March 26th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette has put together a team of parents who are at home taking care of their children while the province goes through school closures and the shut down of everything other than essential services. Ashley Worobec, Amber Rohol, and Nicki St. George will write regularly on how they are coping. We invite parents to take part in this initiative by adding comments to each Coping with COVID19 & the kids article. Ashley Worobec is a chiropractor working with athletes as well as a mother with two children 11 and 8. She completed the New York City Marathon a number of months ago. We have a big sheet of paper where we brainstormed a bunch of ideas to do over the coming weeks. Lots of house projects, like sorting through our closets, cleaning out the garage, raking the backyard.  Ashley Worobec and the family Golden Retriever who has been taught to roll over. We have been looking on YouTube for “dog trick” videos and trying to teach our Golden Retriever some fun stuff- she just learned how to play dead, ha! Next is rolling over….. The kids have been using a website called www.typing.com and that’s been helpful to improve their typing skills- there are various levels they can complete. In the evenings, we’ve been working on a 1000-piece Harry Potter puzzle that’s on our dining room table. We’ve also looked up a bunch of recipes that interest us, and have been making something new each day, whether that be dinner (last night was chicken parmesan from www.skinnytaste.com) or baking a new type of muffin. Facetime has been a lifesaver- lots of chatting with my extended family in Alberta and with the kids’ friends locally.  Worobec on a practice run – when the weather was nicer. My next race is the Chicago marathon in October- so far that’s not changed, but we will see how the coming months play out. All of the Major Spring marathons have either been cancelled or pushed to a Fall date…..
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
We are all working at keeping our distance from others; going out only when it is necessary; washing our hands regularly and listening to the news to stay aware of a very challenging and changing set of circumstances. What happens if you feel you may have symptoms – and think you should be tested, If they think you should be tested this is how it happens. A Gazette reader advises that he and his wife went in for testing last Saturday. No results yet. – We arrived at Jo Brant for our appointment time – COVID-19 Testing is done on the Northshore side of the Hospital where the old Emergency Department Exit was.  Assigned parking spot – You pull up in your car to a designated parking spot. – The Doctor contacts you on your Mobile Phone. Asks you to come in and touch nothing. – We walked to the door where we were greeted by a very nice fully gowned Nurse. – The nurse handed us a Face-mask and instructed us to use the provided Hand Sanitizer. – You then enter a highly sanitized room (So sanitized it causes the stethoscope to corrode) – They proceed to take your temperature, Blood Pressure, O2 levels and assess your breathing with the Stethoscope. – You are then asked to lean back and the Nasopharyngeal swab is shoved up your left nostril so far it seems like it tickles the bottom of your brain. – We were then instructed to wait 48-72 hours for our results. (Obviously this SLA that has something to do with the testing is hard to achieve) We wish our reader well with the test results. They did let them go home.
March 26th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The scheduled Burlington Transit Users’ Forum, has been postponed.
 Doug Brown in his happy camper mode. In a statement released Wednesday, Doug Brown said: “This postponement is a disappointment to all of us, but we at BFAST will continue to make submissions to City Council and staff to promote continuing improvements to a transit system that was making excellent progress in providing better service and significantly increasing ridership before the virus hit. Brown said: “We see three major issues for transit on the agenda now. The first is to ensure that our City Council continues to support improvements to the system. “The second is to make Council aware that, while we support the City’s efforts to develop a Climate Action Plan, its current approach will worsen traffic congestion and not achieve the admirable goals it sets forth. “The third is to participate in the development of the City’s Integrated Mobility Program. To this end, we have been meeting regularly with City staff to help ensure the Plan points us toward a transit-oriented future. “Despite our disappointment in postponing the Transit Users’ Forum, we are excited and optimistic about the medium-term prospects for transit in Burlington and look forward to continued progress.”
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
With social distancing measures in place, Burlington Transit will reduce its service and operate on a modified schedule beginning Sunday, March 29. The new schedule will provide transit service for essential travel only. With the modified schedule, Burlington Transit will operate Monday to Saturday, from 5:50 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. and on Sundays from 6:14 a.m. to 9:55 p.m. A complete schedule is available at www.burlingtontransit.ca/schedules and Burlington Transit customer service can be reached at contactbt@burlington.ca, 905-639-0550 or on Twitter @BurlONTransit. A reminder that: • Bus fares are not currently being collected
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
During a crisis like this the scammers come out from under the rocks they call home. They prey on the frightened. And they flock to places like Amazon to offer their spurious wares.
In their haste to purchase high demand products, Amazon consumers are being duped by opportunistic sellers. In response, Amazon is cracking down on price-gouging by pulling over a half-million offers and 3,900 sellers from the site. That doesn’t mean YOU can stop being vigilant. That cardinal rule once again: If in doubt – don’t
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The Regional Medical Officer of Health released a report this afternoon that was a bit of a stunner. Halton’s 15th confirmed positive case of COVID-19 is an Oakville resident who travelled while experiencing symptoms. We understood the number to be 5,6 or 7 confirmed positive cases. If you know someone who is returning to Canada INSIST that they self-isolate immediately. The virus is now in the community – we can limit the spread by self distancing and washing our hands – try every half hour. The most recent individual experienced the onset of symptoms on March 15, 2020, and then took two flights on March 19: Melaka, (believed to be Malaga,) Spain to Amsterdam (Flight KL2648; KLM) and Amsterdam to Toronto (Flight KLM695; KLM). On March 21, the individual presented herself for testing at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital where she is currently in isolation. Those who have travelled on any of the above-mentioned flights need to monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days from the date of the flight, and call their local public health authority if they become symptomatic. As per established infection prevention and control protocols, the hospital took all precautions, including testing in an isolated environment with all necessary personal protective equipment. Halton Region Public Health is actively engaged in contact tracing and case management.  Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region Medical Officer of Health. “I want to remind residents of the importance of practising physical distancing, self-isolating and self-monitoring as appropriate to contain the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health and safety of our community,” said Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region Medical Officer of Health. “We need to take COVID-19 seriously and take immediate action to protect all Halton residents including those who are most vulnerable in our community, as well as our first responders and healthcare workers.” “We want to reassure our communities that our highly trained staff and physicians are prepared and take all safety measures to protect and care for patients and each other. “These are unprecedented times and we are tremendously grateful to our healthcare teams for their response to this pandemic,” said Denise Hardenne, President & CEO, Halton Healthcare. “We want to thank everyone for practicing physical distancing and staying home to support our healthcare workers and those most vulnerable in our communities.” Halton Region Public Health and health care partners continue to focus on those most at risk of COVID-19. Our current priority is to hear from the following people who have symptoms: • those aged 60 and over; Residents must have an appointment to attend an Assessment Centre. Those with symptoms that meet one of the criteria above are asked to use Ontario’s Self-Assessment Tool to see if they need to seek further care. If you need further assistance, call 311. Residents without symptoms are not being tested at this time. Those with mild symptoms that do not meet the criteria above are asked to self-isolate for 14 days, or until they have been symptom-free for 24 hours, whichever is longer. Please do not contact Public Health. Residents with severe symptoms are asked to call 9-1-1 immediately. To help slow the spread of COVID-19, residents are asked to follow the recommendations from Public Health: • stay home as much as possible, especially when ill; The federal government has made it an offence to return to Canada and not immediately go into self-isolation.
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
There is a phrase: When the going gets tough – the tough get going. The Rocca Sisters put out a very short video on just where the Real Estate market has been performing. Some pleasant surprises and useful information. Tanya Rocca said they “have implemented several initiatives to continue to serve their clients while taking the prescribed precautions laid out by our government and health officials. These include: 1) Providing each of our listings with hand sanitizer and strict instructions for visiting homes during showings • Virtual open houses The video – short and to the point. HERE
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
Earlier today we reported on the city decision to shut down every service being delivered by city hall and send everyone home where they would do their best to get some work done – this meant no one was in the building to handle any phone calls. The city decided to rely on email. One Gazette reader said “we should have a means to ask Service Burlington questions by phone. Why the Mayor does not consider that essential in these times is beyond a common sense approach to serving the residents in these peculiar times.”  Angela Morgan Angela Morgan, former city Clerk, now the Strategic Lead – Customer Experience for Service Burlington said via email that “we are responding to most general questions within 24 hours. It only takes longer if the inquiry is about a specific service or file and then it has to be forwarded to the appropriate staff person and they may take longer to respond depending on the complexity of the question.” Morgan added: “There are many questions about COVID-19; the nature of those questions changes daily as new information comes out from other levels of government. “The other area of questions relate to city services and how to access various services, what is open and closed.” City Manager Tim Commisso,added, via email that “Our technology allows Service Burlington staff to work remotely; the email volume being handled by SB has increased in past couple weeks between 50% and 65% depending on the service area. Having watched two Special City Council meetings which were done remotely – one has to come to the conclusion that they work. A little on the awkward side – but they do work and any bumps will get ironed out. Give them credit for making the best of a tough situation.
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
In a stark, somewhat blunt statement, the city announced that:  City Hall is closed. But tax payments are still being accepted. At this time, in order to protect the public and City staff and to help minimize the spread of COVID-19 virus, all City facilities including City Hall will be closed until April 6, 2020. With the closure of City facilities, telephone access to Service Burlington is currently unavailable. Please send your community questions and requests to Service Burlington by email at city@burlington.ca or visit burlington.ca/coronavirus That was it – no word on what happens to that email you send in. The province announced a 1-800 service for the business sector. Why can’t Burlington come upo with something that will meet the needs of its citizeans – unless of course there are no questions or concerns. Perhaps the Telephone Town Hall on Thursday will shed some light on the level of concern and apprehension.
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The province has launched a toll-free line 1-888-444-3659 to provide support to Ontario businesses who have questions about the province’s recent emergency order to close at-risk workplaces following recommendations by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.  Queen’s Park – seat of the provincial government On Monday, the province issued an emergency order to close at-risk workplaces and encourage non-essential businesses to find ways to help their employees work from home. The government also reminded businesses to put in place protocols for physical distancing and regular hand-washing in order to protect the health and safety of employees and the general public. Businesses who have questions about closures of at-risk workplaces or how emergency measures impact their business or employment can call the Stop the Spread Business Information Line at 1-888-444-3659. Help is available from Monday to Sunday, from 8:30 a.m.―5:00 p.m. A complete list of essential services can be found here.
March 25th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said yesterday that: Halton Region announced their decision to proceed with the Declaration of an Emergency for Halton Region.  Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward The Region has already activated the Halton Region Emergency Response Plan and the Health Department’s Infectious Disease Emergency Response Plan and has been responding to the COVID-19 situation for many weeks. I applaud this decision and the message it sends to our community about the urgent need to respond to the COVID-19 situation and follow the advice of our leaders and healthcare experts. The City of Oakville has also made their own declaration today, adding to the growing list of cities in the GTA and across Canada who are doing so. In Burlington, we have still seen groups of people congregating in public places, visiting the homes of others, and engaged in unnecessary activities with other people. We are hearing of people returning from out of country trips and going straight to work or to run errands, and not self-isolating as required for 14 days. I cannot stress this enough: it needs to stop. Our health and well-being depends on it, as does the health and well-being of our healthcare workers and first responders and their ability to take care of us should we need it. As our Prime Minister said earlier today, if we do not see improved behaviour across the country, additional measures will need to be put in place to ensure compliance. Yesterday’s announcement of the closure of additional non-essential businesses by the Province was a further step in limiting public contact and flattening the curve of COVID-19. The list is now available on their website along with a 1-800 number (coming soon) for businesses to call with related questions. The list of what is considered essential is far more extensive than I expected, leaving far too many businesses open, particularly public-facing businesses. If you can close, please do. If you can deploy your operations so staff can work at home, please do. If staff have to come to the office, maintain 6-ft physical distance and follow the frequent and thorough cleaning and handwashing advice we have heard from healthcare experts to keep everyone safe. I and other Mayors I have spoken to today are considering taking additional steps to better protect our community and encourage more businesses to close voluntarily to better protect themselves, their employees and the public. We have many amazing business owners in Burlington who have already voluntarily made the decision to close their doors for the time being out of consideration for the health and wellness of their employees and customers. I am grateful for their willingness to do so. While only the Province’s list of business closures is enforceable by police, I continue to encourage Burlington’s businesses to use common sense and good judgement and consider if they can close for the near future without impacting access to truly essential products and services for our community. The City of Burlington continues to provide essential services as we announced last week and there is no change to that directive. With the closure of City facilities, telephone access to Service Burlington is currently unavailable. Please send your community questions and requests to Service Burlington by email at city@burlington.ca or visit www.burlington.ca/coronavirus. We are very pleased to hear today that the Province of Ontario has made the decision to provide immediate electricity rate relief for families, farmers and small businesses paying time-of-use rates amid this crisis. This reduction will help offset higher consumption as more people stay home, and further alleviate some of the financial challenges many people are facing right now. Earlier today after a telephone meeting of the Large Urban Mayors Caucus of Ontario, my fellow Mayors sent a letter to the Prime Minister and Premier of Ontario thanking them for their leadership through this difficult time and encouraging them to take additional measures to limit movement and enable people to stay home. We requested the Federal Government step up their fiscal response to support provinces and leverage fiscal tools that no other level of government in Canada has. We also called on the Government of Ontario to map out a clear strategy to support municipalities, whose finances are being severely impacted by this unprecedented crisis. I want to remind our community that we are hosting a public telephone town hall Thursday evening at 6:45pm, and I am grateful to have MP Karina Gould and MPP Jane McKenna joining us, along with Deputy Chief Roger Wilkie and Superintendent Anthony Odoardi of the Halton Region Police Service, members of your city council and the city’s leadership team. More details can be found on our website. Our top priority at the City of Burlington remains the health and well-being of our residents. We are committed to keeping you informed in clear and timely manner and encourage you to stay updated via the City’s dedicated website. Additional information on all COVID-19 related matters can be found at the Halton Region website, the Ministry of Health of Ontario’s website, and the Federal Government’s website. Stay healthy, stay home, and be kind to one another. The Gazette would urge the city administration to find a way to get Service Burlington back on line with people answering the telephones – there is a need for sensible answers to the questions people have.
By Nicki St. George March 24th, 2020 BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette has put together a team of parents who are at home taking care of their children while the province goes through school closures and the shut down of everything other than essential services. Ashley Worobec, Amber Rohol, and Nicki St. George will write regularly on how they are coping. We invite parents to take part in this initiative by adding comments to each Coping with COVID19 & the kids article.
Nicki St. George, a mother of two, Leo 8 and Bea 6, is a teacher at a private school and is in the final phase of her chemotherapy for cancer. This is her first week with the children at home. Thursday, March 12 – Friday, March 13 –  Deerhurst |Resort in the Muskoka’s Saturday, March 14 – Sunday, March 15 –  Fresh air and explaining what is unique about the lake. Monday, March 16 – Tuesday, March 17 –  Mt Nemo – now closed to the public. Wednesday, March 18 – Thursday, March 19 –  They get called groundhogs – they are really gophers Friday, March 20 – On Friday Ashley Worobec, a Mother of two children and a long distance marathon runner will take us through how she is handling the day with the kids home.
Related news story: Helping parents to deal with kids who are now at home – all the time.
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Walk – don’t stop was Mayor Meed Ward’s message. She has threatened to get out her megaphone to tell people to walk by all means but don’t congregate with people who are not part of your immediate family that you live with.
Have a look at the news story we put up this morning and then go into your Sherlock Holmes mode and see if you can discover who did this really nice thing. I personally love the one of the rock that is winking at me.
For an item that has been hyped by members of Council, the Mayor and her staff there is little in the way of clarity.
They also include some special order items as needed and communicated by the family. Each family or individual gets all of these items. Once the boxes are packed they then include the fresh produce portion.
By Staff
Coping with COVID & the kids is a collaborative effort between three women and the wider community. The group will “prime the pump” with ideas from their experiences; we invite readers to use the comments section at the end of each feature to add their own ideas.
No new date has been set, Bfast will examine holding the Forum this Fall when the picture becomes more clear with regard to the COVID-19 virus.
Amazon, to their credit, is kicking the corona-scammers off the site.
Coping with COVID & the kids is a collaborative effort between three women and the wider community. The group will “prime the pump” with ideas from their experiences; we invite readers to use the comments section at the end of each feature to add their own ideas.