The Citizen - February, 4 2021

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The

THIS WEEK • Editorials • History • Finances • Heart & Stroke

Citizen

Huron County’s most trusted independent news source

Thursday, February 4, 2021

$1.50 GST included

Volume 37 No. 5

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0

Budget approved By Denny Scott The Citizen

Eyes on the road (hill) While few of us would claim to be toboganning experts, a toque covering a sledder’s eyes has to be a concern. Seven-year-old Landry and five-year-old Memphis McDonald were out sledding with their father in Brussels over the weekend, taking advantage of the cold

temperatures and snow accumulation the area has seen in the last week. With the provincial government’s stay-at-home order firmly in place, safe, outdoor activities like this are the perfect way to get some fresh air and remain active as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on throughout the winter. (John Stephenson photo)

North Huron Township Council approved its 2021 budget on Monday night, which includes an overall spending increase of 3.47 per cent, or $213,084.44, and total expenditures of nearly $17 million. The budget, which was presented on Monday evening, had been approved in principle by council during a budget meeting late last month. During that meeting, council removed several items, while funding others from reserves to make sure that, during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic and second lockdown, taxes were kept as low as possible for ratepayers. During Monday night’s meeting, Director of Finance Donna White presented her “bare bones” budget with minimal changes from the previous year. The only difference from the document that was presented on Monday and the one decided on by council late last month was that the actual figures from the 2020 financial year were included, however those statistics had little impact on the 2021 budget, White said. White tackled the differences between the 2020 and 2021 budgets to show the increase in spending, noting that there were significant increases in environmental services expenses, which had gone up $866,904 from 2020 to 2021, and Continued on page 3

40 Huron-Perth deaths now linked to COVID-19 By Denny Scott The Citizen While Huron and Perth Counties were left behind their peers in having students return to in-person learning on Monday, Dr. Miriam Klassen, Medical Officer of Health for the two counties, says local case numbers are heading in the right direction. Klassen, during a Huron Perth Public Health press conference on Monday, said COVID-19 case numbers were still high last week when the provincial government would have been reviewing cases to try and determine when students can go back to school. As of Monday, there were a total of 1,227 cases in Huron and Perth Counties, up from last Monday’s total of 1,173. There had also been 40 fatalities linked to COVID-19. “Huron and Perth are still seen as [having rates too high],” she said, “though last week we did see a shift. You like to see a sustained trend before making a decision.”

She said she is anxious for parents who want their children to learn inclass to be able to do so and said she feels the province wants that as well. “When rates are really, really high, there are two problems,” she said. “One is so many exposures can happen at school [and the other is], with so many cohorts [potentially being] dismissed, the situation becomes a logistical problem.” While students stay home and learn online to prevent outbreaks, long-term care and retirement centres in the area continue to face difficult outbreaks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outbreak at Caressant Care Nursing Home in North Perth continues with 70 total cases in the long-term care wing, 43 in residents and 27 in staff members. The retirement home wing now has 40 cases, 30 in residents and 10 in staff. Seaforth Manor’s outbreak continues with 54 total cases, 41 in residents and 13 in staff. Fordwich Village in Howick is classified as being in outbreak with a

single staff member testing positive. The outbreak at Stratford General Hospital, which saw four staff members test positive for COVID19, was declared over last week. While the outbreaks do continue in Seaforth and at Caressant Care, Klassen presented silver linings during the teleconference. Klassen said Seaforth Manor has significant resources available to it, so resident care needs are being met and no decanting is necessary despite the surge in cases there. A representative from Caressant Care also stated decanting is being reversed with four more residents being cleared to return to the home. As for cases in specific areas, Huron East continues to see a spike in cases, having hit 80 cumulative cases this week, up from 54 last week and marking nearly 60 new cases in the past two weeks. Other Huron County municipalities had minor increases. South Huron increased from 89 to 90 cases over the past week, while Central Huron increased from 44 to

47. Morris-Turnberry climbed from 38 to 40 cases while North Huron climbed from 37 to 38. Howick climbed from 32 to 34 and Bluewater climbed from 29 to 32. Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW) climbed one case from 20 to 21 while Goderich climbed from 10 to 11 cases, the first increase in the town in several weeks. In Perth County, North Perth marks the single highest number of cumulative cases across the area with 332, up from 325 last week. Stratford has 287 cases, up from 281. Perth East climbed from 131 to 132 cases while Perth South (29), West Perth (26) and St. Marys (28) all stayed the same as last week. Huron East has the highest number of active cases across both Huron and Perth Counties with 48 cases. Other active cases are found in Huron County including ACW (two), Bluewater (three), Central Huron (two), Goderich (one), Howick (two), Morris-Turnberry (one), North Huron (two) and South Huron (one).

In Perth County, North Perth has 12 active cases while Perth East has two active cases and Stratford has three active cases. Currently, there are 125 people in isolation across Huron and Perth Counties, and there have been 3,294 isolation orders issued since August of last year when HPPH began providing that information. With 426 cases, January has marked the highest number of cases in a month since the pandemic started, edging out December which had 406 cases. Outbreak-related exposure (30.1 per cent) and household contact (26.9 per cent) continue to be the driving force behind likely virus acquisition according to HPPH. Close contact accounts for 16.7 per cent while travel is 1.4 per cent. 25 per cent of cases are as a result of unknown exposure. Currently, there are four people hospitalized in Huron and Perth Counties as a result of COVID-19. For more information, visit hpph.ca.


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