Vol. 7, Issue 16
Free of Charge
True grit
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Businesses reopening
Staff living and working at nursing home to contain deadly virus “amazing bunch of people” CATHY DOBSON THE JOURNAL
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arnia’s beleaguered Vision Nursing Home has struggled with a deadly COVID-19 outbreak for almost a month now, yet a group of committed staff are taking extraordinary measures to protect the wider community. “The people working (in the unit with the virus) are heroes who stepped forward,” said CEO Heather Martin. “There is a tremendous amount of team spirit and commitment to win this battle.” Thirteen staff including three managers has been living onsite while working at the isolated 32-bed COVID-19 unit since the outbreak began April 23. It’s stressful but it’s the best way to stop transmission between the community and the Wellington Street long-term care home, says program service co-ordinator Kerri Hill, one of the managers. At the end of each shift, they sleep at Wellington Flats, a retirement facility adjacent to Vision. “Everyone is working to stay upbeat and obviously we hope it will be over (soon),” she said. Two weeks after the outbreak started, there was hope it would be declared over. But staff and residents continued to test positive. At press time, 13 residents and five staff had tested positive and three residents had died. Across Sarnia-Lambton, more than 210 people had contracted COVID-19 with 17 deaths. “The staff is in for the long haul,” said Martin. “…we are more committed than ever to resolve this outbreak.” Continued on 3
JONAH SCHALLER rounds up plants for a customer at Praill’s Greenhouse on Blackwell Road. After giving garden centres the green light earlier, Ontario allowed golf courses and marinas to reopen on Saturday, followed by many retail stores, construction projects and certain medical and health services on Tuesday. Like other businesses, Praill’s has taken necessary steps to protect customers and staff alike, including limiting the number of customers inside at one time, ground marking for physical distancing, regular cart sanitation, and a Plexiglas checkout shield. Online ordering and delivery is also available. Troy Shantz
Sarnia drifter on a 12-year odyssey
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TROY SHANTZ THE JOURNAL
arnia’s Steve Hunter was hiking along a muddy trail in Macedonia when the pistol appeared. “Passport!” the teen demanded, two thugs on either side edging closer. Hunter was into the second month of walking a route that follows an ancient Roman road to Istanbul. He thought the young cattle-herders were
joking. They weren’t. Hunter, 39, has spent the past 12 years backpacking across five continents. He’s survived a car crash and been held at knifepoint. When short on cash, he works the Australian carnival circuit. “The road just started to seep into my bloodstream,” he said via video call from Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he’s hunkered down during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hunter was a few days from the Greek border when he ambled passed the Macedonian cattle-herders. He showed his passport, the teen lunged for it, and Hunter fought back. The trio, who were carrying sticks, quickly overwhelmed him. Most of the blows hit his canvas backpack though and he eventually managed to escape. The pistol, as it turned out, was a pellet gun. The Northern Collegiate grad began his 12-year sojourn
in New Zealand, then Australia, working in restaurants and a farm. But the carnival circuit proved the most lucrative. He prepared to return home in 2010 when his grandma in Sarnia had cancer. But she’d have none of it, he said. “(She said), ‘Don’t come see me die. Follow your dreams, live your life.’ That’s when the full-time backpacker turned on.” Continued on 2
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