COVID-19 rapid testing kits for businesses expected soon
COVID-19 antigen rapid test kits are expected to arrive in Niagara for distribution during the week beginning May 17th. Interested businesses can get more information here. Once the delivery date has been confirmed, our ordering system will go live. A mailing list is available, and those who sign up will be notified as soon as orders can be placed.
Click here to review frequently asked questions about the kits.
Ontario providing more relief for tourism industry
The Ontario government is providing over $1 million in financial relief to more than 300 resource-based tourism businesses operating at Ontario’s provincial parks and conservation reserves by waiving and reducing certain land use and licence fees for 2021. The province’s continued support for the resource-based tourism industry will help local businesses that have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The 2021 relief for resource-based tourism businesses includes:
- Removing 2021 annual land use fees for commercial outpost camp permit holders.
- Reducing and deferring payment of land use fees for commercial youth camps until the 2022 season.
- Reducing license fees for some commercial operators under service agreements in Ontario Parks for 2021.
Resource-based businesses do not need to apply for this relief.
Niagara’s health and community leaders encourage residents to seek out reliable information on COVID-19 vaccines
Niagara’s health care, public health and community leaders are taking to social media to encourage everyone in our community to get the facts about COVID-19 vaccines.
In recent weeks, Niagara Health has seen a dramatic increase in the strain placed on its critical care capacity due to the third wave of COVID-19 infections. Encouraging as many people as possible to get vaccinated is key to controlling infections and relieving the pressure on our hospital system.
Leaders from Niagara Health and Niagara’s Community Coordination Task Force for COVID-19 Vaccination have created a series of short videos that answer common questions and misconceptions about the vaccine. The videos can be viewed on YouTube, or through Niagara Region and Niagara Health’s social media channels, and more will be added in the coming weeks.
St. Catharines licensing, by-laws approved to better address short-term rental concerns
The City of St. Catharines is beefing up its regulatory framework when it comes to addressing concerns with short-term rental (STR) operations.
On Monday night, City Council approved a Licensing and Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) for STRs, such as those operated through online portals like AirBnB and VRBO. These new tools compliment amendments made to the City’s Zoning By-law late in 2020 that redefined STRs as home-based businesses. The amendments, combined with licensing and AMPS, will allow the City to better regulate, and enforce compliance with City by-laws, as they relate to STRs. Both will be phased into effect starting January 2022. Until that time STRs are not permitted under the City’s Zoning By-law.
Welland seeks community engagement on Public Works Service Level Review
City of Welland staff have done background research, interviews and workshops with community partners and now are asking all residents (PDF link) to complete the survey and bulletin board with their thoughts and comments. Those who wish to participate in a virtual community conversation can do so by subscribing to the project by clicking the Stay Informed button in YourChannel. The virtual meeting will take place on May 20, 2021, 7-8 P.M. The city asks all residents to visit YourChannel to provide feedback, complete the survey and share their experiences with Public Works Service Levels.
Niagara Health begins booking high-risk healthcare workers for second dose COVID-19 vaccination at a shortened interval
Today, Niagara Health started scheduling high-risk healthcare workers for their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a shortened interval.
An estimated 13,000 healthcare workers in Niagara will be impacted by this new provincial direction to shorten the second-dose interval.
As Niagara Health continues to face significant pressures in the hospital, we strongly urge the community to follow public health measures to minimize further increases in COVID-19 cases. This includes masking, physical distancing, handwashing, staying home and getting vaccinated when you are able to do so.
Reading Recommendations
Partially vaccinated Canadians can socialize outdoors this summer, Tam says
John Paul Tasker, CBC News
Canadians who have been vaccinated with one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can socialize with close family and friends outdoors over the summer months, Canada’s chief public health officer said today.
With the vaccine supply ramping up, virtually all Canadians will have access to at least one vaccine dose by June. Dr. Theresa Tam said that extra layer of protection will allow some of the more stringent social distancing measures to be relaxed — but Canadians must continue to avoid indoor gatherings altogether until more people are fully vaccinated.
Trudeau government begins work on reopening U.S.-Canada border
BNN Bloomberg
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has begun preliminary internal discussions about reopening the border with the U.S., even as Canada remains well behind its neighbor in vaccinations.
Senior officials have begun to formally talk about options for how to proceed, three people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition they not be identified. One question under consideration is whether to employ a two-track system in which quarantine and testing requirements would be relaxed for vaccinated travelers.
Featured Content
Understanding the employment impacts of COVID-19’s on women
Niagara Workforce Planning Board
One of the earliest realities of the COVID-19 pandemic was its disproportionate impact on women. As early as April 2020, NWPB’s research identified emerging trends that demonstrated how women were losing employment and leaving the labour force in greater numbers than men. During the worst months of the first wave, more than two women lost employment for every one man. In the months since then, the number of women working in Niagara has never returned to its pre-pandemic level.
We quickly recognized that this imbalance would emerge as a significant local labour market challenge. In response, we developed a number of research collaborations and partnerships to provide clear insights on COVID-19’s employment impacts.
First, we supported Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory on the production of a preliminary assessment of the economic impacts of COVID-19 on Niagara women in the workforce.
NWPB expanded on this work with the production of our gender-focused labour market report: Women, Men, and Work in Niagara. This report aligned with priorities identified by the Regional Municipality of Niagara, in addition to adding local context to provincial trends noted by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
Our Post-Pandemic Scenario Planning project further examined the relationship between women’s employment and tourism employment in Niagara. This project is still producing monthly updates as part of our ongoing efforts to support Niagara’s COVID-19 recovery efforts.
As we move forward, NWPB is committed to building gender-focused measures into our data products. For additional up-to-date information please visit our website at www.nwpb.ca or email info@nwpb.ca.
Niagara COVID status tracker (May 8)
Niagara’s most up-to-date COVID statistics, measured against the targets for the various stages of the Ontario COVID-19 Response Framework, are presented below. This does not predict government policy, but is offered to give you an idea of where Niagara is situated and how likely a relaxation (or further restrictions) may be. These data are the most recent published by Niagara Region. The Grey-Lockdown level does not have its own metrics, but is triggered when the COVID-specific measurements in a Red-Control region have continued to deteriorate.
The Province of Ontario is currently under a stay-at-home order. The COVID-19 Response Framework does not apply during this order. Click here to review the restrictions currently in place.
▲: Metric has increased since last published measurement
▼: Metric has decreased since last published measurement
— : Metric has not changed since last published measurement
| December 18 | December 25 | January 1 | January 8 | January 15 | January 22 | January 29 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive number | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
| New cases per 100,000 | 101.2 | 267.3 | 469.8 | 575.8 | 507.1 | 295.5 | 250.6 |
| New cases per day (not including outbreaks) | 60.7 | 178.7 | 311.7 | 376.9 | 325.4 | 182.7 | 145.7 |
| Percent of hospital beds occupied | 97% | 95.2% | 98.2% | 103.2% | 104.5% | 103.6% | 106% |
| Percent of intensive care beds occupied | 78.8% | 77.3% | 87.9% | 87.9% | 90.9% | 89.4% | 93.9% |
| Percentage of positive tests | 6.1% | 15.6% | 28.1% | 28.6% | 26.6% | 21.2% | 16.2% |
Definitions:
- Weekly Incidence Rate: the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per week
- Percent Positivity: the number of positive COVID-19 tests as a percentage of all COVID-19 tests performed
- Rt: the reproductive rate, or the number of people infected by each case of the virus
Niagara COVID vaccination tracker (May 14)
Niagara’s most up-to-date vaccination numbers are presented below, along with comparison data from Ontario, Canada, and G7 countries.
Total doses administered in Niagara: 215,642
Total doses administered in Niagara since yesterday: 3,400
| Percentage of population with one dose | Percentage of population fully vaccinated | |
|---|---|---|
| Niagara | 82.7% | 78.2% |
| Ontario | 84.6% | 79.1% |
| Canada | 84.7% | 78.6% |
| United States | 75% | 64% |
| United Kingdom | 78% | 72% |
| Germany | 76% | 74% |
| France | 80% | 77% |
| Italy | 83% | 76% |
| Japan | 80% | 79% |
| World | 63% | 53% |
Data are drawn from Niagara Region, the Government of Ontario, and Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.
