Free rapid COVID-19 testing kits are now available to businesses
Visit gncc.ca/workplace-self-screening-kits to learn more and reserve kits for your organization.
Mary Simon Installed as 30th Governor-General, first Indigenous Person, to Serve as Queen’s Representative in Canada
Today, Mary Simon has been installed as Canada’s first Indigenous governor general. Her role comes after a long career in Indigenous policy making. In the early 1980s, she worked on the patriation of the Canadian Constitution. She also had a senior role in the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and represented the Inuit in the government’s 2008 residential schools apology. She was also president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), a non-profit group representing more than 65,000 Inuit in Canada, beginning in 2006. For the full news story, click here.
Health Canada Released What We Heard Report From The Public Engagement on The National Strategy For Drugs For Rare Diseases
Many Canadians are struggling to access the drugs they need, especially if they have a rare condition. From January to March of this year, Health Canada undertook public and stakeholder engagement to seek ideas and views on what a national strategy could look like.
The engagement garnered diverse perspectives from over 650 individuals and organizations, including patients with lived experience, family members, and caregivers. Throughout the engagement, participants overwhelmingly felt a national approach was the most important element for a strategy and should be guided by key principles and values such as transparency, accountability, flexibility and being patient-centred. The report is available here.
Ontario Proposing to Add Darlington Provincial Park Into The Greenbelt
The Ontario government announced their intention to add Darlington Provincial Park to the Greenbelt. Following public consultation and engagement with Indigenous communities this fall, Darlington Provincial Park could begin the process of being added to the Harmony and Farewell Creek Urban River Valley, connecting it to Lake Ontario.
The proposal to add the park came from the Municipality of Clarington, the City of Oshawa, the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority and Conservation Ontario. For the full press release, click here.
Niagara Health Expands Walk-in Hours at Seymour-Hannah Vaccination Clinic
Starting today, Niagara Health’s Seymour-Hannah vaccination clinic is accepting daily walk-in appointments on a first-come, first-served basis for first and second doses between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Residents also continue to have the option to book future date or same day appointments through the provincial booking tool or by calling 1-833-943-3900. For full public service announcement, click here.
Digital Service Squad Will Help Grimsby Small Businesses With Digital Transformation
The Town of Grimsby has announced that it has received a $15,980 grant from Digital Main Street’s Ontario Grants Program for a Digital Service Squad (DSS), which will provide trained digital specialists to local small businesses to help them adopt online technologies and digitally transform their sales, marketing and back-office operations. The squad will begin visiting businesses in the community today. For more information, click here.
St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre Celebrating Black Voices Through New Exhibit
The St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre is set to welcome guests to a new photographic journey that will highlight the families of Freedom Seekers who fled to the northern end of the Underground Railroad. For more information, click here.
Reading Recommendations
COVID-19 vaccines have changed how we assess risk of the virus
Globe and Mail, Kelly Grant
When Ontario’s COVID-19 science table and its pediatric hospitals released their advice on opening schools, they recommended that a community’s coronavirus risk level be judged primarily by the number of infected people in hospital, not by case counts alone.
It was a subtle but important shift, one that raises a fundamental question for the fall: Are case counts still the most important factor in determining whether to tighten pandemic restrictions in a highly vaccinated country?
“A case now has a context that is different depending on the immune status of the patient,” said David Naylor, co-chair of Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. “That’s the nub of the problem. If we simply count cases and respond to that, we’re going to be spooked and overreact consistently. If we ignore cases, then the risk is that we’ll end up with a bad clone of the British experiment, which most of us regard as reckless.”
Cryptocurrencies could lead to ‘limitless’ losses for UK government
The Guardian
Experts in the UK warn of danger of untraceable funds if companies accepting payments in cryptos go bust. A growing number of companies, including the ethical cosmetics firm Lush and office-sharing firm WeWork, have begun taking payments for goods and services in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, alongside debit payments, credit or cash. But while the shift has been welcomed by crypto-enthusiasts, experts said it could be an easy way for directors to hide cash from authorities, particularly when companies go bust.
Record-smashing heat extremes may become much more likely with climate change – study
Reuters, Andrea Januta
Cyprus. Cuba. Turkey. Canada. Northern Ireland. Antarctica. All recorded their hottest-ever temperatures in the last two years, and according to a new study, more such extremes are coming.
In the next three decades, “record-shattering” heat waves could become two to seven times more frequent in the world than in the last 30 years, scientists report in a study published Monday here in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Niagara COVID Stat Tracker
| 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% |
Last updated: July 17, 2021
These data show the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in Niagara. The Province of Ontario is now using a provincewide approach to reopening, and these data no longer have any influence on Niagara’s restrictions.
Data are drawn from Niagara Region Public Health.
Click here for a guide to this table.
Niagara COVID Vaccination Tracker
Last updated: July 26, 2021
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: 607,434
New daily doses administered to Niagara residents: 2,004
| 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.
Information on government grants, resources, and programs, policies, forms, and posters for download and use, are available here. The GNCC is here to support you. Contact us with any questions you have.
