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HEALTH ORDERS EXTENDED TO MARCH
CHRISTOPHER SMITH christopher.smith@eap.on.ca
All emergency health orders related to COVID-19 will remain in effect until next March. A motion to extend all emergency health orders in the province was tabled by Solicitor General Sylvia Jones in Queen’s Park on November 23. Originally set to expire on December 1, the vote means that the Ontario government now has the power to extend them until at least March 28, 2022. There are currently 28 orders under the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA), and they must be extended in 30-day increments after the original December 1 deadline expires. Although it is possible that the orders may be allowed to expire sooner, Ontario has put forth a comprehensive plan on how they expect things to progress. Capacity limits on indoor, high-risk settings with proof of vaccination were supposed to be lifted on November 15. This step was delayed due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, as current modelling from Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table predicts an average of 700 new cases per week by the end of November. The lifting of capacity limits was thus postponed by 28 days and will be revisited closer to the new date of December 13. The next step for lifting capacity limits everywhere may also be delayed from its current sche- duled date of January 17, 2022. Assuming COVID cases are brought back down, lifting proof of vaccination requirements in high-risk settings is scheduled for February 7, and by March 28, Ontario plans to lift all remaining public health measures in place, including mask requirements. This all hinges on the expectation that cases will continue to go down, which may be thwarted by the new Omicron variant. Disco- vered at Dr. Angelique Coetzee’s private clinic
Le BSEO pousse les secondes doses face à une nouvelle variante du COVID. - photo d’archive
in South Africa, the variant is characterized by two days of severe fatigue accompanied by head and body aches. Oxygen levels remain at acceptable levels, other symptoms usually attributed to COVID are much milder, and the loss of taste and smell which usually signals a COVID case are notably absent. Coetzee noted that so far the variant has only appeared in people under 40, and under half of them were unvaccinated. There are two confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in Ottawa. The Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) has issued a press brief urging people to get their second dose of COVID vaccine, if they haven’t already. Just like with other COVID variants, the double vaccination helps fight off the virus and lessens the symptoms. Third doses are still being distributed and will continue to move down through all age groups.
NEW BUDGET APPROVED FOR THE UCPR GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
The United Counties of Prescott-Russell now has a budget plan for next year. “It did have its challenges,” said Valérie Parisien, financial director for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) during a phone interview following the November 24 UCPR council session. Council approved final changes to the draft budget during its last session of Novem- ber. The final UCPR budget for 2022 will be $154,012,600. The municipal levy portion, which represents property taxes, will be $51,421,100. This means a three-per-cent tax increase instead of the 3.56-per-cent increase projected in the original budget plan. For the average homeowner in the Pres- cott-Russell region with a house and land valued at about $274,000, this will mean a $34 increase on the UCPR portion of the property tax bill. Other sections of the bill will list municipal, school district, provin- cial and other property taxes owed. Each municipality is responsible for collecting all property taxes and disbursing them to the various government agencies. Property tax notices will go out in the mail next spring after the UCPR and municipalities
all approve their 2022 property tax rates. Parisien noted that dealing with the various costs and problems related to the pandemic as one of the main factors that made the 2022 budget plan a challenge. But she added that UCPR staff had past experience with the 2021 budget planning process to help them deal with pandemic challenges. Les Comtés unis de Prescott-Russell ont maintenant un budget approuvé pour 2022. Le budget comprend une augmentation de trois pour cent des taxes. —photo d’archives
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