Ontario issues stay-at-home order except for essentials
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New provincial COVID measures under review: City
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 1 minute read • 5 Comments
Pedestrians pass through Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto City Hall on March 16, 2020.
Pedestrians pass through Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto City Hall on March 16, 2020. PHOTO BY STAN BEHAL /Toronto Sun
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Toronto officials are promising to review the province’s harsh new measures introduced Friday to combat the growing variant-fuelled pandemic.
In a statement issued Friday evening, the city passed no judgement on the new measures, which include extensions of the current provincial state-of-emergency, tightened restrictions on gatherings and a promise to give police and bylaw officers stronger powers to enforce regulations.
“The City of Toronto will review the provincial regulations, when available, to determine impacts to City services,” the statement read.
Even though the new rules ostensibly kick in at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, enforcement is a different issue.
As was the case in January when the province enacted its first stay-at-home order, city emergency and police officials aren’t able to build any basis of enforcement without official regulations from the province.
Toronto reported a new record high of 1,527 new COVID-19 cases on Friday — 597 diagnosed as having a variant of concern.
There are a total of 813 people in Toronto hospitals, 149 people receiving intensive care and seven new deaths.
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 1 minute read • 5 Comments
Pedestrians pass through Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto City Hall on March 16, 2020.
Pedestrians pass through Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto City Hall on March 16, 2020. PHOTO BY STAN BEHAL /Toronto Sun
Article content
Toronto officials are promising to review the province’s harsh new measures introduced Friday to combat the growing variant-fuelled pandemic.
In a statement issued Friday evening, the city passed no judgement on the new measures, which include extensions of the current provincial state-of-emergency, tightened restrictions on gatherings and a promise to give police and bylaw officers stronger powers to enforce regulations.
“The City of Toronto will review the provincial regulations, when available, to determine impacts to City services,” the statement read.
Even though the new rules ostensibly kick in at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, enforcement is a different issue.
As was the case in January when the province enacted its first stay-at-home order, city emergency and police officials aren’t able to build any basis of enforcement without official regulations from the province.
Toronto reported a new record high of 1,527 new COVID-19 cases on Friday — 597 diagnosed as having a variant of concern.
There are a total of 813 people in Toronto hospitals, 149 people receiving intensive care and seven new deaths.
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume
New provincial COVID measures under review: City
Toronto officials promise to review the province's harsh new measures introduced Friday to combat the growing variant-fuelled pandemic.
Ontario asks other provinces to send health workers as COVID surges
'Need for this critical support for four months following the anticipated peak of the third wave'
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 1 minute read • 6 Comments
Head intensivist Dr. Ali Ghafouri, second left, meets with his health-care team doing his morning patient rounds in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. A majority of the rooms are taken up by COVID-19 patients.
Head intensivist Dr. Ali Ghafouri, second left, meets with his health-care team doing his morning patient rounds in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. A majority of the rooms are taken up by COVID-19 patients. PHOTO BY NATHAN DENETTE /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Ontario is pleading with other provinces to send nurses and other health workers as it buckles under surging COVID-19 infections.
In a letter to all provinces and territories, the Ontario government notes it is short thousands of nurses.
The deputy minister of health, Helen Angus, also asks whether her counterparts have any resources to spare.
Her letter says the pandemic has strained hospital capacity, particularly intensive care.
Angus estimates Ontario will be short 4,145 nurses in the hospital sector alone over the next four months.
The letter asks for another 620 health professionals, including nurses and respiratory therapists.
“Specifically, the province would need assistance in southern Ontario, anticipated to be in the Greater Toronto Area and immediate surrounding areas,” Angus writes. “We are projecting a need for this critical support for four months following the anticipated peak of the third wave.”
torontosun.com
'Need for this critical support for four months following the anticipated peak of the third wave'
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 1 minute read • 6 Comments
Head intensivist Dr. Ali Ghafouri, second left, meets with his health-care team doing his morning patient rounds in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. A majority of the rooms are taken up by COVID-19 patients.
Head intensivist Dr. Ali Ghafouri, second left, meets with his health-care team doing his morning patient rounds in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. A majority of the rooms are taken up by COVID-19 patients. PHOTO BY NATHAN DENETTE /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article content
Ontario is pleading with other provinces to send nurses and other health workers as it buckles under surging COVID-19 infections.
In a letter to all provinces and territories, the Ontario government notes it is short thousands of nurses.
The deputy minister of health, Helen Angus, also asks whether her counterparts have any resources to spare.
Her letter says the pandemic has strained hospital capacity, particularly intensive care.
Angus estimates Ontario will be short 4,145 nurses in the hospital sector alone over the next four months.
The letter asks for another 620 health professionals, including nurses and respiratory therapists.
“Specifically, the province would need assistance in southern Ontario, anticipated to be in the Greater Toronto Area and immediate surrounding areas,” Angus writes. “We are projecting a need for this critical support for four months following the anticipated peak of the third wave.”
Ontario asks other provinces to send health workers as COVID surges
'Need for this critical support for four months following the anticipated peak of the third wave'
Ontario advisers call for six-week stay-home order, aggressive vaccinations
Latest modelling forecasts Ontario's hospital ICUs will see cases surge beyond 800 patients in the next two weeks
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 17 hours ago • 3 minute read • 609 Comments
Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table, centre, with Dr. David Williams, left, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park in Toronto on April 1, 2021.
Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table, centre, with Dr. David Williams, left, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park in Toronto on April 1, 2021. PHOTO BY FRANK GUNN /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Ontario reported another record day of new COVID-19 cases Friday with new modelling predicting the worst is yet to come.
Even with harder lockdowns, the modelling forecasts Ontario’s hospital intensive care units will see cases surge beyond 800 patients over the next couple of weeks.
Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, said the advice to the public remains the same — don’t spend time indoors with people outside your household, wear a mask, keep your distance and get a vaccine when it’s your turn.
If the public adheres strictly to these measures, and the province can get 100,000 to 300,000 doses of vaccine a day into arms, then the pandemic should start to recede by the end of June, he said.
“You could still see something of a summer but it really requires everyone to pull together,” Brown said.
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The modelling scenarios range from about 2,000 cases a day up to 30,000 cases a day depending, and even the moderate forecasts warning of five-digit daily case numbers in May or June.
Because hospital admissions follow in the wake of infections, there’s nothing that can be done about rising hospitalizations over the next two weeks, Brown said.
Dr. David Williams, chief medical officer of health, says 10,000 cases a day of COVID-19 in Ontario means higher pressures on hospitals that need not only beds but staff to manage them.
“No one wants to put a triage system in place,” Williams said, referencing the triage framework that apportions health care when hospitals are overwhelmed. “We don’t want to go there … That may not be a pleasant decision.”
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Construction workers build a condominium twer while other businesses are shut due to coronavirus restrictions in Toronto March 26, 2020.
Inspectors to target Ontario construction sites to ensure public health measures followed
Canada's Minister of Health Patty Hajdu speaks to media on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
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Protesters in front of the College of Nurses of Ontario building on Davenport Ave in Toronto on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
BRAUN: Ontario nurses claim they have been muzzled by college
The modelling forecast a much quicker return to normal if the province’s stay-at-home order was extended to six weeks, from the current four weeks, and if vaccinations increase to 300,000 a day.
Ontario administered 115,634 doses Thursday but has the capacity to do 500,000 a day if it had the supply, Williams said.
In a statement, Premier Doug Ford said, “As you would have seen in today’s modelling, if Ontario had the supply to ramp up to at least 300,000 vaccinations a day, it would have a significant impact on our ability to get a handle on this third wave.”
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Ontario reported 4,812 cases of COVID-19 Friday, including 1,469 new cases in Toronto, 851 in Peel, 491 in York Region, 366 in Ottawa and 268 in Durham.
Twenty-five more deaths were attributed to the pandemic.
Variants of concern (VOC), especially the United Kingdom-identified variant, have become the dominant infection in Ontario.
Hospitalizations continued to rise Friday with 1,955 COVID-19 patients admitted, including 701 being treated in intensive care and 480 on ventilators.
aartuso@postmedia.com
THE UGLY NUMBERS
Testing positivity rates: Peel 15%, Toronto 11.3%, York 10.4%, Durham, 9%, Ontario 7.9%
Hospitalizations: 67% growth in last two weeks
ICU occupancy: 51% growth in last two weeks
Worst case scenario: (four-week stay-at-home order, 100,000 vaccines a day) peaks at over 30,000 cases a day in early May then drops
Best case scenario: (six-week stay-at-home order, 300,000 vaccines a day) peaks at just over 5,000 cases a day in April then drops
ICU occupancy: under all scenarios likely to hit 1,000 patients by end of April
Backlog in elective surgeries and procedures: 248,109 cases and growing
Vaccination percentage: generally higher in areas with lower risk of vaccines, such as 82% of 80 and older in low-risk zones, 65% in hot spots
(Source: Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table modelling)
torontosun.com
Latest modelling forecasts Ontario's hospital ICUs will see cases surge beyond 800 patients in the next two weeks
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 17 hours ago • 3 minute read • 609 Comments
Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table, centre, with Dr. David Williams, left, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park in Toronto on April 1, 2021.
Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table, centre, with Dr. David Williams, left, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford at Queen’s Park in Toronto on April 1, 2021. PHOTO BY FRANK GUNN /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article content
Ontario reported another record day of new COVID-19 cases Friday with new modelling predicting the worst is yet to come.
Even with harder lockdowns, the modelling forecasts Ontario’s hospital intensive care units will see cases surge beyond 800 patients over the next couple of weeks.
Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, said the advice to the public remains the same — don’t spend time indoors with people outside your household, wear a mask, keep your distance and get a vaccine when it’s your turn.
If the public adheres strictly to these measures, and the province can get 100,000 to 300,000 doses of vaccine a day into arms, then the pandemic should start to recede by the end of June, he said.
“You could still see something of a summer but it really requires everyone to pull together,” Brown said.
WATCH THE MODELLING PRESS CONFERENCE
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The modelling scenarios range from about 2,000 cases a day up to 30,000 cases a day depending, and even the moderate forecasts warning of five-digit daily case numbers in May or June.
Because hospital admissions follow in the wake of infections, there’s nothing that can be done about rising hospitalizations over the next two weeks, Brown said.
Dr. David Williams, chief medical officer of health, says 10,000 cases a day of COVID-19 in Ontario means higher pressures on hospitals that need not only beds but staff to manage them.
“No one wants to put a triage system in place,” Williams said, referencing the triage framework that apportions health care when hospitals are overwhelmed. “We don’t want to go there … That may not be a pleasant decision.”
Construction workers build a condominium twer while other businesses are shut due to coronavirus restrictions in Toronto March 26, 2020.
Inspectors to target Ontario construction sites to ensure public health measures followed
Canada's Minister of Health Patty Hajdu speaks to media on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Canada's P.1 outbreak prompted end to Brazil screening: Public Health
Protesters in front of the College of Nurses of Ontario building on Davenport Ave in Toronto on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
BRAUN: Ontario nurses claim they have been muzzled by college
The modelling forecast a much quicker return to normal if the province’s stay-at-home order was extended to six weeks, from the current four weeks, and if vaccinations increase to 300,000 a day.
Ontario administered 115,634 doses Thursday but has the capacity to do 500,000 a day if it had the supply, Williams said.
In a statement, Premier Doug Ford said, “As you would have seen in today’s modelling, if Ontario had the supply to ramp up to at least 300,000 vaccinations a day, it would have a significant impact on our ability to get a handle on this third wave.”
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Ontario reported 4,812 cases of COVID-19 Friday, including 1,469 new cases in Toronto, 851 in Peel, 491 in York Region, 366 in Ottawa and 268 in Durham.
Twenty-five more deaths were attributed to the pandemic.
Variants of concern (VOC), especially the United Kingdom-identified variant, have become the dominant infection in Ontario.
Hospitalizations continued to rise Friday with 1,955 COVID-19 patients admitted, including 701 being treated in intensive care and 480 on ventilators.
aartuso@postmedia.com
THE UGLY NUMBERS
Testing positivity rates: Peel 15%, Toronto 11.3%, York 10.4%, Durham, 9%, Ontario 7.9%
Hospitalizations: 67% growth in last two weeks
ICU occupancy: 51% growth in last two weeks
Worst case scenario: (four-week stay-at-home order, 100,000 vaccines a day) peaks at over 30,000 cases a day in early May then drops
Best case scenario: (six-week stay-at-home order, 300,000 vaccines a day) peaks at just over 5,000 cases a day in April then drops
ICU occupancy: under all scenarios likely to hit 1,000 patients by end of April
Backlog in elective surgeries and procedures: 248,109 cases and growing
Vaccination percentage: generally higher in areas with lower risk of vaccines, such as 82% of 80 and older in low-risk zones, 65% in hot spots
(Source: Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table modelling)
Ontario advisers call for six-week stay-home order, aggressive vaccinations
Ontario reported another record day of new COVID-19 cases Friday with new modelling predicting the worst is yet to come.
LEVY: Future of COVID jails for travellers unclear
Our politicians are just flying by the seat of their pants
Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 15 hours ago • 3 minute read • 34 Comments
A group of protesters rally out front of the Radisson hotel on Dixon Rd., where travellers are forced to quarantine after arriving at nearby Pearson International Airport, on Thursday Feb. 11, 2021.
A group of protesters rally out front of the Radisson hotel on Dixon Rd., where travellers are forced to quarantine after arriving at nearby Pearson International Airport, on Thursday Feb. 11, 2021. PHOTO BY JACK BOLAND /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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Paging Patty Hadju — come out, come out wherever you are.
After all, it’s four days from the scheduled end of the two-month hotel quarantine program and international travellers still have no clue whether it will be extended.
Evidently either do the bureaucrats at Health Canada.
I reached out to them Monday to ask about a possible extension and was informed repeatedly over four days that they were overwhelmed with media requests and couldn’t get to mine.
Finally, I received a non-answer on Friday from a spokesman, Anna Madison.
She indicated that the federal order in council that forces travellers arriving at four Canadian airports from international destinations to quarantine in a government-mandated hotel for three daysis ineffect from Feb. 14 until April 21 (11:59:59 pm EST).
“It may be amended or renewed as required to protect Canadians,” Madison said.
There was no further indication when that might happen or for how long.
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MORE ON THIS TOPIC
The flight arrival lineup at Toronto's Pearson International Airport located in Terminal One on Feb. 22, 2021.
LEVY: Did traveller contract COVID at quarantine hotel?
Aircraft at Vancouver International Airport on Friday, March 20, 2020.
Vancouver biggest source for domestic COVID infected flights: Health Canada
Daniel Kerzner
LEVY: COVID hotel experience inefficient and unnecessary, says travel exec
But some members on a GAA Hotel Quarantine Facebook group have written that some hotels are not taking any reservations beyond April 22.
Others say they’re hedging their bets and not booking their hotels just yet.
If one were to apply a bit of common sense to the whole situation, the hotel quarantine program should be allowed to end on April 21.
It has been an utter mess from the get-go and has convinced many travellers to travel through land borders to avoid quarantining in a COVID jail.
It has caught very few cases.
A spokesman for SwitchHealth told me earlier this week that only about 1.2% of the tests they’ve done have come back positive for COVID.
It is punitive, denies the constitutional rights of travellers and accomplishes nothing that couldn’t be carried out by quarantining at one’s home. In fact, it is more dangerous to quarantine at a hotel, where those who’ve stayed have reported lengthy check-in lineup and limited cleaning measures.
As I reported this week, a Toronto man returned from Pakistan on March 2 and tested positive for COVID five days after he was released from the quarantine hotel. Syed Shah then gave the virus to five members of his family. He suspects he caught COVID at the hotel.
But the fines for not going are outrageous.
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Hannah Rockman’s husband, David, refused to go to a hotel after returning from Israel fully vaccinated near the end of March. Peel Regional Police issued him a $3,750 fine.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is trying to fight the hotel quarantine and the fines in court on the grounds that both are unconstitutional.
There have also been many problems with the COVID testing, done by SwitchHealth. I’ve reported on people waiting on the phone for nine or more hours to have their Day 10 test done virtually and results taking much longer than the mandated 14-day quarantine period.
The Switch Health spokesman said they ramped up the program very quickly and are adding staff to deal with the wait times. He told me with the client-to-staff ratio there are typically only 20 people ahead in line.
But that makes no sense if people are having to wait nine hours online.
That said, like most things COVID, it will probably be extended because lockdowns and fear-mongering seem to be the only solutions our less than creative politicians can think of to deflect from their own abysmal track record around obtaining vaccines in a expeditious manner.
It doesn’t matter if lockdowns work or not, and I don’t believe they do — given my own direct contact with a dad with COVID — but it makes them feel like they’re in control of the situation.
In reality, they’re just flying by the seat of their pants.
SLevy@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Our politicians are just flying by the seat of their pants
Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 15 hours ago • 3 minute read • 34 Comments
A group of protesters rally out front of the Radisson hotel on Dixon Rd., where travellers are forced to quarantine after arriving at nearby Pearson International Airport, on Thursday Feb. 11, 2021.
A group of protesters rally out front of the Radisson hotel on Dixon Rd., where travellers are forced to quarantine after arriving at nearby Pearson International Airport, on Thursday Feb. 11, 2021. PHOTO BY JACK BOLAND /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
Article content
Paging Patty Hadju — come out, come out wherever you are.
After all, it’s four days from the scheduled end of the two-month hotel quarantine program and international travellers still have no clue whether it will be extended.
Evidently either do the bureaucrats at Health Canada.
I reached out to them Monday to ask about a possible extension and was informed repeatedly over four days that they were overwhelmed with media requests and couldn’t get to mine.
Finally, I received a non-answer on Friday from a spokesman, Anna Madison.
She indicated that the federal order in council that forces travellers arriving at four Canadian airports from international destinations to quarantine in a government-mandated hotel for three daysis ineffect from Feb. 14 until April 21 (11:59:59 pm EST).
“It may be amended or renewed as required to protect Canadians,” Madison said.
There was no further indication when that might happen or for how long.
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The flight arrival lineup at Toronto's Pearson International Airport located in Terminal One on Feb. 22, 2021.
LEVY: Did traveller contract COVID at quarantine hotel?
Aircraft at Vancouver International Airport on Friday, March 20, 2020.
Vancouver biggest source for domestic COVID infected flights: Health Canada
Daniel Kerzner
LEVY: COVID hotel experience inefficient and unnecessary, says travel exec
But some members on a GAA Hotel Quarantine Facebook group have written that some hotels are not taking any reservations beyond April 22.
Others say they’re hedging their bets and not booking their hotels just yet.
If one were to apply a bit of common sense to the whole situation, the hotel quarantine program should be allowed to end on April 21.
It has been an utter mess from the get-go and has convinced many travellers to travel through land borders to avoid quarantining in a COVID jail.
It has caught very few cases.
A spokesman for SwitchHealth told me earlier this week that only about 1.2% of the tests they’ve done have come back positive for COVID.
It is punitive, denies the constitutional rights of travellers and accomplishes nothing that couldn’t be carried out by quarantining at one’s home. In fact, it is more dangerous to quarantine at a hotel, where those who’ve stayed have reported lengthy check-in lineup and limited cleaning measures.
As I reported this week, a Toronto man returned from Pakistan on March 2 and tested positive for COVID five days after he was released from the quarantine hotel. Syed Shah then gave the virus to five members of his family. He suspects he caught COVID at the hotel.
But the fines for not going are outrageous.
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Article content
Hannah Rockman’s husband, David, refused to go to a hotel after returning from Israel fully vaccinated near the end of March. Peel Regional Police issued him a $3,750 fine.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is trying to fight the hotel quarantine and the fines in court on the grounds that both are unconstitutional.
There have also been many problems with the COVID testing, done by SwitchHealth. I’ve reported on people waiting on the phone for nine or more hours to have their Day 10 test done virtually and results taking much longer than the mandated 14-day quarantine period.
The Switch Health spokesman said they ramped up the program very quickly and are adding staff to deal with the wait times. He told me with the client-to-staff ratio there are typically only 20 people ahead in line.
But that makes no sense if people are having to wait nine hours online.
That said, like most things COVID, it will probably be extended because lockdowns and fear-mongering seem to be the only solutions our less than creative politicians can think of to deflect from their own abysmal track record around obtaining vaccines in a expeditious manner.
It doesn’t matter if lockdowns work or not, and I don’t believe they do — given my own direct contact with a dad with COVID — but it makes them feel like they’re in control of the situation.
In reality, they’re just flying by the seat of their pants.
SLevy@postmedia.com
LEVY: Future of COVID jails for travellers unclear
Paging Patty Hadju -- come out, come out wherever you are.
New police powers to enforce pandemic crackdown announced by Ford Friday
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 2 minute read • 552 Comments
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday. PHOTO BY FRANK GUNN /The Canadian Press
Article content
Police officers in Ontario will be given extraordinary temporary powers to stop individuals — on foot and in their cars — and demand to know where they’re going and where they live under a new pandemic crackdown by the Doug Ford government.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said members of the public could be ticketed for refusing to provide the information starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
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“By issuing new additional enforcement measures, it allows police officers to ask the person why they are not at their place of residence and what their place of residence is,” Jones said Friday. “If you are not willing to comply, then you are breaking the law.”
Ford’s cabinet adopted a slew of new measures that were drawing outrage online even as the Premier announced them late Friday as part of a now six-week stay-at-home order.
“The Stay-at-Home order currently in effect requires everyone to remain at home except for specified purposes, such as
going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services (including getting vaccinated), for outdoor exercise, or for work that cannot be done remotely,” a government statement says.
Ontario government is closing all outdoor recreational amenities including golf courses, basketball courts, soccer fields and playgrounds with some exceptions as of Saturday.
Grocery stores and similar retail settings that permit in-store shopping will be limited to 25% capacity, likely to bring a return of last spring’s lengthy line ups.
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Do you agree with the province granting police extra powers to ensure citizens comply with the stay-at-home order?
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Non-essential construction workplace sites will be closed and employers will be expected to ensure that any employer who can work from home does so.
“To get ahead of the variants that are plaguing Western Canada… Beginning on Monday we are setting up checkpoints at our interprovincial borders,” Ford said. “We will be limiting access to border crossings between Ontario and the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec… With exceptions such as work, medical care or transportation of goods.
“And we are calling on the federal government to immediately tighten up our international borders. We’re currently facing the devastating consequences of COVID variants that entered Canada through our borders at the start of this year,” he said.
Effective Monday in Ontario, there’s a capacity limit of 10 people indoors or outdoors for weddings, funerals and religious services, rites or ceremonies.
Drive-in services will be permitted but no related social gatherings like wedding receptions unless limited to household members and a single guest.
aartuso@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Apr 16, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 2 minute read • 552 Comments
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday. PHOTO BY FRANK GUNN /The Canadian Press
Article content
Police officers in Ontario will be given extraordinary temporary powers to stop individuals — on foot and in their cars — and demand to know where they’re going and where they live under a new pandemic crackdown by the Doug Ford government.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said members of the public could be ticketed for refusing to provide the information starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
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“By issuing new additional enforcement measures, it allows police officers to ask the person why they are not at their place of residence and what their place of residence is,” Jones said Friday. “If you are not willing to comply, then you are breaking the law.”
Ford’s cabinet adopted a slew of new measures that were drawing outrage online even as the Premier announced them late Friday as part of a now six-week stay-at-home order.
“The Stay-at-Home order currently in effect requires everyone to remain at home except for specified purposes, such as
going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services (including getting vaccinated), for outdoor exercise, or for work that cannot be done remotely,” a government statement says.
Ontario government is closing all outdoor recreational amenities including golf courses, basketball courts, soccer fields and playgrounds with some exceptions as of Saturday.
Grocery stores and similar retail settings that permit in-store shopping will be limited to 25% capacity, likely to bring a return of last spring’s lengthy line ups.
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Do you agree with the province granting police extra powers to ensure citizens comply with the stay-at-home order?
Yes
No
Vote
View Results
Non-essential construction workplace sites will be closed and employers will be expected to ensure that any employer who can work from home does so.
“To get ahead of the variants that are plaguing Western Canada… Beginning on Monday we are setting up checkpoints at our interprovincial borders,” Ford said. “We will be limiting access to border crossings between Ontario and the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec… With exceptions such as work, medical care or transportation of goods.
“And we are calling on the federal government to immediately tighten up our international borders. We’re currently facing the devastating consequences of COVID variants that entered Canada through our borders at the start of this year,” he said.
Effective Monday in Ontario, there’s a capacity limit of 10 people indoors or outdoors for weddings, funerals and religious services, rites or ceremonies.
Drive-in services will be permitted but no related social gatherings like wedding receptions unless limited to household members and a single guest.
aartuso@postmedia.com
New police powers to enforce pandemic crackdown announced by Ford Friday
New police powers to enforce pandemic crackdown announced by Ford Friday
Many Ontario police services refuse to enforce Ford government's new random stop laws
Author of the article:Anthony Furey
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 4 minutes ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday. PHOTO BY FRANK GUNN /The Canadian Press
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After the Ontario government announced Friday they were giving police the power to randomly stop pedestrians and motorists on the streets, multiple police services have come forward saying they will not be making use of these new powers.
“Moving forward, police will have the authority to require any individual who is not in a place of residence to, first, provide their purpose for not being at home, and provide their home address,” Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said, adding this also means motor vehicles can be randomly pulled over.
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Jones put on a tough face when asked what would happen if Ontarians didn’t go along with these requests.
“If you are not willing to comply, then you are breaking the law and there is the option for the police officer to issue a ticket,” Jones said.
The new orders carry a $750 fine for a first offence.
However, several police services across the province have since released statements to that effect that they will not be making use of these new powers.
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“New emergency orders announced yesterday to help limit the spread of COVID-19 are now in effect,” Toronto Police Service posted to social media Saturday morning. “The (TPS) will continue to engage, educate and enforce, but we will not be doing random stops of people or cars.”
The Ottawa Police Service stated in a news release: “The OPS will not be conducting random stops. We will be taking a deliberate and careful approach that emphasizes equity, legality, and efficacy in the application of these authorities with the specific and exclusive purpose to support public health measures.”
Police services in other jurisdictions — including Halton, Waterloo, Guelph, Peterborough — released similar clarifications.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association described the provincial announcement as “a Black Friday of rights slashing by Queen’s Park … risking a rash of racial profiling and over broad police police powers, presuming everyone outside guilty until proven otherwise. The mobility rights restrictions fail to achieve constitutional proportionality.”
afurey@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Anthony Furey
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 4 minutes ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday. PHOTO BY FRANK GUNN /The Canadian Press
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After the Ontario government announced Friday they were giving police the power to randomly stop pedestrians and motorists on the streets, multiple police services have come forward saying they will not be making use of these new powers.
“Moving forward, police will have the authority to require any individual who is not in a place of residence to, first, provide their purpose for not being at home, and provide their home address,” Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said, adding this also means motor vehicles can be randomly pulled over.
Harvard study suggests cannabis is effective treatment option for managing chronic pain
Trackerdslogo
Jones put on a tough face when asked what would happen if Ontarians didn’t go along with these requests.
“If you are not willing to comply, then you are breaking the law and there is the option for the police officer to issue a ticket,” Jones said.
The new orders carry a $750 fine for a first offence.
However, several police services across the province have since released statements to that effect that they will not be making use of these new powers.
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“New emergency orders announced yesterday to help limit the spread of COVID-19 are now in effect,” Toronto Police Service posted to social media Saturday morning. “The (TPS) will continue to engage, educate and enforce, but we will not be doing random stops of people or cars.”
The Ottawa Police Service stated in a news release: “The OPS will not be conducting random stops. We will be taking a deliberate and careful approach that emphasizes equity, legality, and efficacy in the application of these authorities with the specific and exclusive purpose to support public health measures.”
Police services in other jurisdictions — including Halton, Waterloo, Guelph, Peterborough — released similar clarifications.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association described the provincial announcement as “a Black Friday of rights slashing by Queen’s Park … risking a rash of racial profiling and over broad police police powers, presuming everyone outside guilty until proven otherwise. The mobility rights restrictions fail to achieve constitutional proportionality.”
afurey@postmedia.com
Many Ontario police services refuse to enforce Ford government's new random stop laws
After Ontario announced Friday new police powers to randomly stop people, many police services have said they won't use of these new powers.
Chummy Peel cop suspended for maskless antics
Author of the article:Liz Braun
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Peel Regional Police have suspended Sgt. Paul Brown after he was captured on video interacting with protesters outside of a Mississauga gym without wearing PPE on Friday, April 16, 2021.
Peel Regional Police have suspended Sgt. Paul Brown after he was captured on video interacting with protesters outside of a Mississauga gym without wearing PPE on Friday, April 16, 2021. PHOTO BY @STEVELANEBITCH /Twitter
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A Peel Regional Police officer caught on video hugging protesters at a Mississauga gym has been suspended.
Sgt. Paul Brown was filmed outside Huf Gym in Mississauga, which opened last week despite Peel being under a stay-at-home order.
The veteran officer was seen at the facility, which has become a protest site for its owners and supporters, not wearing personal protective equipment while interacting with maskless protesters and posing for photos.
Huf gym, located near Cawthra Rd. and Dundas St. E., opened in defiance of current anti-COVID measures.
A Global News TV reporter covering the protest Friday morning was aggressively approached by a woman not wearing a mask. When the reporter spoke to Brown about the protester’s behaviour, the officer accused the journalist of agitating the group outside the gym.
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The incident showed up on several social media posts, clearly showing the 12 Division uniformed patrol sergeant interacting with the public without PPE.
Peel Chief Nishan Duraiappah released a statement Friday afternoon stating the officer has been suspended.
“Upon learning of the incident, I immediately directed that the Sergeant be suspended and commenced an Internal Affairs investigation,” he said. “Peel Regional Police are committed to ensuring the safety of our members and the public. Our officers will enforce municipal and provincial regulations as required.”
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Peel Regional Police have fined anti-mask pandemic protestors who orchestrated gatherings in Mississauga last month.
Peel cops fine anti-maskers accused of organizing protests
Deputy Chief James Ramer
WARMINGTON: Many police chiefs say 'no thanks' to Ford's new COVID random stop law
“As an organization, we continue to follow the advice issued from the federal, provincial, and local public health officials while using the appropriate safety precautions, including all available Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),” Duraiappah added.
“We support all measures necessary to limit the spread of COVID-19 both in our workplace and our community,” he said.
Chris Giles, the manager of compliance and licensing for Mississauga, has said charges were expected to be laid against Huf gym under the Reopening Ontario Act.
lbraun@postmedia.com
peelpolice.ca
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Liz Braun
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Peel Regional Police have suspended Sgt. Paul Brown after he was captured on video interacting with protesters outside of a Mississauga gym without wearing PPE on Friday, April 16, 2021.
Peel Regional Police have suspended Sgt. Paul Brown after he was captured on video interacting with protesters outside of a Mississauga gym without wearing PPE on Friday, April 16, 2021. PHOTO BY @STEVELANEBITCH /Twitter
Article content
A Peel Regional Police officer caught on video hugging protesters at a Mississauga gym has been suspended.
Sgt. Paul Brown was filmed outside Huf Gym in Mississauga, which opened last week despite Peel being under a stay-at-home order.
The veteran officer was seen at the facility, which has become a protest site for its owners and supporters, not wearing personal protective equipment while interacting with maskless protesters and posing for photos.
Huf gym, located near Cawthra Rd. and Dundas St. E., opened in defiance of current anti-COVID measures.
A Global News TV reporter covering the protest Friday morning was aggressively approached by a woman not wearing a mask. When the reporter spoke to Brown about the protester’s behaviour, the officer accused the journalist of agitating the group outside the gym.
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The incident showed up on several social media posts, clearly showing the 12 Division uniformed patrol sergeant interacting with the public without PPE.
Peel Chief Nishan Duraiappah released a statement Friday afternoon stating the officer has been suspended.
“Upon learning of the incident, I immediately directed that the Sergeant be suspended and commenced an Internal Affairs investigation,” he said. “Peel Regional Police are committed to ensuring the safety of our members and the public. Our officers will enforce municipal and provincial regulations as required.”
Peel Regional Police have fined anti-mask pandemic protestors who orchestrated gatherings in Mississauga last month.
Peel cops fine anti-maskers accused of organizing protests
Deputy Chief James Ramer
WARMINGTON: Many police chiefs say 'no thanks' to Ford's new COVID random stop law
“As an organization, we continue to follow the advice issued from the federal, provincial, and local public health officials while using the appropriate safety precautions, including all available Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),” Duraiappah added.
“We support all measures necessary to limit the spread of COVID-19 both in our workplace and our community,” he said.
Chris Giles, the manager of compliance and licensing for Mississauga, has said charges were expected to be laid against Huf gym under the Reopening Ontario Act.
lbraun@postmedia.com
NewsDetail - Peel Regional Police
peelpolice.ca
Chummy Peel cop suspended for maskless antics
A Peel Regional Police officer caught on video hugging protesters at a Mississauga gym has been suspended.
Doug Ford's not playing now
A new Order-in-Council dated Friday enshrined the new ground rules in law
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
A closed-off playground at the CNE grounds in Toronto, Ont. on Friday April 3, 2020.
A closed-off playground at the CNE grounds in Toronto, Ont. on Friday April 3, 2020. PHOTO BY ERNEST DOROSZUK /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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Premier Doug Ford and provincial public health officials encouraged members of the public to go outside for exercise during the pandemic.
Then he mothballed playgrounds, golf courses, soccer fields, basketball courts, and so on.
His government also empowered police to conduct random checks of individuals out and about to explain why they’re not at home.
A new Order-in-Council dated Friday enshrined the new ground rules in law.
PANDEMIC (NO) PLAYBOOK
Outdoor playgrounds: Closed, including all play structures and equipment
Playing fields: Closed, including baseball diamonds, soccer fields, frisbee golf locations
Playing courts: Closed, including basketball courts, tennis courts, platform tennis, table tennis, pickleball courts
Sports parks: BMX parks, skate parks and areas containing outdoor fitness equipment are closed
Eating outdoors: All outdoor picnic sites and picnic tables in parks and recreational areas are closed
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Dog parks: Open
Park benches: Open
Construction: Yes, for essential projects like hospitals, transit, schools, energy and justice. Other than for maintenance and the like, no to non-essential construction
Groceries and other essentials: Can open for in-person shopping with maximum 25% of normal store capacity
Horses and other animals: The order does not prevent an owner from visiting and caring for an animal at a boarding kennel or stable
Boats: Marinas are not open to the public, but can repair or service watercraft and place them in the water secured to a dock; they are allowed to provide services to enable individuals to get to their place of residence or other property
Weddings and funerals, religious rites: Maximum 10 people indoors or outdoors (drive-thrus and in-vehicle versions of these services permitted, but cars must be kept a minimum of two metres apart)
aartuso@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
A new Order-in-Council dated Friday enshrined the new ground rules in law
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
A closed-off playground at the CNE grounds in Toronto, Ont. on Friday April 3, 2020.
A closed-off playground at the CNE grounds in Toronto, Ont. on Friday April 3, 2020. PHOTO BY ERNEST DOROSZUK /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
Article content
Premier Doug Ford and provincial public health officials encouraged members of the public to go outside for exercise during the pandemic.
Then he mothballed playgrounds, golf courses, soccer fields, basketball courts, and so on.
His government also empowered police to conduct random checks of individuals out and about to explain why they’re not at home.
A new Order-in-Council dated Friday enshrined the new ground rules in law.
PANDEMIC (NO) PLAYBOOK
Outdoor playgrounds: Closed, including all play structures and equipment
Playing fields: Closed, including baseball diamonds, soccer fields, frisbee golf locations
Playing courts: Closed, including basketball courts, tennis courts, platform tennis, table tennis, pickleball courts
Sports parks: BMX parks, skate parks and areas containing outdoor fitness equipment are closed
Eating outdoors: All outdoor picnic sites and picnic tables in parks and recreational areas are closed
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Dog parks: Open
Park benches: Open
Construction: Yes, for essential projects like hospitals, transit, schools, energy and justice. Other than for maintenance and the like, no to non-essential construction
Groceries and other essentials: Can open for in-person shopping with maximum 25% of normal store capacity
Horses and other animals: The order does not prevent an owner from visiting and caring for an animal at a boarding kennel or stable
Boats: Marinas are not open to the public, but can repair or service watercraft and place them in the water secured to a dock; they are allowed to provide services to enable individuals to get to their place of residence or other property
Weddings and funerals, religious rites: Maximum 10 people indoors or outdoors (drive-thrus and in-vehicle versions of these services permitted, but cars must be kept a minimum of two metres apart)
aartuso@postmedia.com
Doug Ford's not playing now
Premier Doug Ford and provincial public health officials encouraged members of the public to go outside for exercise during the pandemic.
WARMINGTON: Ontario police chiefs say 'no thanks' to Ford's new COVID random stop law
Extreme move makes Ontario feel like a police state
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 3 minute read • 140 Comments
Deputy Chief James Ramer
Deputy Chief James Ramer PHOTO BY CRAIG ROBERTSON /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
Article content
Just because Premier Doug Ford has given police the power to stop and question why people are out of their homes does not mean every service will use it.
In fact, many police services and the associations who represent their officers have already said no to these new measures that feel more like police state rules than they do something introduced in a free country.
This includes Toronto Police.
Chief James Ramer took to twitter Saturday saying “new emergency orders announced yesterday to help limit the spread of COVID-19 are now in effect. The Toronto Police Service will continue to engage, educate and enforce, but we will not be doing random stops of people or cars.”
Halton Regional Police Chief Steve Tanner has also made it clear his service won’t be backed into a corner by the new guidelines.
“The @haltonpolice has always, and will always work closely and in cooperation with our citizens,” he tweeted. “During this next COVID-19 phase we will continue to engage, explain and educate our citizens. Enforcement will be a last resort and only when absolutely required for public safety.”
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Peel Regional Police Association President Adrian Woolley said no matter what, his members will not be participating in anything that goes beyond what they are entitled to do constitutionally.
“I believe that these new measures called for by Doug Ford are in direct conflict with our Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he tweeted. . “Further, they place all of our active frontline members in an untenable position when directed by politicians to enforce these measures.”
As he told The Toronto Sun, what these new powers do is “make the police the bad guy.”
And he’s indicated to his membership that they should not have to hand out $750 tickets to families at now off limits children’s playgrounds either.
“Can you imagine? Dear Lord,” said Woolley. “It’s not what my members signed up for.”
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Ontario Premier Doug Ford puts his mask on after speaking at a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday, April 16, 2021.
Many Ontario police services refuse to enforce Ford government's new random stop laws
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday.
New police powers to enforce pandemic crackdown announced by Ford Friday
Ontario Premier Doug Ford receives the Astrazeneca-Oxford coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from pharmacist Anmol Soor at Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto, Ontario, Canada April 9, 2021.
LILLEY: Ford should focus on vaccinating hotspots rather than closing parks
But bringing in tougher enforcement is what a government that admits it’s losing the battle with a virus in a pandemic is asking police to do.
“Moving forward, police will have the authority to require any individual who is not in a place of residence to first provide their purpose for not being home, and provide their home address,” Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones told reporters Friday while adding “police will also have the authority to stop a vehicle to inquire about an individual’s reason for leaving their residence.”
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No thanks, say at least 18 police services so far. And the list is growing.
“We are carefully reviewing these new authorities. We are very mindful of the perceptions of the broader public as well as within our more marginalized, racialized and/or Indigenous/Aboriginal/Inuit peoples,” Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said in a news release.
But Ottawa Police also say their officers “will not be conducting random stops” but “taking a deliberate and careful approach that emphasizes equity, legality, and efficacy in the application of these authorities with the specific and exclusive purpose to support public health measures.”
Many other police services have said much the same.
“I echo the sentiment of police leaders across the province,” Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraippah. “We will not conduct random stops of vehicles or people, to determine their reasons for being away from their homes.”
So far the Ford government has not commented on the reluctance of police services to go down this unusual path. Only the Ontario Provincial Police has gone public making it clear it will follow the edict.
“OPP will be enforcing new measures to limit transmission of COVID-19 virus and variants,” the provincial service tweeted. “Strict measures at provincial borders and limitations on outdoor recreational activity.”
But count out many large and smaller urban services who want no part of new laws that crush a public already suffering under more than a year of pandemic lockdowns.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
ONTARIO POLICE SERVICES REFUSING TO CONDUCT RANDOM STOPS
– Toronto
– York
– Peel
– Durham
– Halton
– Hamilton
– Waterloo
– Guelph
– Niagara
– Stratford
– London
– St. Thomas
– Peterborough
– Kawartha Lakes
– South Simcoe
– Barrie
– Ottawa
– Cornwall
– Gananoque
– North Bay
– Sault Ste. Marie
torontosun.com
Extreme move makes Ontario feel like a police state
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 3 minute read • 140 Comments
Deputy Chief James Ramer
Deputy Chief James Ramer PHOTO BY CRAIG ROBERTSON /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
Article content
Just because Premier Doug Ford has given police the power to stop and question why people are out of their homes does not mean every service will use it.
In fact, many police services and the associations who represent their officers have already said no to these new measures that feel more like police state rules than they do something introduced in a free country.
This includes Toronto Police.
Chief James Ramer took to twitter Saturday saying “new emergency orders announced yesterday to help limit the spread of COVID-19 are now in effect. The Toronto Police Service will continue to engage, educate and enforce, but we will not be doing random stops of people or cars.”
Halton Regional Police Chief Steve Tanner has also made it clear his service won’t be backed into a corner by the new guidelines.
“The @haltonpolice has always, and will always work closely and in cooperation with our citizens,” he tweeted. “During this next COVID-19 phase we will continue to engage, explain and educate our citizens. Enforcement will be a last resort and only when absolutely required for public safety.”
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This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Peel Regional Police Association President Adrian Woolley said no matter what, his members will not be participating in anything that goes beyond what they are entitled to do constitutionally.
“I believe that these new measures called for by Doug Ford are in direct conflict with our Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he tweeted. . “Further, they place all of our active frontline members in an untenable position when directed by politicians to enforce these measures.”
As he told The Toronto Sun, what these new powers do is “make the police the bad guy.”
And he’s indicated to his membership that they should not have to hand out $750 tickets to families at now off limits children’s playgrounds either.
“Can you imagine? Dear Lord,” said Woolley. “It’s not what my members signed up for.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford puts his mask on after speaking at a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday, April 16, 2021.
Many Ontario police services refuse to enforce Ford government's new random stop laws
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday.
New police powers to enforce pandemic crackdown announced by Ford Friday
Ontario Premier Doug Ford receives the Astrazeneca-Oxford coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine from pharmacist Anmol Soor at Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto, Ontario, Canada April 9, 2021.
LILLEY: Ford should focus on vaccinating hotspots rather than closing parks
But bringing in tougher enforcement is what a government that admits it’s losing the battle with a virus in a pandemic is asking police to do.
“Moving forward, police will have the authority to require any individual who is not in a place of residence to first provide their purpose for not being home, and provide their home address,” Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones told reporters Friday while adding “police will also have the authority to stop a vehicle to inquire about an individual’s reason for leaving their residence.”
Advertisement
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Article content
No thanks, say at least 18 police services so far. And the list is growing.
“We are carefully reviewing these new authorities. We are very mindful of the perceptions of the broader public as well as within our more marginalized, racialized and/or Indigenous/Aboriginal/Inuit peoples,” Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said in a news release.
But Ottawa Police also say their officers “will not be conducting random stops” but “taking a deliberate and careful approach that emphasizes equity, legality, and efficacy in the application of these authorities with the specific and exclusive purpose to support public health measures.”
Many other police services have said much the same.
“I echo the sentiment of police leaders across the province,” Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraippah. “We will not conduct random stops of vehicles or people, to determine their reasons for being away from their homes.”
So far the Ford government has not commented on the reluctance of police services to go down this unusual path. Only the Ontario Provincial Police has gone public making it clear it will follow the edict.
“OPP will be enforcing new measures to limit transmission of COVID-19 virus and variants,” the provincial service tweeted. “Strict measures at provincial borders and limitations on outdoor recreational activity.”
But count out many large and smaller urban services who want no part of new laws that crush a public already suffering under more than a year of pandemic lockdowns.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
ONTARIO POLICE SERVICES REFUSING TO CONDUCT RANDOM STOPS
– Toronto
– York
– Peel
– Durham
– Halton
– Hamilton
– Waterloo
– Guelph
– Niagara
– Stratford
– London
– St. Thomas
– Peterborough
– Kawartha Lakes
– South Simcoe
– Barrie
– Ottawa
– Cornwall
– Gananoque
– North Bay
– Sault Ste. Marie
WARMINGTON: Ontario police chiefs say 'no thanks' to Ford's new COVID random stop law
Just because Doug Ford has given police the power to stop and question why people are out of their homes does not mean services will use it.
Angry criticism of new Ontario police powers as COVID-19 hospitalizations set record
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 3 minute read • 21 Comments
A man in Mexico admitted himself to hospital recently to treat an erection that lasted three days.
A man in Mexico admitted himself to hospital recently to treat an erection that lasted three days. iStock / Getty Images
Article content
New anti-pandemic powers that allow police in Ontario to stop any motorist or pedestrian and ask where they live and why they’re not home drew furious criticism on Saturday as the number of infected people in hospital reached record levels.
More than 2,000 patients were in the province’s hospitals due to the novel coronavirus for the first time since the onset of the year-long pandemic, with 726 in intensive care and 501 needing a ventilator, authorities reported
Health officials also recorded 34 more deaths related to the virus, the highest single-day count since Feb. 19, when 47 people were reported as dying from coronavirus disease.
The province logged 4,362 new cases on Saturday, down from Friday’s record-setting number of 4,812.
Amid the grim tally, politicians, civil libertarians, and pundits attacked new anti-pandemic restrictions announced Friday by Premier Doug Ford as misguided.
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The added police powers aimed at enforcing stay-at-home orders, they said, were overkill.
“I am very concerned about arbitrary stops of people by police at any time,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a Saturday tweet.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Deputy Chief James Ramer
WARMINGTON: Many police chiefs say 'no thanks' to Ford's new COVID random stop law
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday.
New police powers to enforce pandemic crackdown announced by Ford Friday
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
LILLEY: Trudeau needs to change gears on flights and vaccine distribution
In a note to constituents, Jill Andrew, a provincial New Democrat politician in Toronto, said the measures show just how out of touch the Ford government is.
“Let’s be very real here: We are not going to police our way out of the pandemic,” Andrews said. “The reality here is that this will likely impact Black, Indigenous, and people of colour.”
While violating restrictions can carry a $750 fine, failure to provide police with requested information can result in criminal charges, according to the province’s association of police chiefs.
Big and small police forces across the province, however, said they had no intention of exercising their new-found powers.
“I would like to reassure our citizens that our officers will not be conducting random vehicle or individual stops,” Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said on Saturday.
Andrew Fletcher, chief of the South Simcoe Police Service, said officers would only act on complaints. Police forces in Thunder Bay and Ottawa also took similar positions.
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Civil rights groups, however, took little comfort in such statements.
“Ontario is one step closer to becoming a police state,” said Joanna Baron, executive director of the Calgary-based Canadian Constitution Foundation.
“Low income and minority communities have borne the brunt of this pandemic in terms of cases and mortality, and they are now more likely to bear the brunt of police enforcement.”
The new restrictions, including a two-week extension to the province’s stay-at-home order until May 20, were announced amid dire warnings from the government’s scientific advisers that the pandemic was only set to worsen.
Other new measures include further restrictions on outdoor gatherings and indoor religious services, while recreational facilities such as sports fields, playgrounds and golf courses are now closed. Ontario intends to close the borders with neighbouring provinces Quebec and Manitoba effective Monday.
Ford said the province was “on its heels” and the new measures were urgently needed to bring the province’s COVID-19 situation under control.
But experts said the Ford government had missed the mark on key drivers of the raging pandemic, including a lack of paid sick leave for essential workers.
“Doug Ford’s handling of this pandemic has been an abject failure and absolute disaster,” said Patty Coates, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.
Randall Denley, a former Ontario Tory candidate based in Ottawa, called the moves an “odd mix of bluster, misdirection, overdue restrictions and authoritarian, punitive measures” that would simply anger people.
“This is a police-state tactic that has the potential to lose the voluntary public support that is the key to the provincial plan,” Denley wrote in a National Post column.
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, urged Ford to reconsider the expanded law enforcement powers.
“To give the police the right to stop and question citizens is akin to martial law,” Thomas said. “If improperly applied or perceived as being used to target, it will be remembered in history as carding on steroids.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 3 minute read • 21 Comments
A man in Mexico admitted himself to hospital recently to treat an erection that lasted three days.
A man in Mexico admitted himself to hospital recently to treat an erection that lasted three days. iStock / Getty Images
Article content
New anti-pandemic powers that allow police in Ontario to stop any motorist or pedestrian and ask where they live and why they’re not home drew furious criticism on Saturday as the number of infected people in hospital reached record levels.
More than 2,000 patients were in the province’s hospitals due to the novel coronavirus for the first time since the onset of the year-long pandemic, with 726 in intensive care and 501 needing a ventilator, authorities reported
Health officials also recorded 34 more deaths related to the virus, the highest single-day count since Feb. 19, when 47 people were reported as dying from coronavirus disease.
The province logged 4,362 new cases on Saturday, down from Friday’s record-setting number of 4,812.
Amid the grim tally, politicians, civil libertarians, and pundits attacked new anti-pandemic restrictions announced Friday by Premier Doug Ford as misguided.
Advertisement
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Article content
The added police powers aimed at enforcing stay-at-home orders, they said, were overkill.
“I am very concerned about arbitrary stops of people by police at any time,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a Saturday tweet.
Deputy Chief James Ramer
WARMINGTON: Many police chiefs say 'no thanks' to Ford's new COVID random stop law
Ontario Premier Doug Ford points on a COVID-19 caseload projection model graph during a press conference at Queen's Park, in Toronto, Friday.
New police powers to enforce pandemic crackdown announced by Ford Friday
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
LILLEY: Trudeau needs to change gears on flights and vaccine distribution
In a note to constituents, Jill Andrew, a provincial New Democrat politician in Toronto, said the measures show just how out of touch the Ford government is.
“Let’s be very real here: We are not going to police our way out of the pandemic,” Andrews said. “The reality here is that this will likely impact Black, Indigenous, and people of colour.”
While violating restrictions can carry a $750 fine, failure to provide police with requested information can result in criminal charges, according to the province’s association of police chiefs.
Big and small police forces across the province, however, said they had no intention of exercising their new-found powers.
“I would like to reassure our citizens that our officers will not be conducting random vehicle or individual stops,” Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said on Saturday.
Andrew Fletcher, chief of the South Simcoe Police Service, said officers would only act on complaints. Police forces in Thunder Bay and Ottawa also took similar positions.
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Civil rights groups, however, took little comfort in such statements.
“Ontario is one step closer to becoming a police state,” said Joanna Baron, executive director of the Calgary-based Canadian Constitution Foundation.
“Low income and minority communities have borne the brunt of this pandemic in terms of cases and mortality, and they are now more likely to bear the brunt of police enforcement.”
The new restrictions, including a two-week extension to the province’s stay-at-home order until May 20, were announced amid dire warnings from the government’s scientific advisers that the pandemic was only set to worsen.
Other new measures include further restrictions on outdoor gatherings and indoor religious services, while recreational facilities such as sports fields, playgrounds and golf courses are now closed. Ontario intends to close the borders with neighbouring provinces Quebec and Manitoba effective Monday.
Ford said the province was “on its heels” and the new measures were urgently needed to bring the province’s COVID-19 situation under control.
But experts said the Ford government had missed the mark on key drivers of the raging pandemic, including a lack of paid sick leave for essential workers.
“Doug Ford’s handling of this pandemic has been an abject failure and absolute disaster,” said Patty Coates, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.
Randall Denley, a former Ontario Tory candidate based in Ottawa, called the moves an “odd mix of bluster, misdirection, overdue restrictions and authoritarian, punitive measures” that would simply anger people.
“This is a police-state tactic that has the potential to lose the voluntary public support that is the key to the provincial plan,” Denley wrote in a National Post column.
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, urged Ford to reconsider the expanded law enforcement powers.
“To give the police the right to stop and question citizens is akin to martial law,” Thomas said. “If improperly applied or perceived as being used to target, it will be remembered in history as carding on steroids.”
Angry criticism of new Ontario police powers as COVID-19 hospitalizations set record
Ontario is reporting 4,362 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday along with a record number of virus patients in provincial hospitals.
WARMINGTON: Toronto doctor warns ship 'sinking' as COVID patients overload ICUs
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 22 hours ago • 3 minute read • 322 Comments
Dr. Michael Warner.
Dr. Michael Warner. PHOTO BY VERONICA HENRI /Toronto Sun/Postmedia
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Dr. Michael Warner sees himself as being on the bridge of a listing ship ringing the bell to draw attention to the crisis Ontario is in.
“The Titanic is sinking,” he told the Toronto Sun Friday. “Man, it’s bad. This is no B.S.”
As a physician inside the Michael Garron Hospital this weekend, he said, his ICU is full.
“We have 17 ICU beds” with 18 people inside the unit, Warner said, adding 14 of those are COVID patients, most of whom have the B-117 variant.
And he fully expects those numbers will grow.
“It’s so contagious,” Warner said. “People are dying.”
During this pandemic, he said he has signed “29 death certificates.”
He may come across as combative on social media and mainstream media, including Friday on CNN, but Warner insists he’s trying to save lives.
“I think a lot of the deaths are preventable,” he said.
Warner has called for government to “reallocate vaccines from less affected areas to hot zones,” and he has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “to help bring in ICU RNs from less affected areas of Canada” and to “close everything that isn’t truly essential,” including religious services.
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Warner has been extremely critical of Premier Doug Ford’s government for not being more aggressive on shutting things down.
Last week he tweeted: “I cannot see a situation where some degree of ICU triage does not happen in Ontario. Demand will outstrip supply of staffed beds. In addition to being cruel and unfair to our future patients, this will break the back of health care workers. We tried to warn you.”
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But his tweet Friday in reaction to the Premier’s new, six-week stay-at-home order ruffled a lot of feathers from Queen’s Park to the venerable hospital in East York.
“Today I learned @fordnation doesn’t care about my patients or that they are primarily poor & racialized Canadians: Essential workers will continue to die, triage will happen. Ontarians have not only been abandoned, but also blamed by for our collective situation,” Warner tweeted.
Accusing Ford of not caring about his patients was over the top and inaccurate. Say what you want about the Premier’s decisions, but any suggestion he’s heartless is going too far. Although Warner acknowledges his abrasive style, he is not backing down. He doesn’t mince words and speaks his mind and was also publicly critical of previous premier Kathleen Wynne.
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Now, in a call he made to me in response to one of my tweets, he’s saying doctors are being put in a position to have to “cut corners” and “improvise.”
Warner tweeted “cabinet has taken more time to debate what emergency public health measures to implement than doctors will have when forced to decide who lives and who dies once triage becomes our only option.”
He insists this dark imagery is not about seeking headlines or being politically partisan but trying to paint the real picture.
“I have seen patients dying on zoom talking to their families on their I-pad,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
And it’s not just older patients, he insists, explaining he currently has patients “from their 40s to their 80s” in his ICU.
My suggestion is it would be more productive for Warner and others like him to talk directly to Premier Ford and the health minister to express their concerns, rather than taking to social media. That should happen today. The problem for some in the public is they hear these numbers and the clarion call from people like Warner but don’t see enough stories of people in these situations.
“People do need to see the human stories,” said Warner, a father of three. “We have people who have contracted the virus at work and have given it to their family.”
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If i see those kinds of stories, as a columnist I will certainly tell them, but Warner told me in terms of interviewing people in hospital it’s difficult because “my patients can’t breathe.”
Many are on ventilators and fighting for their lives. Some won’t make it.
Warning things “could fall apart” in hospitals, Warner said he sounds the alarm so vociferously with the aim of saving as many as possible.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Publishing date:Apr 17, 2021 • 22 hours ago • 3 minute read • 322 Comments
Dr. Michael Warner.
Dr. Michael Warner. PHOTO BY VERONICA HENRI /Toronto Sun/Postmedia
Article content
Dr. Michael Warner sees himself as being on the bridge of a listing ship ringing the bell to draw attention to the crisis Ontario is in.
“The Titanic is sinking,” he told the Toronto Sun Friday. “Man, it’s bad. This is no B.S.”
As a physician inside the Michael Garron Hospital this weekend, he said, his ICU is full.
“We have 17 ICU beds” with 18 people inside the unit, Warner said, adding 14 of those are COVID patients, most of whom have the B-117 variant.
And he fully expects those numbers will grow.
“It’s so contagious,” Warner said. “People are dying.”
During this pandemic, he said he has signed “29 death certificates.”
He may come across as combative on social media and mainstream media, including Friday on CNN, but Warner insists he’s trying to save lives.
“I think a lot of the deaths are preventable,” he said.
Warner has called for government to “reallocate vaccines from less affected areas to hot zones,” and he has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “to help bring in ICU RNs from less affected areas of Canada” and to “close everything that isn’t truly essential,” including religious services.
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Article content
Warner has been extremely critical of Premier Doug Ford’s government for not being more aggressive on shutting things down.
Last week he tweeted: “I cannot see a situation where some degree of ICU triage does not happen in Ontario. Demand will outstrip supply of staffed beds. In addition to being cruel and unfair to our future patients, this will break the back of health care workers. We tried to warn you.”
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STORY CONTINUES BELOW
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Article content
But his tweet Friday in reaction to the Premier’s new, six-week stay-at-home order ruffled a lot of feathers from Queen’s Park to the venerable hospital in East York.
“Today I learned @fordnation doesn’t care about my patients or that they are primarily poor & racialized Canadians: Essential workers will continue to die, triage will happen. Ontarians have not only been abandoned, but also blamed by for our collective situation,” Warner tweeted.
Accusing Ford of not caring about his patients was over the top and inaccurate. Say what you want about the Premier’s decisions, but any suggestion he’s heartless is going too far. Although Warner acknowledges his abrasive style, he is not backing down. He doesn’t mince words and speaks his mind and was also publicly critical of previous premier Kathleen Wynne.
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Article content
Now, in a call he made to me in response to one of my tweets, he’s saying doctors are being put in a position to have to “cut corners” and “improvise.”
Warner tweeted “cabinet has taken more time to debate what emergency public health measures to implement than doctors will have when forced to decide who lives and who dies once triage becomes our only option.”
He insists this dark imagery is not about seeking headlines or being politically partisan but trying to paint the real picture.
“I have seen patients dying on zoom talking to their families on their I-pad,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
And it’s not just older patients, he insists, explaining he currently has patients “from their 40s to their 80s” in his ICU.
My suggestion is it would be more productive for Warner and others like him to talk directly to Premier Ford and the health minister to express their concerns, rather than taking to social media. That should happen today. The problem for some in the public is they hear these numbers and the clarion call from people like Warner but don’t see enough stories of people in these situations.
“People do need to see the human stories,” said Warner, a father of three. “We have people who have contracted the virus at work and have given it to their family.”
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
If i see those kinds of stories, as a columnist I will certainly tell them, but Warner told me in terms of interviewing people in hospital it’s difficult because “my patients can’t breathe.”
Many are on ventilators and fighting for their lives. Some won’t make it.
Warning things “could fall apart” in hospitals, Warner said he sounds the alarm so vociferously with the aim of saving as many as possible.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
WARMINGTON: Toronto doctor warns ship 'sinking' as COVID patients overload ICUs
Dr. Michael Warner sees himself as being on the bridge of a listing ship ringing the bell to draw attention to the crisis Ontario is in.
LEVY: Three prominent docs call lockdowns a waste of time
Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Apr 18, 2021 • 32 minutes ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Experts have mental health concerns due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Experts have mental health concerns due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Getty Images
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They’ve been called “witch doctors” and “snake oil salesmen” for daring to go against the prevailing “group think” about lockdowns and to challenge the “preening camera hungry” medical experts who don’t represent the experience of clinicians and nurses on the front lines of the COVID battle.
But in a lengthy Zoom interview this past week, Paul Elias Alexander, Howard Tenenbaum and Harvey Risch — all PhDs working out of prominent universities — told me flat-out that lockdowns are a complete waste of time.
Risch, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of medicine, called them “counterproductive.”
Howard Tenenbaum
Howard Tenenbaum PHOTO BY SUPPLIED PHOTO /Toronto Sun
He said while lockdowns can reduce the numbers of COVID-infected patients, they only have a fighting chance when you can move every infected person out of a population.
Once the lockdown ends, there are people waiting to be infected, he noted.
“Once an epidemic has spread widely in a population or around the world, there’s no chance you can eradicate the virus completely,” Risch said, adding that putting travellers in quarantine for 14 days is also a waste of time.
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“This is all show, this is all theatre.”
Alexander, a PhD educated in epidemiology who recently worked at Health and Human Sciences in Washington, D.C. as a senior advisor on COVID-19 pandemic policy, said they have a year’s worth of data showing there have been “crushing harms” from the “draconian” lockdowns.
“The present lockdown and school closures are not sustainable, illogical, and often driven by an ill-informed, sensationalized media,” he added.
The controversial Alexander, who has repeatedly criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci for scaring Americans unnecessarily, said they saw data in the United States last summer where 25% of university and college students reported they wanted to “commit suicide” because they couldn’t deal with the impact of isolation and being locked down.
“We were seeing 300% increase in reported self-harms among kids in primary and elementary school,” said the McMaster University assistant professor.
“We were also seeing data that business owners were hanging themselves across America … the collateral damage was far worse than COVID.”
Alexander said he feels the new provincial lockdown — announced on Friday — might be the thing that “breaks the backs of Ontarians” because there’s “no credible” basis for it based on the data accumulated over the past 14 months.
He added that the lockdowns prevent low-risk individuals in society — children, teenagers, and healthy middle-aged people — from going about their normal lives freely with sensible precautions.
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“By locking down, you’re preventing natural immunity or some reasonable level close to it,” said Alexander.
Risch said that what we’ve faced is a “massive epidemic of stupidity.”
Tenenbaum, a periodontist based at the University of Toronto with a PhD in cell biology, added early on in the pandemic, they knew that an antibiotic called doxycycline could be a “very effective agent” to inhibit enzymes and the hyper inflammation that destroys lung tissue after COVID gets a hold of a patient.
When he tried to present it to his university colleagues, he said he was met with “stone silence” and incredulity because no one believed an antibiotic could work.
He added there have been lawsuits in the U.S. over getting such drugs to patients who were going to die.
Risch contended huge (pharmaceutical) companies have “controlled the narrative” — at universities and in medical journals — for their interests.
Harvey Risch
Harvey Risch PHOTO BY SUPPLIED PHOTO /Toronto Sun
He said hydroxychloroquine could and was being used as well but when former president Donald Trump started tweeting about it, many attacked the drug because they disliked the president.
Risch claimed that the pharmaceutical industry also revved up a campaign against the drug to “subvert the playing field” and leave the road open for “more expensive products, not just vaccines.”
Alexander said in North America and in Europe, there has been a huge failure to “properly protect” the elderly in nursing homes and long-term facilities–using a combination of antibiotics and other treatments, including Vitamin D and zinc.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
A UHN (University Health Network) health-care technician preparse syringes of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 on Jan. 7, 2021.
LEVY: Doctors warn vaccine delays will cost lives
Dr. James Maskalyk
LEVY: Doctor speaks out from the front lines
Dr. Kulvinder Gill, president of Concerned Ontario Doctors. (MICHAEL PEAKE, Toronto Sun)
LEVY: Docs set to expose health-care lies
“They were actually like sitting ducks,” he said.
He noted Americans have pushed back more about lockdowns but Canadians have greatly surprised him because they’ve just “acquiesced” and believe everything the government tells them.
SLevy@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Apr 18, 2021 • 32 minutes ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Experts have mental health concerns due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Experts have mental health concerns due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Getty Images
Article content
They’ve been called “witch doctors” and “snake oil salesmen” for daring to go against the prevailing “group think” about lockdowns and to challenge the “preening camera hungry” medical experts who don’t represent the experience of clinicians and nurses on the front lines of the COVID battle.
But in a lengthy Zoom interview this past week, Paul Elias Alexander, Howard Tenenbaum and Harvey Risch — all PhDs working out of prominent universities — told me flat-out that lockdowns are a complete waste of time.
Risch, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of medicine, called them “counterproductive.”
Howard Tenenbaum
Howard Tenenbaum PHOTO BY SUPPLIED PHOTO /Toronto Sun
He said while lockdowns can reduce the numbers of COVID-infected patients, they only have a fighting chance when you can move every infected person out of a population.
Once the lockdown ends, there are people waiting to be infected, he noted.
“Once an epidemic has spread widely in a population or around the world, there’s no chance you can eradicate the virus completely,” Risch said, adding that putting travellers in quarantine for 14 days is also a waste of time.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“This is all show, this is all theatre.”
Alexander, a PhD educated in epidemiology who recently worked at Health and Human Sciences in Washington, D.C. as a senior advisor on COVID-19 pandemic policy, said they have a year’s worth of data showing there have been “crushing harms” from the “draconian” lockdowns.
“The present lockdown and school closures are not sustainable, illogical, and often driven by an ill-informed, sensationalized media,” he added.
The controversial Alexander, who has repeatedly criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci for scaring Americans unnecessarily, said they saw data in the United States last summer where 25% of university and college students reported they wanted to “commit suicide” because they couldn’t deal with the impact of isolation and being locked down.
“We were seeing 300% increase in reported self-harms among kids in primary and elementary school,” said the McMaster University assistant professor.
“We were also seeing data that business owners were hanging themselves across America … the collateral damage was far worse than COVID.”
Alexander said he feels the new provincial lockdown — announced on Friday — might be the thing that “breaks the backs of Ontarians” because there’s “no credible” basis for it based on the data accumulated over the past 14 months.
He added that the lockdowns prevent low-risk individuals in society — children, teenagers, and healthy middle-aged people — from going about their normal lives freely with sensible precautions.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“By locking down, you’re preventing natural immunity or some reasonable level close to it,” said Alexander.
Risch said that what we’ve faced is a “massive epidemic of stupidity.”
Tenenbaum, a periodontist based at the University of Toronto with a PhD in cell biology, added early on in the pandemic, they knew that an antibiotic called doxycycline could be a “very effective agent” to inhibit enzymes and the hyper inflammation that destroys lung tissue after COVID gets a hold of a patient.
When he tried to present it to his university colleagues, he said he was met with “stone silence” and incredulity because no one believed an antibiotic could work.
He added there have been lawsuits in the U.S. over getting such drugs to patients who were going to die.
Risch contended huge (pharmaceutical) companies have “controlled the narrative” — at universities and in medical journals — for their interests.
Harvey Risch
Harvey Risch PHOTO BY SUPPLIED PHOTO /Toronto Sun
He said hydroxychloroquine could and was being used as well but when former president Donald Trump started tweeting about it, many attacked the drug because they disliked the president.
Risch claimed that the pharmaceutical industry also revved up a campaign against the drug to “subvert the playing field” and leave the road open for “more expensive products, not just vaccines.”
Alexander said in North America and in Europe, there has been a huge failure to “properly protect” the elderly in nursing homes and long-term facilities–using a combination of antibiotics and other treatments, including Vitamin D and zinc.
A UHN (University Health Network) health-care technician preparse syringes of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 on Jan. 7, 2021.
LEVY: Doctors warn vaccine delays will cost lives
Dr. James Maskalyk
LEVY: Doctor speaks out from the front lines
Dr. Kulvinder Gill, president of Concerned Ontario Doctors. (MICHAEL PEAKE, Toronto Sun)
LEVY: Docs set to expose health-care lies
“They were actually like sitting ducks,” he said.
He noted Americans have pushed back more about lockdowns but Canadians have greatly surprised him because they’ve just “acquiesced” and believe everything the government tells them.
SLevy@postmedia.com
LEVY: Three prominent docs call lockdowns a waste of time
Doctors Paul Elias Alexander, Howard Tenenbaum and Harvey Risch all say lockdowns are a complete waste of time.
