By Mike Baker The provincial stay-at-home order will remain in place for residents of Haliburton County for at least another week.Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Monday [Feb. 8] that the lockdown had been extended…
HHHS confirms negative results for COVID-19 testing of…
Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) confirmed on Sunday [Feb. 7] that the COVID-19 tests of all staff at Hyland Crest in Minden have come back negative.“Obviously this is a tremendous relief for everyone but it…
Variants not yet identified in Haliburton County
By Sue Tiffin As of last Wednesday, the public health unit was responding to nine outbreaks at long-term care homes, including one at Hyland Crest in Minden where two essential caregivers tested positive.Gemmill said of…
COVID-19 outbreak declared at Hyland Crest
By Sue Tiffin A COVID-19 outbreak was declared at Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden on Sunday [Jan. 31]. Two essential caregivers have tested positive for the virus. The outbreak is the first for…
COVID-19 vaccine administered at Extendicare Haliburton, second batch…
By Mike Baker 42 residents of Extendicare Haliburton were among the first county residents to be vaccinated on Friday [Jan. 29].There were plenty of smiling faces on show as some of the community’s most senior…
Sir Sam’s eyeing Feb. 11 re-opening
By Darren Lum It’s been weeks since Sir Sam’s Ski and Ride last opened, as it was forced to close because of the provincial lockdown measure to reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus.The family-run…
‘If someone is saying there’s no coronavirus in…
By Sue Tiffin The following are brief reports from a Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge district health unit press conference held virtually Jan. 27. Dr. Ian Gemmill, acting medical officer of health, noted that Haliburton County…
Highland Storm hope for second session
Members of the Highland Storm executive met this week to discuss next steps for the second session of hockey.Initially a decision was made back in December that if a lockdown was to continue anywhere past…
Highlands Summer Festival cancels 2021 season
By Mike Baker Another one bites the dust.After being forced to cancel its 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers of the Highlands Summer Festival [HSF] have made the “difficult decision” to shutter the…
HHHS in the hole as end of fiscal…
By Mike Baker The Haliburton Highlands Health Service [HHHS] is currently operating with a deficit of around $442,000 as the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt.HHHS board member David O’Brien, who…
Only 21 per cent of businesses ‘confident’ in…
By Mike Baker The president of the Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce wasn’t surprised by the general negativity surrounding the release of the fifth annual Ontario Economic Report [OER] last week.Providing the latest data on…
First doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrive in local…
By Mike Baker The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit received its first allocation of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday evening, with staff planning to start vaccinating residents of the area’s long-term care homes this…
Staff and students return to in-person learning
By Sue Tiffin More than 100,000 students from across Ontario returned to in-person learning on Monday morning [Jan. 25], including those from Haliburton County’s five elementary schools and one high school.Trillium Lakelands District School Board…
Haliburton hospital ready to accept patient transfers from…
By Mike Baker Following another weekend of almost 5,000 new cases of COVID-19 across Ontario and a further 102 deaths, health officials are preparing for the worst with many hospitals, particularly in the GTA, dangerously…
Dr. Gemmill speaks to media, Board of Health…
The following are brief reports of items discussed during a media press conference held by the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District health unit on Jan. 20, and the health unit’s Board of Health meeting held…
Local health unit provides clarification on when businesses…
The Echo has received several questions in recent weeks, asking when local businesses will be able to reopen. Bernie Mayer, manager of health protection with the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit offered these…
New grants available for businesses impacted by second…
By Mike Baker Some of the local businesses hit hardest by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible to receive an extra helping hand courtesy of the Ontario Highlands Tourism Organization [OHTO].The group, in collaboration…
‘This is serious,’ says MOH in health unit’s…
By Sue Tiffin On Jan. 13, at the first of a planned series of weekly media teleconferences launched last week, Dr. Ian Gemmill, acting medical officer of health for the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge district…
Cancellation of February Frost Fest confirmed
By Darren Lum With outdoor activities such as dogsledding, ice-climbing, and bonfire feasting where the young and young at heart would eat s’mores by a fire, the Frost Festival always brought joy to Haliburton.Its venue…
Vaccine ‘likely’ not available in Haliburton until the…
By Mike Baker While rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine is well underway in some parts of Ontario, one local doctor, as well as the acting medical officer of health for the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge…
2020 the year of the pandemic, but not…
By Mike Baker Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott says “there is light at the end of the tunnel” as communities all across Ontario continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.Speaking to the Echo, a…