COVID-19 Ottawa:
Four more people in Ottawa have died after contracting the Novel Coronavirus.
372 people have died from the virus here throughout the pandemic. Ottawa Public Health is reporting 23 new cases Thursday, sending the total up to 8,254, with 7,595 resolved, and 287 active.
COVID-19 Ontario:
The province has 1,478 new confirmed cases, and 21 more deaths related to the virus.
Throughout the pandemic, Ontario has confirmed 109,361 cases, with 3,575 deaths, and 92,915 patients recovered.
Voluntary Testing Coming to Schools:
The Ontario government says it is starting voluntary COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic students, faculty and staff in regions with high rates of transmission.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the launch of the additional testing, saying the province will spare no expense to keep schools open. He says the expanded testing will be provided in schools here in Ottawa, as well as in Toronto, Peel and York regions.
More Vaccine Purchase Agreements Reached:
An official with Public Services and Procurement Canada says purchase agreements are now final with five of seven vaccine makers.
Arianne Reza says that includes Pfizer and Moderna, whose COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be approved first. Reza says negotiations are ongoing to finalize purchase agreements with Johnson & Johnson and Novavax.
The first doses of vaccines are expected to be delivered early next year.
More O-Train Info Released:
We’re learning more about the future of train travel in the Capital.
OC Transpo has revealed details of the four new O-Train lines that will serve Trim Road, Moodie Drive, Algonquin College, and Riverside South.
The details include the line numbers and colours, with line 4, South Keys to the Airport station blue, Moodie to Trim, line 3 will be gold, Bayview to Limebank line 2 will be green, and line 1, Algonquin to Trim, red.
Nova Scotia Chief Decries Federal Fisheries Actions:
The Indigenous leader at the centre of a dispute over Nova Scotia lobster says the recent seizure of lobster traps in St. Marys Bay by federal officers could lead to trouble on the water next week.
Chief Mike Sack of the Sipekne’katik First Nation says Indigenous fishers who lost traps in the last week will replace them by taking the traps of commercial fishers when the fall season opens Monday in southwestern Nova Scotia.
Sack says the seizures by Fisheries Department officers have undermined negotiations with the government aimed at establishing a moderate livelihood fishery that will operate outside the federally regulated season.
New Drama Series Criticized:
Several Indigenous groups are lashing out at ABC’s series “Big Sky” for a storyline about two kidnapped women in Montana who are white.
The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs notes the Vancouver-shot series is set in Montana but ignores an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Similar complaints have been raised by the international Global Indigenous Council.