Canadian Mental Health Association Hosts Vigil and Resource Sessions to Honour World Suicide Prevention Day

The Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) is hosting a candle light vigil and community resource sessions to mark World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. Events will be hosted in both Peterborough and Lindsay.

Photo courtesy of CMHA HKPR.

Approximately 4,000 Canadians die by suicide each year and it is the second-most common cause of death among young people ages 15 to 24.

The vigil is a memorial to those who have lost their lives to suicide and offers support to the loved ones of those who have died by suicide. World Suicide Prevention Day raises awareness about suicide, mental health concerns and suicide prevention.

“We want people who have been impacted by suicide or are struggling with thoughts of suicide to know that there is help available, all you need to do is to ask. Everyone is invited to turn out on September 9 and 10,” said Jack Veitch, Manager of Community Engagement and Education with CMHA HKPR.

The event on September 9 will be held at the Silver Bean Café in Peterborough. Community resources will be available from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

On September 10 the event will be held at Labrynth Garden in Lindsay. Community resources are available from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m, the vigil will begin at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on the Peterborough event contact Kelley Curtis at 705-748- 6687 extension 1016 or email kcurtis@cmhahkpr.ca.

For more information on the Lindsay event contact Jack Veitch at 705-748-6687 extension 1015 or email jveitch@cmhahkpr.ca.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Peterborough Public Health Uses City Buses For Mobile Vaccination Clinics To Local Workers

With an assist from the City of Peterborough and their city busses, more than 150 local workers were issued COVID-19 vaccines by Peterborough Public Health over the past few weeks.

Peterborough Public Health serves the residents of Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations and the County and City of Peterborough. Photo Courtesy of the Peterborough Public Health.

“We greatly appreciate the City’s speedy response to our request to access a city bus and drivers for use as a mobile vaccination clinic,” said Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, medical officer of health. “Together we were able to bring vaccine to several local workplaces to make it easy for employees to get vaccinated as we continue to do all we can to protect our community against the coming fourth wave.”

The mobile vaccination clinic travelled to five area workplaces, including Safran Electronics & Defense Canada, Nefab Inc., Disaster Mitigation Services, Dynacast Peterborough and two stops at the Kingdon Timber Mart in Lakefield.

Mayor Diane Therrien was happy to see local workers respond so positively and encourage all residents to get vaccinated.

“The City of Peterborough and Peterborough Transit are proud to support the work being done by Peterborough Public Health to make it convenient for people to get the COVID-19 vaccine,” she said. “By getting the COVID-19 vaccine, we’re helping to protect ourselves, our families and our community.”

Dr. Salvaterra noted the demand for first doses has increased since the province’s recent announcement that vaccine certificates will be required as of Sept. 22 in high-risk settings such as restaurants, gyms and long-term care homes.

COVID-19 vaccines remain widely available by appointment at more than 28 pharmacies throughout the City and County. Local walk-in vaccination clinics have taken place in area schools, the Healthy Planet Arena (formerly Evinrude Centre) and other locations. Both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are offered at walk-in clinics. For the latest schedule, please visit www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/walkin.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Hometown PTBO: Four-Year-Old Jaxon Croft's Journey From Beating Cancer And Supporting Sick Kids

This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday speaks with Jesse Croft and his four-year-old son Jaxon about being in remission from Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, that inspired the “Cancer is Poopy” campaign to benefit Sick Kids.

Support the cause by visiting their website where 20 per cent of the proceeds go towards Sick Kids Foundation.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Ontario Government Announces Vaccine Passport System For Non-Essential Business Access

Full COVID-19 vaccinations will be required to access non-essential businesses in Ontario starting on Sept. 22 announced by the provincial government in a live stream press conference at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.

Screenshot.

The announcement was made by Ontario Premier Doug Ford along with Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Kaleed Rasheed, Associate Minister of Digital Government and Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health.

The announcement was made to help non-essential businesses open amid a fourth wave from the Delta variant.

"After in-depth discussions with our medical experts, we've landed on a vaccine certificate policy that is based on evidence and the best advice," said Ford.

The focus is on indoor settings with restrictions especially in places where masks cannot always be worn. Gyms, indoor restaurants, movie theatres and public settings will be under the new vaccine passport system.

The passports are not necessary for retail, banks, places of worship, essential services, salons/barbershops, workplaces or patios and other outdoor spaces.

“At no time will people be denied medical care, food from grocery stores or basic medical supplies based on their vaccination status,“ said Elliott. “We will also maintain access to these settings to those who have a medical exception or children who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine.

Photo identification must be provided with vaccine receipts. The latter is currently available online to be printed or can be downloaded onto your mobile device, computer or tablet.

On Oct. 22, an enhanced vaccine certification will be available with a unique QR code to provide proof of vaccination conveniently and quickly. Ontario will launch a new app for convenient vaccine verification.

These rules will not apply to children under 12 and anyone with medical exceptions.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Local Soap Company Keeps Firefighters Clean and Places First at Clean Beauty Awards

SootSoap Supply Co., a company out of Port Hope, has won first place at the 2021 Clean Beauty Awards.

K.Dee Howards poses with SootSoap products. In the wake of COVID-19 SootSoap released a line of hand sanitizer to combat germs while keeping skin healthy. Photo courtesy of SootSoap Supply Co.

SootSoap Supply Co. was started by K.Dee Howard. It is a line of personal care products like body wash and shampoo designed for firefighters.

“I developed SootSoap for my husband initially, who is a firefighter in Brampton,” said Howard. “I discovered after he came home smelling like fire even after showering numerous times that it was contaminates and toxins causing the smell,” she said.

Howard did some research and found there was no products to help combat this. She also found that cancer is the number one cause of death in firefighters, and these toxins are the cause of it.

Her products are designed to absorb and discard of both the smell and the toxins that firefighters often come into contact while on duty.

SootSoap launched their first product line in 2019 and is now Howards full time job.

Since launching Howard has found that it’s not only firefighters that come into contact with toxins and hard-to-get-rid-of odors at work.

“Lot’s of people can benefit. People that experience environmental toxins, every day things like fuel and grease, kitchen smells, we even have customers that are pig farmers,” she said. “We’re finding more and more uses for our products.”

This year SootSoaps shampoo was the first place winner in the hair wash category of the Clean Beauty Awards.

The Clean beauty Awards recognize the best performing beauty and personal care products, manufactured without the use of known harmful chemicals, from across the globe.

“In a year and a half to go from a firefighter, industrial shampoo to a shampoo recognized by clean beauty influencers, it’s pretty amazing,” Howard said. “Being clean, all natural, and biodegradable is very important to me. Our core challenge is to get rid of toxins so the last thing I want to do is add in more chemicals.”

Photo courtesy of SootSoap Supply Co.

Howard says her aim with SootSoap is to create products that will solve a problem.

“Innovation comes from our customers saying ‘I don’t have a solutions to this particular challenge’,” said Howard. “My challenge is to find solutions that don’t exist currently.”

To view SootSoap’s full line of products click here.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

International Overdose Awareness Day Memorial Event Held At The Silver Bean

A memorial service to honour those lost to drug overdose was held at the Silver Bean Cafe on Tuesday.

White crosses set up at the event to honour those lost to overdose.

The event was hosted by Gail Perry, a member of Moms Stop The Harm, an organization of people impacted by substance use related harm or death.

Perry lost her daughter Jody Smith to complications related to opioid use three years ago.

“I’m not ashamed of how my daughter lost her life,” Parry said. “I’m ashamed of how people pick and choose which life has value.”

Parry says her daughter was mistreated during hospital visits because of her opioid use, which ultimately lead to her death.

“Stigma is deadly,” she said. “It is a killer. It creates dangerous and narrow minded attitudes towards those who need help and understanding. It shames and keeps people silent, alone and in hiding. Stigma interferes with getting the right kind of support and medical attention.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Peterborough Police Service (@peterboroughpolice)

Tuesdays event hosted members from local harm reduction offices like PARN, The Elizabeth Fry Society and Fourcast.

The Elizabeth Fry Society provided on-site Narcan kits and training.

“Narcan is a way to help preventable deaths,” said Abby from The Elizabeth Fry Society. “It’s a way to practice empathy, it’s a way to help support people that are struggling in our community that are being stigmatized and demonized by societal expectations that we’ve been fed our entire lives.”

A Narcan kit includes two doses of Naloxone, a nasal spray that is used to reverse overdoses in an emergency situation.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Peterborough Public Health Receives $3 Million To Fight COVID-19 Efforts

Peterborough Public Health (PPH) has received $3,043,300 from the Ontario Government to help in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in a media conference at the King Street health office unit announced on Monday.

Dr. Rosana Salvaterra (pictured) will retire this September after 13 years of service. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The announcement was made by MPP Dave Smith and was joined by Dr. Rosana Salvaterra and Larry Stinson, PPH Director of Operations.

The funding will cover two parts:

• $2,027,300 in relief funding to support ongoing efforts

• $1,015,000 COVID-19 mitigation to offset expenses incurred from previous work

“We are grateful for this one-time funding from the province to support our local COVID-19 response and vaccination efforts,” said Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health. “As we look ahead to resuming vital public health services while the pandemic continues to unfold, provincial funding will be essential to ensure Peterborough Public Health has the capacity to keep our community safe and healthy on many fronts.”

Dr. Salvaterra cautions the city of a possible fourth wave with doubling of new cases over the weekend she said.

She encourages that immunization is the most powerful tool against COVID-19 by getting vaccinated. Salvaterra wants to see 90 per cent of our eligible population get the necessary shots in the pandemic battle.

Larry Stinson (pictured) will act as the interim CEO before Dr. Thomas Piggott will assume Dr. Salvaterra’s role. Photo by David Tuan Bui

Stinson — who will become the interim CEO after Dr. Salvaterra’s retirement on Sept. 19 — says the government money to offset the increase that would have come to the municipalities. More than $1 million will help mitigate PPH’s funding from 25 to 30 per cent.

The money will also go towards school-based public registered nurses and a public health inspector practicum program.

Health unit staff and volunteers have delivered vaccinations across Peterborough County and surrounding Indigenous communities.

“More than 212,000 vaccine doses have been administered,” says Stinson. “More than 57,000 residents have been tested for COVID-19 at least once. We’ve been able to successfully manage 52 outbreaks since the pandemic began.”

Nearly 75 per cent of local residents are protected from COVID-19 Stinson added.

Additionally, Smith announced that as of Aug. 1, the Ontario Government’s new Low-Income Senior’s Dental Care Program will expand.

The income eligibility thresholds for the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program are being updated. In 2019, the Ontario government launched the Ontario Seniors Dental Care program to provide free routine dental care for eligible low-income seniors across the province.

“Peterborough-Kawartha has the highest number of seniors in Canada. They have put a lifetime of effort working, investing in our community and paying for the social services we all enjoy,” said Smith. “This program provides comprehensive, free dental care for our lower-income seniors. This expansion will offer the program to more,”

Since the launch of the Seniors Dental Care Program in 2019, over 50,000 Ontarians have enrolled in the program. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Income thresholds are now updated for single Ontarians aged 65 and over from $19,300 to $22,200 and for couples with a combined annual income from $32,300 to $37,100.

This will allow roughly 7,000 more seniors to access the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Peterborough Petes and OHL Expand Vaccination Policy To All Attendees

All Ontario Hockey League (OHL) attendees including fans, staff and media are required to provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 and follow any other safety protocols in any team’s arena announced by the league on Friday.

Photo Courtesy of the Peterborough Petes.

The league has expanded its current vaccination policy which originally applied to OHL community members. It will take effect on Oct. 7, 2021, for all OHL functions including all Peterborough Petes events such as team practices and games.

Children under 12 will require supervision from a fully vaccinated adult and will be required to follow all safety protocols.

The Petes host Sudbury Wolves, featuring first overall draft pick Quentin Musty for their home opener on Thursday, Oct. 14 at 7:05 p.m.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Trent University Announces Vaccine Mandate

Trent University has announced that as of September 7 anyone on campus must provide proof of both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Photo courtesy of Trent University

Anyone who does not have two vaccinations will have to complete COVID testing before coming on campus. Exemptions will be allowed on medical or other protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

To encourage student participation in this initiative, the names of all students who submit proof of their two vaccinations by September 7 will be included in a draw which will provide the winning student with free tuition for the fall semester.

In addition to requiring proof of vaccine Trent will be enforcing the mandatory use of face masks in indoor settings, health screening, enhanced ventilation and air filtration, robust cleaning and sanitization, on-campus testing, and wastewater surveillance. The University is also partnering with Public Health to host on-campus pop-up vaccine clinics for staff, faculty and students.

For more on Trent’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic click here.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.