Hello and Welcome to your TVC News here in Clarence-Rockland. It’s Friday the 12th of February. My name is Thomas Stockting and thank you for joining me as we bring you your latest regional update. In your News this week;

Local COVID Update as lockdown set to end;

With the local COVID numbers decreasing across Ontario, the provincial government is starting to allow regions to come out of lockdown. Locally we are set to come out of lockdown early next week however, Dr. Paul Roumeliotis from the Eastern Ontario Health Unit urged residents to remain cautious. As you just heard, the local numbers will be reassessed on a weekly basis and restrictions can be loosened further if they continue to diminish. In Prescott-Russell there are currently 38 active cases with 8 of those in Clarence-Rockland. COVID-19 testing centers in Prescott-Russell are undergoing changes as the EOHU ramped up their vaccine effort. The centre in Casselman will no longer be in the EOHU office but has moved to 710 Principale Street and will be operated by staff from the Hawkesbury General Hospital. At risk residents of long term care facilities and retirement homes continue to receive their vaccines across the region and some local Long Term Care facilities will soon be given their second dose. However, Dr. Roumelitois said that they will NOT be vaccinating any staff members, even those who received their first dose a few weeks ago.

Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus review Long Term Care facilities;

The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus recently published a review into Municipally owned Long Term Care facilities to ensure that the care being provided is as good as it can be. Debbie Robinson, the Chair of the Caucus and Kelly Pender who was the Technical Lead on the project explained the areas identified for improvement as well as the affect the pandemic has had on the system.

10,000 meals to be delivered to those struggling across the region;

10,000 meals, prepared by local chefs, will be delivered to families in need across the region through their local food banks. The collaborative effort, taking place in Prescott-Russell, is an expansion of the “Rotary Club” which started in Hawkesbury in 2020. We caught up with two of the spear heads behind this project, Agata Michalska of United Way East Ontario and Lisa Deacon to find out a little more..

And The Green Party is searching for a local candidate;

Federal elections are only a year away, as long as a snap election isn’t called in the spring. Locally, the Green Party of Canada is stepping up their search for a candidate to represent Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. We spoke to Claire Lemay, the CEO of the Green Party Electoral District Association, about what kind of person the Party is looking for and how a candidate would benefit the region… If you’re interested you can contact the Green Party of social media or through email at GlengarryPrescottRussell@greenparty.ca