In this week's episode of "Good Morning from Rockland" the new, weekly breakfast show by TVC22 host Thomas Stockting provides a news round up including: 

COVID-19 Update as Flu season approaches

At the time of recording there were 36 active cases in Prescott-Russell with Dr. Paul Roumeliotis of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit speaking positively of the residents who contracted the virus during the outbreak at the St. Francois Residence.  There remains only 5 active cases in Clarence-Rockland and the region's rolling average is now down to 15.5.

With Flu season just around the corner, the EOHU has released a statement reminding people to get their flu shots. Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, Chief Medical officer of the EOHU, explains the importance of getting the flu shot, especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

A human case of the West Nile Virus has been reported in the EOHU this past week. Although the risk of becoming ill is low for the majority of people, serious illness can occur for some, including the elderly. Dr. Roumeliotis explains how the EOHU monitors the local mosquito population for the virus, and reminds us of the danger of the disease. For more information on the virus and how to protect yourself you can visit the EOHU’s website.

Cyber security breach at the City of Clarence-Rockland

The City of Clarence-Rockland was also the victim of a cyber breach this week. The City is said to have “retained the services of a team of cyber security experts” as well as having notified the local OPP.  The investigation is ongoing as to the source of the breach and we will bring you more information on this subject as and when it comes in.

Last year we spoke with the Chief Information Officer at the City to discuss password security and, with this recent breach, it was an opportunity to hear some sound advice on making you passwords stronger as well as a timely reminder to change them if you haven't recently.

Ontario lay out roadmap to reopening

Late last week the Ontario Government announced their plan for reopening the province calling it a “gradual, cautious approach” to manage the virus “now and moving forward”.  As of this week, on October 25th capacity limits were lifted, including physical distancing in places where proof of vaccination is required; this includes restaurants, bars, indoor recreational facilities such as gyms & more.

Other sectors, such as barbers, amusement parks, museums and such will also be allowed to lift capacity limits if they choose to implement proof of vaccination according to the provincial government. As long as the number of cases throughout the province remain stable, limits at events in businesses like nightclubs or even wedding receptions with dancing will be lifted on the 15th November. 

The next landmark comes in the new year; for the full list of changes and when they may occur please visit news.ontario.ca. 

New Councilor for the City of Clarence-Rockland

Ward 2 in Clarence-Rockland has a new councilor as, on Wednesday evening Kyle Cyr was sworn in and will serve the rest of the current term. The post was left vacant following the election of Mayor Mario Zanth earlier this year and the local council took the decision to take applications and hire a candidate rather than opening it up to a public vote. We will hopefully be bringing you a one-on-one interview with Ward 2’s new councilor in the coming weeks. 

Discount for Bus Fares in Prescott-Russell

Great news for public transport users in the United Counties as the publicly available bus, “PR Transpo” is reducing it’s costs. Journey’s were previously charged at $1 per km but, in an effort to ”make longer trips more affordable for its users”, will now be reduced to 0.25 cents per km after the first 10kms. 

Economic Development and Tourism Director for the United Counties, Ms. Carole Lavigne said:
“Since the implementation of the on-demand service pilot last June, we have noticed that riders tend to travel shorter distances than anticipated and we wanted to encourage them to consider PR Transpo for their longer regional trips.”

In a presentation given on Wednesday, Ms. Lavigne showed that the average trip duration was just over 11 minutes, with 566 total trips from 71 users over the course of the past 17 weeks. 

For more information about this on-demand public transport service in the region you can head to the Prescott-Russell website.