COVID-19: Amazon warehouse in Brampton shut down due to outbreak; Ontario loosens restrictions on weddings

March 12, 2021NOW Staff

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Amazon warehouse shut down over COVID-19 outbreak

5:30 pm Public health officials in Peel Region have ordered an Amazon Canada warehouse to close and all workers to self-isolate due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

In a statement, Peel Public Health said it has issued a Section 22 order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act directing workers at the fulfillment centre in Brampton to self-isolate until March 27.

“Workers must self-isolate unless they have tested positive in the last 90 days and completed their 2-week isolation period,” the statement reads. “Despite the health measures in place, the rate of infection at this Amazon facility has increased significantly, while the rate in the community decrease.

“We’re working with Amazon Canada to get this outbreak under control, and this order will give them time to consider other recommended operational changes that might prevent future outbreaks,” the statement continues.

Earlier this week, city officials in Brampton shut down a public bus route that serves the Amazon facility after bus drivers tested positive for COVID.

Insauga reports that the company instead used private buses to transport workers to the warehouse.

Peel Public Health has just issued a Section 22 order to Amazon Canada, requiring workers at 8050 Heritage Road in Brampton to self-isolate until March 27, due to a COVID-19 outbreak. It is effective at 12:01 a.m. on March 13. pic.twitter.com/fpV7ue5AfN
— Region of Peel (@regionofpeel) March 12, 2021

Ontario loosens restrictions for weddings in lockdown zones

3:35 pm The province has loosened capacity limits on weddings, funerals and religious services, rites or ceremonies in grey lockdown zones.

Starting Monday, March 15 at 12:01 am, those events will be able to host up to 15 per cent total occupancy of a venue indoors or 50 people outdoors.

Currently, the events only allow 10 people indoors or 10 people outdoors in the grey zone.

“While the data shows that Ontario’s vaccine rollout is helping to save lives, the next few months are critical,” said Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health in a statement. “We all must remain vigilant and continue following public health advice and measures to prevent transmission, as variants of concern are continuing to become more prevalent throughout the province and threaten to undue all of the positive gains we have all worked so hard to achieve.”

Ontario moves three regions up in the colour-coded framework

3:30 pm A day after public health officials warned COVID-19 cases were on the rise again due to loosened public health restrictions, three public health units are moving up in the colour-coded framework – and one is going back into lockdown.

Lambton – the region that includes Sarnia – is moving from the red level into the grey lockdown level. Meanwhile, Northwestern is moving from yellow to red and Leeds, Grenville and Lanark is going from green to yellow.

The changes take effect on March 15 at 12:01 am. Today, Sudbury moved back into the grey lockdown level.

Toronto’s vaccine booking site is now live

12:30 pm The city’s online registration system for vaccine appointments is now live. People age 80 and over – or people booking on behalf of that age group – are able to register for approximately 133,000 slots at city-run vaccination sites.

The appointments will be between March 17 and April 11. Officials announced that three more city-run immunization sites are opening in the coming weeks in addition to the three previously announced ones for a total of six. Below is the schedule for each site:

Three clinics starting next Wednesday, March 17:
1. Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front West
2. Scarborough Town Centre, 300 Borough
3. Toronto Congress Centre, 650 Dixon

Five clinics starting Monday, March 29:
4. Malvern Community Recreation Centre, 30 Sewells
5. Mitchell Field Community Centre, 89 Church

Six clinics starting Monday, April 5:
6. The Hangar, 75 Carl Hall

To make an appointment, visit www.toronto.ca/covid-19 and click on the dark blue “Register” button that is in a grey box at the top of the webpage. The link will take you to Ontario’s online booking system where you will input info on yours or the registrant’s provincial health card, birthdate, postal code and email and/or mobile phone number.

At the time of booking, eligible residents will schedule the first vaccination appointment as well as an appointment to receive the second dose.

Are you 80+ years of age? The online registration system to book #COVID19 vaccination appointments at one of three #CityOfTO operated clinics is now live on https://t.co/9Unc5FtjZu. Click on the dark blue “Register” button that is in a grey box at the top of the webpage. pic.twitter.com/LbF6S8W0ZY
— City of Toronto (@cityoftoronto) March 12, 2021

Below is a video about what to expect at the mass-immunization sites:

Trudeau: Pfizer to deliver one million doses per week

12:20 pm Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week that Pfizer has guaranteed to deliver one million COVID-19 vaccine doses per week between March 22 and May 10.

The ramped up scheduled doubles the 444,600 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines expected next week and is in addition to 846,000 Moderna vaccines due at the same time.

Ottawa has updated the provinces on the new delivery schedule, Trudeau said.

People over 80 can book vaccine appointments today

11:45 am People 80 and over can start booking online appointments for vaccinations at three city-run mass immunization sites starting today.

Toronto’s booking site is expected to go live at some point in the late morning. The city is taking approximately 133,000 bookings for appointments between March 17 and April 11.

The three sites are the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Scarborough Town Centre and the Toronto Congress Centre.

Ontario reports over 1,300 new COVID-19 cases

11:15 am Ontario reported 1,361 new cases of COVID-19 on March 12 and 18 deaths.

The province detected 1,092 new cases on Thursday, 1,316 on Wednesday and 1,185 on Tuesday.

Ontario completed 64,611 tests in the past 24 hours, marking a 2.1 per cent positivity rate.

After an additional 43,503 doses of the vaccine were administered in the past day, the province has now fully vaccinated 282,748 people.

Of the deaths reported today, one was among people between the ages of 40 and 59. None were long-term care residents.

There are 676 patients in hospital, a slight decrease from yesterday’s count of 680. Patients in intensive care rose from 277 on Thursday to 282 on Friday. That includes 189 patients on ventilators.

The B117 variant has increased by 49 cases in the past day, bringing the cumulative case count to 1,005 province-wide. One additional B1351 case and four additional P1 cases have been reported as well.

There have been a total of 314,891 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario to date, including 296,252 resolved. A total of 7,127 people have died.