Back to school plans: mandatory masks, physical distancing, and more for region and province
As students get ready to go back to school in a few weeks, requirements and guidelines have been established across Waterloo Region and the province.
On Monday, WRDSB voted to require all students to wear masks, which was followed by the release of guidelines for school buses.
While one teacher in Kitchener has set up a display on her front lawn of what a physically distanced classroom will look like, a study from University of Waterloo finds that normal class sizes could result in five times more COVID-19 cases.
More COVID-19 cases in the region and the province
On Tuesday, a new provincial reporting systemshows that 20 kids under the age of 10 have tested positive for COVID-19 in Waterloo Region. Thirty-eight people in the next age range--from 10 to 19--have also tested positive.
Waterloo Region saw its first COVID-19 death in over a month on Friday. There are now 1,437 cases in the area, 120 deaths, and 1,279 resolved cases.
By the numbers (as of Aug. 23):
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 545 cases, 37 deaths, 144 resolved
- Brant County: 160 cases, 5 deaths, 144 resolved
- Haldimand-Norfolk: 474 cases, 32 deaths, 419 resolved
- Huron Perth: 110 cases, 5 deaths, 70 resolved
Amazon set to open massive delivery station in Cambridge, Ont.
Massive online retailer Amazon has its sights set on Cambridge, the city announced on Monday.
In a news release, the City of Cambridge announced that the company will be opening a new, 136,000 square-foot delivery station at an existing industrial building on Maple Grove Road. Expected to open in late 2020, the city says it could create hundreds of new jobs.
Woodstock warns public after hundreds of needles, tacks found on playground
An Ontario city is investigating after hundreds of thumbtacks and sewing needles were found on one of its public playgrounds. Staff for the City of Woodstock say they were found Wednesday morning while a mother and her daughter were playing at Southside Park.
“They were on top of the playground equipment and on the slides and swings, as well as at the base of slides and stairs going onto the playground equipment where children are using the equipment,” says Reta Horan, the Supervisor of Parks and Forestry for the city.
Officials call it a “disturbing” discovery, but say this isn’t the first time that sharp objects have been found at that location.
Message in a bottle: Family tracks down author of 8-year-old letter found in Grand River
A family from Flamborough made a unique discovery while canoeing the Grand River earlier this month. They found a message in a bottle, sparking a search for the author and the story behind the letter.
The Tilbury family was paddling near Caledonia when their five-year-old found a bottle floating in the water.
"We wondered what it was," Robin Tilbury said. "Finley thought it was a pirate map to a treasure."
The message itself was a short story about childhood pastimes and pets written in April 2012.
"It drifted around for eight years," Tilbury said. "I don't know how that happened, eight years is a long time."
