News
Getting copies of vaccination receipts
Southwestern Public Health is advising local residents how they can get a copy of their COVID-19 vaccination receipt, now that the Ontario government has announced immunization “passports” will be required for entry to some indoor public spaces as of Sept. 22. “With your postal code and green Ontario health card, you can print or download…
Read MoreMinor injuries in van, transport crash
Two drivers sustained seemingly minor injuries during a crash between a minivan and a transport truck loaded with steel coils on Highway 3 at Quaker Road on Thursday morning, Sept. 2. The crash occurred at 7:15 a.m. Both drivers were taken to St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital for treatment of their injuries. The highway has…
Read MoreProvince announces “vaccine passports”
Effective Sept. 22, anyone wanting to eat indoors at a restaurant, work out at a gym or go to a movie theatre will have to present a “vaccine passport” and photo identification ensuring that they were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “Fully protected” describes someone who has received two doses of vaccine at least two weeks…
Read MoreSouthwestern meets Ontario vaccination targets
Southwestern Public Health reported Monday, Aug. 30, that Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford had as a whole reached the vaccination targets set by the Ontario government for moving beyond Step 3 of the province’s Roadmap to Reopen. The targets required at least 80 percent of a health unit region’s eligible population (12 and older) to…
Read MoreHospital workers must be vaccinated
St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, in a statement issued Thursday, Aug. 26, announced that given the rising number of COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalization both locally and across Ontario, current staff and physicians must be fully vaccinated against the virus or submit to daily testing before each work shift. Any new staff, physicians or contractors hired…
Read MoreSt. Thomas mass clinic to close
Southwestern Ontario Public Health announced Friday, Aug. 20, that as of Friday, Sept. 10, its mass-vaccination clinic at Memorial Arena in St. Thomas will close its doors. COVID-19 vaccinations will move to the health unit’s St. Thomas headquarters at 1230 Talbot Street, at the eastern edge of the city, and continue on a scaled-down basis.…
Read MoreHighway 3 bypass revoked
Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek announced on Wednesday, Aug. 11, that a proposed Highway 3 bypass route through the north end of Aylmer has been official revoked. Malahide and Central Elgin will also be affected, with land potentially freed for development that had been frozen by the bypass route since 1970. The removal of the route…
Read MoreDate changed for pop-up clinic at Clovermead
Southwestern Public Health is continuing to schedule smaller, “pop-up” COVID-19 vaccination clinics in an attempt to reach residents in more rural areas of Elgin and Oxford. In Elgin, one will be held at Clovermead Adventure Farm, in Malahide just north of Aylmer, on Tuesday, August 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (In an earlier…
Read MoreVienna group pleads to save community centre
by Rob Perry of The Aylmer Express A group of Vienna and area residents have banded together to fight the possible sale of the Vienna Community Centre, which Bayham has declared surplus to its needs but has also decided to make $70,000 in upgrades to the facility. That includes a recent decision by Bayham council…
Read MoreCOVID-19 cases on the rise
Southwestern Public Health was reporting nine new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford on Wednesday, Aug. 4, part of an upward trend locally. Over the Civic Holiday weekend, 13 new cases had been confirmed, an average of just over three a day. The number of ongoing cases being tracked by the…
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