News Headlines

Dr. Joyce Lock, medical officer of health for Southwestern Public Health, told health board members at a meeting Thursday, May 6, she expected the current provincial COVID-19 shutdown would continue past the current end date of May 20. The third wave of the pandemic “has been a really tough haul, but we’re heading in the…

Southwestern Public Health, in a weekly COVID-19 surveillance report issued Monday, May 3, announced that about a third of all adults in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford had so far received at least one dose of vaccine for the virus. The health unit has set a goal of vaccinating 150,000 adults, or three-quarters of the…

Southwestern Public Health announced on Monday morning, May 3, that everyone 18 and older residing in the N5H postal code, including all of Aylmer and much of Malahide, could now register for immunization against COVID-19 at one of the health unit’s mass vaccination clinics. Anyone doing so must be prepared to show proof of age…

Justice Bruce Thomas in St. Thomas Superior Court of Justice on Friday morning, April 30 found in contempt: the Church of God (Restoration) as a corporation; Pastor Henry Hildebrandt; and Peter Wall, an assistant pastor and church director. Judge Thomas dismissed an application of contempt against church director Peter Hildebrandt. The findings were in response…

Southwestern Public Health announced Thursday, April 29, that as of Friday, anyone in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford 55 or older in 2021 could book an appointment for a COVID-19 immunization at a mass-vaccination clinic in St. Thomas, Tillsonburg and Woodstock. Previously, the minimum age had been 60. Next week, the health unit said, a…

Aylmer Police arrested a man (in red-and-black jacket) after repeatedly telling him he was too close to them, across from Aylmer Church of God on Sunday afternoon, April 25. The man, who wasn’t wearing a face mask and had been inside the church, had been holding a cell phone close to the officers’ faces, demanding…

A North York man, 42, and a Scarborough woman, 41, charged in connection with an alleged breach of pandemic restrictions at Aylmer Church of God on Tuesday night, April 20, identified themselves as Toronto police officers at the time in a video released on Ontario MPP Randy Hillier’s social media post. The video shows an…

Southwestern Public Health on Tuesday, April 20, announced the death of a St. Thomas man in his 70s, connected to COVID-19. His is the 73rd such death since the pandemic started in Elgin, St. Thomas and Oxford. The health unit reported 12 new confirmed cases on Tuesday. The total number of ongoing cases in the…

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Friday, April 16, that police would be given greater power to stop and question anyone about potential violations of the COVID-19 “stay-at-home” order to combat the third wave of the virus’s spread. Anyone refusing to say why they’re out and where they reside could face a $750 ticket. The stay-at-home…

Dr. Joyce Lock, medical officer of health for Southwestern Public Health, revealed on Wednesday, April 14, that a COVID-19 immunization clinic would soon be announced for Tillsonburg. During a weekly news briefing, she explained that an existing mass immunization clinic in St. Thomas could handle up to 800 patients a day, but one in Woodstock…