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Volume 49 No. 2
BEACHMETRO.COM
March 17, 2020
Michael Garron Hospital opens COVID-19 Assessment Centre By Amanda Da Silva
MICHAEL GARRON Hospital has opened an assessment centre for COVID-19 screenings in a clinic on-site that features a separate entrance from the hospital off of Mortimer Avenue, west of the emergency department. It will be one of several screening and assessment centres opening in Toronto. The hospital, located at 825 Coxwell Ave., had initially planned to open an assessment centre in a medical building on Coxwell Avenue across the street from the hospital. That plan was later revised in order to not have potential COVID-19 patients visiting the medical building. “We received good insights from our partners on how to best prepare for the opening of an Assessment Centre at that location, for example, instituting patient and visitor screening at all points of entry of the medical building, in addition to reducing disruption to regular health care services,” said Michael Garron Hospital spokesperson Andrea Nameth. “The Assessment Centre now open on our main hospital campus is part of a phased approach to expand our COVID-19 assessment capacity and we continue to explore more options as need increases. This may include additional off-site locations in future.” People who may have symptoms of COVID-19 (for example a fever, new or worsening cough, sore
Impacts of fight against virus being felt locally By Alan Shackleton
PHOTO: ALAN SHACKLETON
Michael Garron Hospital’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre is now open in an area of the hospital that has a separate entrance off of Mortimer Avenue. throat, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, runny nose and joint aches) should call ahead and book an appointment at the assessment centre at 416-469-6858. Currently the COVID-19 assessment centre will be open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will change the hours depending on need. The assessment centre will not accept walk-ins, all screenings are appointment based and they only urge people with the symptoms above to call. The reason it will be appointment based is to prioritize potential cases and prevent un-
necessary visits to the assessment centre or the hospital. The process for COVID-19 testing is after the patient arrives, they will be screened and then assessed by a physician or a nurse and if they detect a potential case, the patient will be tested. The test involves taking a sample from the back of the nasal cavity with a swab. Toronto Public Health will follow up with the patient if they have contracted COVID-19. If urgent care is needed, visit an emergency centre and call 911 and inform them of your travel/ contact history and symptoms.
Beaches Spring Sprint cancelled due to concerns THE BEACHES Spring Sprint is among a number of local events that have been cancelled in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus). The annual run has been taking place since 1987, and is a major fundraiser for the Beaches Recreation
416-690-1032 • beyrima.ca RBerns-McGown-CO@ndp.on.ca
Centre. The run had been slated to take place on the morning of Saturday, April 4, along the Boardwalk. In-person registrations for the race had been planned for next week. On the weekend, the run’s Advisory Council said it had been
cancelled in light of the COVID-19 concerns. It joins a number of other events cancelled for the same reasons. For more on Spring Sprint, visit www.facebook.com/Beaches-Recreation-Centre-Advisory-Council-847133108642555/
Offers that will make your heart race
AS THE fight against the spread of COVID-19 (the coronavirus) ramps up around the world, the effects are being felt across the country including East Toronto neighbourhoods. Local grocery stores have been extremely busy since Thursday, March 12, when increasing measures to fight the spread of the virus such as the closing of all of Ontario’s publicly funded schools for the next three weeks were announced. On the afternoon of Sunday, March 15, stores including Foodland and Carload on The Beach along Queen Street East in the Beach were busy but not jammed. Staff at both stores were busy keeping the shelves stocked, and shoppers appeared to be calm and patient for the most part. A woman who had just finished shopping at Foodland said it was important not to panic as fears of the impact and toll the COVID-19 virus will take grows. “I’m personally feeling good. I think the panic shopping is an overreaction by a lot of people,” she said. However, those who had been in the stores on Friday and Saturday said they had been extremely busy, which was a trend seen at many local stores as shoppers were stocking up on items such as canned goods and toilet paper. Last Friday morning, No Frills
owner John Rocca was busily restocked bananas in the produce section and he sighed when asked by a reporter about how busy the store had been the day before as shoppers were in a near-panic of buying. “It was super busy,” he said about the evening of March 12, and the line-up of customers into his Coxwell Avenue and Gerrard Street East store reached the parking lot. “We are doing our best to serve our customers,” Rocca said. “We have great staff and they have been troopers. I’m so proud of them and the service they have given under these circumstances.” Rocca did not want to comment on the politics of the COVID-19 response by governments or what he thought of the “panic” among customers. “We’re dealing with it,” he said as continued to unload produce. On Friday morning his store was busy, with the parking lot almost full and a steady stream of customers heading in and out, but it was not packed. Outside, customers told Beach Metro News they were trying not to be greedy when they shopped but were concerned about the impacts of having to be self-sufficient if they had to go into isolation because of the virus. “We’ve been told to be prepared,” said one woman who had stopped at Rocca’s after visiting two other No Frills earlier in the morning in Continued on Page 2
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