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STRATFORD VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 20
MAY 16, 2025
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Measles outbreak grows across Ontario: Over 1,400 cases reported
AMANDA MODARAGAMAGE Times Reporter
Ontario continues to experience a significant measles outbreak, with 1,440 outbreak-related cases and an additional 25 travel-related cases as of May 6, as noted in the Huron Perth Public Health (HPPH) board of health meeting on May 9. This is an increase of 197 cases over the previous week and is occurring at 17 public health units across Ontario, said Medical Officer of Health Dr. Miriam Klassen. “For context, in Ontario between 2013 and 2023, there were 101 cases altogether over that 10-year period. And last year, in 2024, there were 64 cases,” said Klassen. The outbreak has now been deemed stable but concerning, with 76.4 per cent of cases affecting infants, children, and adolescents, and 87 per cent of cases being unimmunized. Klassen said this number is expected to be much higher, as Public Health Ontario predicts several cases are not being appropriately reported to public health. The outbreak pattern at this point is said to be stable but seems to be hopping from one region to the next, passing through unvaccinated communities, Klassen told the board at the recent meeting. “Right now, we’re not seeing the same ‘up and down’ pattern, but rather the disease hopping from one community to the next,” she said. CONTINUED TO PAGE 2
(CONNOR LUCZKA PHOTO) Stratford police Chief Greg Skinner, accessibility advocate Diane Sims, and Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma gleefully cut the ribbon for the police station’s new accessibility ramp. The ramp and accompanying barrier-free front entrance means that the station finally has a zero-threshold entrance after nearly 20 years of petitioning from the city’s advisory committee.
After nearly 20 years of petitioning, Stratford Police HQ finally has barrierfree access
CONNOR LUCZKA
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
It’s been nearly 20 years since the accessibility advisory committee (AAC) first identified the Stratford Police Service (SPS)’s headquarters as inaccessible – but now the George Street building finally has a barrier-free entrance. On May 7, the ramp was officially unveiled with a ribbon cutting done by Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma, police Chief Greg Skinner, and Diane Sims, an accessibility advocate and co-chair of the AAC.
As Skinner said, a lot of work and a lot of people were involved in making the entrance and ramp a reality – but it was Sims’ advocacy that made it possible. “Diane was the catalyst and she never let go of it,” Skinner said about Sims’ dedication to the project. “When I think about some of the stories that I've heard of people trying to access the building who had accessibility issues, it was heart wrenching to know what they had to go through to be able to access the police. So this solution, CONTINUED TO PAGE 2