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23 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,January 13,2022 insidehalton.com noitpmusnoc retaw wol htiw detar ratS ygrenE noitarepo teiuQ teksab erawrevlis htiw yticapac gnittes ecalp 6 egarots ysae rof stenibac tsom rednu stiF stecuaf nehctik tsom htiw elbitapmoc - tcennoc kciuQ !noisreV potretnuoC a yrT ?rehsawhsiD eziS-lluF a rof ecapS oN BDW126WDD - NWOHS LEDOM sreliarT ro segattoC ,snehctiK llamS rof tcefreP SERUTAEF 7491 ECNIS moc.ybnaD ta srehsawhsid fo enil lluf s'ybnaD eeS The province has de- layed students' return to school until at least Jan. 17 and brought in other re- strictions in order to slow the spread of the Omicron variant and ease pressure on the healthcare system. Ontario has also closed indoor dining, theatres, museums and indoor sports and recreation facilities. Shopping malls, personal care business and indoor weddings and funerals are limited to 50 per cent capac- ity and social gatherings will be limited to five people indoors and 10 people out- doors. The province will evalu- ate the situation on Jan. 24 and decide whether to lift the restrictions. Hospitalizations in Hal- ton due to COVID-19 more than doubled during the past week, going from 34 pa- tients with COVID-19 to 73. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care al- so more than doubled from five to 12. Halton's hospitals were over capacity (115 per cent) for acute care beds while in- tensive care units were at 80 per cent capacity. The region posted a sin- gle-day record of new CO- VID-19 cases, 836, during the week despite most peo- ple not having access to test- ing. Testing in the province is now limited to high-risk individuals and as a result rate of positive tests sky- rocketed to 33.3 per cent. The true number of cases is believed to be much higher, as those without ac- cess to testing and experi- encing symptoms have been told to assume they have COVID-19 and to isolate for five days or until they are no longer experiencing symp- toms. Those cases are no lon- ger being included in the daily case totals WEEKLY ROUNDUP: COVID HOSPITALIZATIONS ON THE RISE HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com NEWS SCAN FOR MORE Scan this code to view COVID cases tracker. With local schools closed and children learn- ing online, Halton is once again offering emergency child care to health-care and frontline workers. The Region has part- nered with the Ministry of Education and select child- care operators in Oakville, Milton, Burlington and Georgetown to provide free emergency care, which is fully funded by the provin- cial government. Eligible workers will al- so have access to licensed home childcare providers in all four municipalities. Full-day spaces will be available for those eligible with children aged four to 12 who are registered for school in Halton. "Throughout the pan- demic, our health-care and frontline workers have worked around the clock to keep our community safe," said Regional Chair Gary Carr. "We will continue to en- sure our critical workers have the support they need as they respond to CO- VID-19. Thank you to our children services team, the Province and our local child care providers for working together to pro- vide this essential service." According to Halton Re- gion, spaces are limited, and those who previously applied for targeted emer- gency child care need to re- apply. For details on eligibility criteria, approved child care providers and how to apply, visit https:// bit.ly/3G1IjJa or call 311. EMERGENCY CHILD CARE AVAILABLE FOR FRONTLINE, HEALTH-CARE WORKERS MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@ metroland.com Emergency child care is being offered at no cost for local frontline and health care workers. Pixabay photo Don't be a LitterBug! Please keep our community clean.