Ontario warns of a 'difficult' fall and winter due to COVID and paying more at the grocery store: Top five stories this week

Downtown Ottawa on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -

Ontario offers details on what a fourth wave could look like during the COVID-19 pandemic this fall, hospitals unveil COVID-19 vaccination policies and it costs more to put food on the table.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories on our website this week.

What a fall fourth wave will look like in Ontario

As the Ontario government paused further reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials provided new details about what a fourth wave could mean for Ontarians.

"We are preparing aggressively for the fall," said Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health. "I am sorry to say, I think it's going to be a difficult fall and winter."

Officials say if needed, measures will be targeted, focused and limited – and they could be different depending on your vaccination status.

"We want to minimize disruption of our economy going forward, we want to minimize disruptions of schools, universities and colleges and so any orders would be targeted, focused, and time limited," he said.

That would mean a blitz of contact tracing and shorter shutdowns for cities with outbreaks and no shutdowns if there are low case counts and hospitalizations — but it all hinges on vaccination status.

"I don’t believe there will be province-wide measures, they’ll be done in a measured and restrictive way," said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, medial officer of health for eastern Ontario. 

"There will be different sets of expectations, regulations and restrictions for vaccinated versus unvaccinated people," he said. 

People walk down the street during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, Ont. on April 11, 2021. (Colton Praill / CTV News Ottawa)

COVID-19 vaccinations not mandatory for staff at three Ottawa hospitals

Ottawa hospitals unveiled plans for vaccination policies for staff this week, after the Ontario government announced the details of policies for high-risk settings.

CHEO says all doctors, nurses, staff and volunteers will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

If doctors, nurses, staff and volunteers are not fully vaccinated, CHEO says, "All options will be considered to effectively enforce the policy."

"As we enter this fourth wave, one of the things we know is, of course, COVID looks for unvaccinated people and children under 12 are unvaccinated and so we want to have layers of protection to make CHEO as safe as possible for everyone, of course, principally for kids and families," said Alex Munter, President and CEO of CHEO.

The Ottawa Hospital, Queensway Carleton Hospital and Montfort Hospital are not making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for staff. Instead, all hospitals will follow the provincial directive on COVID-19 vaccines, requiring mandatory testing for anyone not fully vaccinated.

On Friday, Ottawa Community Housing announced all staff and contractors working in community housing would need to be fully vaccinated.

On Thursday, Ontario announced all 64,000 employees of the Ontario Public Service will be required to get vaccinated or else submit to regular COVID-19 testing. 

TD Bank, RBC and CIBC also announced this week that they will require employees working in their offices to be fully vaccinated.

Health-care worker Thi Nguyen administers Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at a COVID-19 clinic in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Food prices at an all time high at Ottawa grocery stores

You may have noticed a spike in your weekly grocery bill, as the COVID-19 pandemic causes an unprecedented spike in food prices.

Owner of Farmer’s Pick grocery store, Alfonso Curcio, is an expert when it comes to the price of food.

"I’ve been doing this for over 40 years. Never seen so many items go up so quick,” says Curcio. "It’s supply and demand. When the demand is there and the supply is not there, the price has got to go up."

Compared to July 2020, overall food prices have risen by 1.7 per cent.

In 2019 tomatoes were $4.99 per 3 litre basket at Farmer’s Pick. Now, $6.99.Pasta was $2.99 two years ago, today that same package is $3.99.

Since 2016, some of the biggest jumps in food prices came from baby food, potatoes and beef. 

Ottawa woman, 18, drowns at Fitzroy Provincial Park this weekend, OPP says

An 18-year-old Ottawa woman drowned while swimming at Fitzroy Provincial Park in Ottawa's west end.

Ontario Provincial Police say Cheka Kazera of Ottawa was swimming with a group in the beach area at the park when she did not resurface.

It was the third drowning in Ottawa this summer.

Driver with three children in car faces stunt driving charge

A 23-year-old driver with three children in the vehicle was stopped speeding 65 km/h over the posted speed limit last weekend.

The driver was one of five motorists stopped for stunt driving on Aug. 12.

Ottawa police say the driver was observed going 115 km/h on the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge coming into Ottawa.

The charge for stunt driving includes a seven-day licence suspension, and the vehicle impounded for 14 days.