Fourth booster for 60 and over
Health Minister Christine Elliott says Ontarians 60 and older will soon be able to get a fourth shot of COVID-19 vaccine.
Elliott says the move comes on the advice of medical experts, to provide another layer of protection against the virus.
The minister adds we need not panic over rising COVID-19 hospitalization numbers, which have jumped almost 40 percent over the past week.
She says our medical facilities can cope adding we have to learn to live with the virus.
Rising infections in Quebec have that province extending its mask mandate until the end of April.
The provision requiring masks in public indoor spaces was to expire at mid-month.
Russia-Ukraine
Heavy fighting continues in Mariupol today, as Russian forces attempt to conquer the southern Ukrainian port city.
British military intelligence says more than160-thousand civilians remain trapped, and any efforts to evacuate them have failed.
Occupation of the city would give Russia a clear land link between its western border and Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014.
Meantime, the Ukrainian government in the eastern region of Luhansk is calling on all civilians to leave the area as soon as possible.
Parts of the area have been under the control of Russian-speaking separatists for the past eight years, and Russia is concentrating troops there to take over the rest.
Meantime, western nations are imposing new sanctions, including a ban on any new investment in Russia.
Minimum wage promise
The Ford government plans to raise the minimum wage again if it’s re-elected in June.
The pay will be increased from 50 cents an hour to 15-50 on October 1st.
The last boost, from 14 to 15 dollars an hour, came into effect on January 1st.
The Conservatives cancelled a planned increase to 15 dollars in 2019.
Postponing buying a home
More Canadians than ever are postponing their plans to buy a house.
An annual survey by Scotiabank finds 43 percent of those asked are putting off the purchase, up from 20 percent in 2020, just before the pandemic hit.
The bank says, with rising inflation and record-high home prices, the shift isn’t really a surprise.
The poll also shows one-third of those asked are now considering moving farther away from big cities to purchase an affordable place to live.
