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Category: Life

Canada

Remote rituals: The Jewish community is sustaining faith, upholding sacred traditions during the pandemic

In a pre-pandemic world, eight-day-old Theo Rapkin would have had his bris ceremony in a Montreal synagogue, surrounded by friends and family, his parents and a rabbi. There would have been prayers and a brunch.  The bris — formally known as the brit malah, or the “covenant of circumcision” — is a ceremony performed on the eighth day of a...
Consumers

Four Ottawa-area public health units issue mandatory-mask directive for enclosed public spaces

Ottawa Public Health has shifted its approach to reducing the spread of COVID-19, and is now officially requiring that city residents wear face masks in indoor public spaces.  In a statement issued jointly on Monday by four regional public health units in Eastern Ontario, including Ottawa Public Health, the agencies stated that they were “invoking a directive under the province’s...
Life

‘Know that you are special’: Cards, letters deliver powerful message to Ottawa seniors in pandemic isolation

As the temperatures neared the mid-30s on Father’s Day, Debbie Abfalter took a detour on her way to the beach to stop at the Stirling Park Retirement Community. Despite the blistering heat, residents gathered outside of their building — located near the Merivale Mall in west-end Ottawa — to greet her. That’s because when Debbie stops by she always brings...
Arts & Culture

Ottawa tattoo parlours approach reopening with caution

As Ontario enters Stage 2 of the reopening of the provincial economy during COVID-19, the long-awaited announcement that “establishments providing personal care services” can now resume operations — with many restrictions — is being met with a mixed reaction. Personal care enterprises such as hair salons, piercing studios and tattoo parlours can open today. But despite getting the green light...
Business

Local Ottawa businesses adapt to COVID-19 closures

Some local business owners say they are facing some very tough choices in the current lockdown in Ontario.  Businesses deemed essential by the province include grocery stores, pharmacies, liquor stores, and cannabis retailers among others. This has forced some non-essential business owners to rework their plans to survive during the closures. “I made the decision to cut all nine of my...