Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
The pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics will be like no other when they open on July 23. And they'll have an idiosyncratic Olympic Village to match.
Start with the aptly named "Fever Clinic," a prefabricated complex of isolation rooms inside the sprawling village on Tokyo Bay. This is where PCR tests will be given to athletes or staff suspected of carrying COVID-19.
It is a spot nobody will want to visit, unlike the massive dining hall, or the fitness center, or a special "casual dining area" that will serve famous Japanese dishes from okonomiyaki (a savory pancake) to rice balls to teppanyaki (dishes cooked on an iron grill).
Athletes will be tested daily in the village, after being tested at least twice before leaving home, and again upon arrival. Any test anomaly in the village could land athletes or staff in the hands of Dr. Tetsuya Miyamoto, senior director of the Medical Services Department for the organizing committee.
"If they test positive, then they will be brought over here," Dr. Miyamoto explained, standing during a media tour on Sunday outside the gun-metal gray walls of the clinic.
"This person will undergo another series of tests, taking a sample from the nasal membrane. Then we will analyze the nasal membrane test and confirm if that person really is infected or not."
If so, patients who are asymptomatic or with minor symptoms will be moved to an "isolation hotel" outside the village. The seriously ill will be moved to a hospital.
"We are hoping that there won't be so many people," Dr. Miyamoto said. "Of course, its going to be a range in the number of people. This is an infectious disease we are talking about. It has the possibility of spreading. So once that happens. the numbers could start to explode."
The village is a gigantic, somewhat featureless array of newly built apartment blocks on Tokyo Bay that are being sold off for occupancy after the Olympics and Paralympics close.
The village opens officially on July 13, just 10 days before the Olympics are to open. Athletes will be required to wear masks in the village -- even if they are vaccinated -- and be warned constantly with signage about social distancing, washing hands and ventilating room areas.
The International Olympic Committee has said more than 80 per cent of the occupants of the village will be fully vaccinated. This contrasts with the Japanese population, where about 6-7 per cent are fully vaccinated in a slow rollout that is now speeding up.
More than 14,000 deaths in Japan have been attributed to COVID-19, numbers good by world standards but not as good as other Asian neighbors.
The village consists of 21 residential towers varying from 14 to 18 floors with a total of 3,600 rooms. They're equipped with 18,000 beds, famously with disposable cardboard frames and spartan furnishings.
Apartment sizes vary from 110 square metres that could sleep eight, down to smaller units. Officials have said teams will decide how many athletes will sleep in the rooms, likely spreading them out when possible.
About 11,000 athletes are expected for the Olympics and 4,400 for the Paralympics, which open on Aug. 24. Arrivals will be staggered, and athletes are being asked to arrive as late as possible and leave almost as soon as they finish competing.
The two-floored dining area will have plastic panels to separate diners. Previous Olympics have used largely self-service, but food in Tokyo will be handled only by cooks and servers. Officials say diners can choose from about 700 options.
Athletes will be allowed to grab their own soft drinks from a huge refrigerator. But officials say the metal handles will be covered with "anti-virus film."
The official cost of the Tokyo Olympics is $15.4 billion, but government audits suggest it is twice that. All but $6.7 billion is public money. The IOC contributes about US$1.5 billion to the total cost.
The IOC has pushed ahead with these Olympics, which have generally faced disapproval in Japan, partly because it stood to lose US$3 billion-US$4 billion in broadcast income if the games were canceled.
Officials on the Sunday tour reiterated the policy on alcohol in the village.
Drinking alcohol will be prohibited in public spaces in the village, including park space. Takashi Kitajima, the village general manager, said athletes could only drink in their rooms.
"When you drink alcohol you are requested to drink alone," he said.
Organizers are distributing 150,000 condoms in the village. But Kitajima said they were being distributed mainly to "raise awareness about HIV and AIDS."
"So the purpose of distributing condoms is not (just) to use in the village, but to ask athletes to cooperate for the awareness of the issue by bringing the condoms back home to their countries."
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A U.S. farmworker who caught bird flu after working with dairy cattle in Texas appears to be the first known case of mammal-to-human transmission of the virus, a new study shows.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.