Elaine Cole would love to facetime with her son and grandchildren, who live in Chicago, but poor internet and cell phone connectivity means she might get a second or two until the screens freeze.

The 70-year-old lives five kilometres northeast of Dorset, where she uses Bell for her landline and cell phone and Xplornet for internet.

While others are using apps such as Zoom to interface with family, friends and social groups, she is feeling more on her own than ever before as COVID-19 continues.

“It’s very isolating,” she said in an interview April 27.

She added it’s not just about service during the pandemic. She’s been a fulltime resident for six years, and before that a seasonal resident for 10. She said the service has always been poor. The landline is fine when not knocked out by weather. With the cell phone coverage, “depending on which way the wind blows, I’m lucky to get one bar.”

“It’s just so disheartening.”

She said in the recent wind storm, her landline was out and she had no cell service. While in good health, she worries what would have happened if she had needed assistance for some reason.

“It’s scary. It’s frustrating.”

Cole said she visited the Serengeti 1.5 years ago, and she got five bars there on her cell phone. Yet, 2.5 hours north of downtown Toronto, she is getting one bar if she’s lucky. She said connectivity is “not a luxury anymore. It’s a necessity.” She cannot fathom that residents of our area do not have access 24/7 and “it’s more important for people who live up north than in the cities. Not to have service is unforgiveable.”

Bell makes promise

The feisty senior says when it comes to promises – such as Bell Canada’s announcement last week of expanded Wireless Home Internet service – she remains skeptical, and will believe it when she sees it.

A Bell Canada spokesman told The Highlander this week that about 4,100 homes in Algonquin Highlands, Dysart et al, Lake of Bays, Laxton-Digby-Longford, Minden Hills, Somerville and Trent Lakes can now access Wireless Home Internet service – “a big jump from the 500 or so homes covered in these areas before last week’s expansion.”

The spokesman said the service provides Internet speeds of up to 25 Mbps, with two packages available depending on usage required. Details are available at Bell.ca/ FastInternet. He said residents can also check if the service is available at their home.

“Bell’s Wireless Home Internet program is dedicated to bringing full broadband Internet speeds to rural communities and other traditionally underserved locations. And with WHI usage growing 4 per cent over the last month, the COVID-19 crisis has clearly underscored the value of the service to customers in smaller communities,” said Mirko Bibic, president and CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada, in an April 23 press release.

Bell said the rollout is for 137,000 rural households in 180 communities.

Cole will also await the results of the Eastern Ontario Regional Network’s (EORN’s) request for proposals to build new cellular infrastructure as part of a $213 million project. The bidding process will aim to identify partners who can expand cell coverage throughout Eastern Ontario as part of a wider effort to improve mobile broadband, in an initiative involving three levels of government. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott has said the project will take a number of years to complete.

By Lisa Gervais

Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) said it’s now sealed off Highland Wood and Hyland Crest long-term care homes from the rest of the hospital sites in Haliburton and Minden.

In its weekly community update, released April 24, HHHS president and CEO Carolyn Plummer said they’ve  installed temporary walls between the two areas, created separate entrances for staff and essential visitors to use depending on which part of the facility they need to access, designated separate break and change rooms for staff, and re-designed work flows so that there is no cross-over between the homes and the rest of the hospital.

“All of this work, and it has been a considerable amount, has been done in an effort to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 from the emergency and acute areas to our more vulnerable long-term care residents,” Plummer said.

She said HHHS is also moving forward with increased testing for every long-term care resident and staff member, as mandated last week by the Government of Ontario.

In the meantime, she added they will continue to take resident and staff temperatures twice-daily, maintain physical distancing within the homes, and have staff use the proper personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks, in all care areas within their facilities.

Plummer said as the provincial government seeks to have more people tested for COVID-19, their online self-assessment tool has been updated to include more symptoms, such as hoarse voice, runny nose, loss of sense of taste or smell, headaches, digestive issues, and fatigue.

The self-assessment can be reached at Ontario.ca/coronavirus, or you can call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.

The president and CEO said while HHHS appreciates that many people have tried to stay away from hospitals and health care providers during COVID-19, “I want to encourage everyone to seek health care if and when you need it. HHHS and our local health care partners have been working diligently to ensure that we can manage the COVID-19 pandemic while still providing high-quality health care services to the community. Please do not ignore any health issues you may be having, and seek regular care when needed.”

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit now says all seven cases of COVID-19 in Haliburton County have been resolved. There have been no new cases for more than a week. So far there has only been one hospitalization and no deaths or outbreaks.