In November, as Omicron emerged as the new dominant strain of COVID-19, York Region in Ontario appointed Dr. Barry Pakes as their new medical officer of health. The region covers nine urban centres and more than a million people, including Canada's densest Jewish community, in Thornhill. So the fact that Pakes is an Orthodox Jew who studied, in part, at a yeshiva, gives him a unique advantage to liaise with local Jewish institutions and organizations when discussing how to fight the pandemic.

While Hanukkah gatherings lead to outbreaks across the community, especially in schools that had to be closed, there are worries about large families that travelled over the holidays as skyrocketing statistics are defining Omicron's winter surge.

Pakes joins today to explain how the community can combat the virus, what to expect from the Omicron variant and what the new year looks like from a public health perspective.

What we talked about:

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.