The Medical Officer of Health for Windsor-Essex has some advice for those planning to head out to garden centres and hardware stores -- keep social distancing.
On Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford gave garden centres and hardware stores the go-ahead to start fully opening, and Dr. Wajid Ahmed admitted he has some reservations.
Ford said earlier in the week it was possible to allow those businesses to reopen because the rate of daily cases province-wide is continuing its downward trend. Still, Ahmed does not want to see eight weeks of self-isolation go to waste.
"Easing off these restrictions doesn't mean everything is gone," he said after the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit announced nine new cases of COVID-19 in the region Thursday. "We still need to be very responsible."
Windsor-Essex had 674 cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday. While 229 people had recovered, another 57 people had lost their lives.
"When you're out in the store, it's better you don't wander around," said Ahmed. "You pick up your stuff. You leave."
While garden centres and hardware stores will open their doors to patrons for the first time in almost two months, social distancing measures will be in place.
"It's not a free-for-all," said Ahmed. "There are restrictions on how many people can be in these facilities."
Ahmed reminded residents not to leave their homes if they are not healthy and maintain six-feet of space between themselves and others while out in public.
