The municipality of Chatham-Kent is asking local residents to get behind the provincial lockdown and support COVID-19 protection measures.
The lockdown was announced by Premier Doug Ford on Monday and begins on December 26.
Effective December 26, all municipal arenas, pools, galleries, theatres, and museums will be closed to the public. The Chatham Kent Public Library will also move to curbside service only. Municipal centres will remain open but only for essential services. Service Ontario offices will continue to be by appointment only and also only for essential services. Individuals who have rented municipal facilities will be contacted by Chatham-Kent staff regarding refunds. Questions about specific issues can be addressed by the department involved.
“Although Chatham-Kent has not been as severely impacted as some areas of the province, these actions are designed to ensure as much as possible that our situation locally does not worsen,” said Chatham-Kent Chief Administrative Officer Don Shropshire. “From the very beginning of the pandemic, we have supported medical authorities and we continue to do so.”
More information regarding permitted activities under the shutdown can be found at Chatham Kent Public Health.
Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff said it is vital that residents listen to public health authorities. Canniff added a vaccine is now in its initial stages of distribution and there is reason for optimism.
“Chatham-Kent residents have done an amazing job of keeping our numbers low, but we do not exist in a bubble. Each one of us has a role to play, in Chatham-Kent and across the province,” said the mayor. “We are entering the fourth quarter, but the fourth quarter is where the contest is won or lost. We need to continue to remain vigilant for the next several months and we will emerge from this pandemic a stronger community.”
Director of Economic Development Stuart McFadden said Chatham-Kent residents will play an important role in keeping the local economy operating and urged people to buy local.
“More than ever we need to buy local, whether it be ordering online from small businesses or using curbside or delivery service. We need to continue to support each other," McFadden said. "We have been urging and helping businesses to develop a stronger online presence and they have stepped up to create online tools to help their customers. It’s during times such as these when online tools become even more important for the delivery of products and services."
McFadden said his team will continue to provide one-on-one support for local small businesses, manufacturing, agriculture, and other industries with questions about how to deal with COVID-19 restrictions. Business programs dealing with many business-related matters such as personal protective equipment, rent and property tax relief can be found at investck.ca. The province has also setup a website to support businesses at covid-19.ontario.ca/covid-19-help-businesses-ontario which includes specific financial relief programs for businesses required to shutdown.
“I’m proud of how well the residents of Chatham-Kent have come together over the past 10 months to support and look after each other,” said Mayor Canniff. “This will hopefully be our last big push to get things heading back in the right direction and to keep everyone safe and healthy. I know that together we can do it."
The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) is also moving to Phase 2 of its visitor restrictions effective December 26. Phase 2 visitor restrictions permits one Care Partner only for long-stay patients on the Rehabilitation, Inpatient Psychiatry and Complex Continuing Care units. Exceptions to the CKHA visitor policy continue to include:
- An inpatient who is at imminent risk of dying, as determined by the clinical provider, may have no more than two visitors present at a time. - An inpatient who is considered palliative, as determined by the clinical provider, may have one visitor present at a time. - Paediatric patients may be accompanied by one adult visitor. - Women in active labour/post-partum may be accompanied by one adult visitor. - In the Emergency Department (ED): - A patient who is at imminent risk of dying may have a loved one present with them during their ED stay. - Patients with cognitive or mobility difficulties may be accompanied by one person during their ED stay. - Paediatric patients in the ED are permitted to be accompanied by one adult.
There continues to be no visitors permitted to a confirmed COVID-19 positive patient, regardless of the individual’s condition and no visitors will be permitted to a patient with a pending COVID-19 test result.
CKHA is also asking that Care Partners respect the provincial direction regarding current lockdowns and those Care Partners who may be travelling from outside of Chatham-Kent to please find an alternate Care Partner who currently resides in Chatham-Kent to visit on their behalf.
Chatham-Kent Public Health reported nine new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday afternoon to bring the number of active cases to 42. That's a jump of five from the previous day. The health unit said four people recovered, including one local patient who was in the hospital. The outbreak at Fairfield Park long term care home in Wallaceburg has also been declared over but the outbreaks at St. Anne Catholic School in Blenheim and an unidentified workplace continue. That workplace is not identified because it's not open to the public.
