A plea from local restaurants to allow them to stay open beyond midnight isn't getting much traction at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
WKND Hospitality, which owns The Bull and Barrel and Wild Child Nightlife in downtown Windsor, has launched an online petition calling on the Medical Officer of Health to loosen restrictions now that they can only allow fully vaccinated patrons inside.
"If vaccines are the answer to the pandemic -- why do we still have these punitive restrictions," asked Matt Kosma, co-owner of The Bull and Barrel.
It's not that Doctor Shanker Nesathurai doesn't recognize the economic impact early closing times have on restaurants and bars, but he said the restrictions are working.
"Before the public health direction, there were 44 restaurants that had exposures of COVID-19 that ultimately lead to 67 cases," Nesathurai explained. "Since the restrictions have come forth, that number has been reduced to six restaurants associated with eight cases."
CEO Nicole Dupuis said the majority of those cases were among people who were not yet fully vaccinated.
Kosma complained he's had to pretty much close one of his establishments, laying off up to 30 workers.
"Whenever we make public health guidance or decisions, we recognize that there is a component of inconvenience to the community overall," responded Nesathurai. "But the fact of the matter is, no business, no family, no household, no school, no daycare centre has been unaffected by COVID."
He said a number of factors will weigh into the decision to loosen restrictions. Not just individual case numbers, but also how many people are self-isolating, how many outbreaks are in the community, and what percentage of test results are coming back positive will influence it. Another big factor will be the region's vaccination rates.
"I'm hopeful that as vaccination rates continue to improve, other public health measures are effectuated, that public health restrictions will ultimately be reduced," he said.
The health unit reported another 29 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday morning. Public health officials are investigating the origin of 11 infections, while five were acquired in the community, and 13 people caught it from close contact with a patient already being tracked. There are 281 active infections and 23 people are in the hospital.
Across the province on Wednesday, the number of active cases fell to 4,989. Ontario reported 495 new infections and eight deaths in the past 24 hours.
Of the 23 ongoing outbreaks in this region, five are at schools.
Nesathurai also said he hasn't reached a decision yet about the possible return of extracurricular activities at area schools. The health unit had asked school boards to hold off on those until at least October 1 to allow in-class instruction to start with as few complications as possible.
So far this school year, 104 classes at the region's four public school boards have been dismissed after cases were detected in schools. That compares with 50 last fall. There have been 17 outbreaks so far, while there was eight last year.
