With the possibility of a new wave of COVID cases coming in the fall, Chatham-Kent council decided to take their time in resuming in-person meetings.
Chatham-Kent council has held their meetings online since March of 2020. A report that came to council on Monday recommended that council meet in-person starting in September, however council in a 10-7 vote had the report referred back to administration for more information on what the modelling shows for COVID-19 in the fall.
Chatham-Kent’s General Manager of Community and Human Services April Rietdyk told council that COVID hospitalizations in Ontario are at their highest level since May.
“It is distressing to me as a public health practitioner that we are seeing a number of people really firmly believing that COVID is over. It is not over and certainly all of the modeling shows that we will have a wave in the fall and a wave in the spring,” Rietdyk said.
There are only five more council meetings scheduled in the current term, as a municipal election is scheduled in October.
