The Chatham-Kent chamber of Commerce is asking the Ford government to put some thought into reopening the economy in the province.
President and CEO Gail Hundt says they are looking for a coordinated effort to help get local businesses up and running again.
“We want a safe and organized reopening,” Hundt says. “We want to ensure that owners, managers, employees, have appropriate time to put their personal items in place as well as to ensure they have their safety protocol in place as we reopen.”
They are asking for some lead up time to reopening.
“We, as the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce, know our local businesses are making every effort to stay safe and promote wellness for their customers, their employees. And so that we do this in a manner that supports the economy reopening as safety measures allow.”
Hundt says there are many ways the government could assist in this matter, including online teaching tools, clear guidelines on all safety issues, and special attention to the hardest hit sectors of the economy, like service and travel.
The Chamber is also calling for strong testing and tracing apparatus to ensure the province can accurately assess where and how the virus is spreading, so that efforts to target restrictions can be confidently based on solid data.