The entire municipality is once again languishing in red control level of COVID restrictions as of today. The province ordered the move on Friday as the local numbers climbed again, up to 91 active cases as of the last report from Public Health on Friday.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby has said the majority of cases over the last few weeks can be linked back to close contact stemming from large, indoor gatherings, contrary to public health advice.
Municipal CAO Don Shropshire says people who have been refusing to follow health and safety protocols need to think about the consequences of their actions.
“It makes me think that if people really had an opportunity to put a human face on the impact of their decisions, I’m thinking of the nine people that have lost their lives in Chatham-Kent in the last year, or the literally dozens of people who’ve lost their businesses and their livelihoods,” Shropshire says. “If somebody went to a party and they had to actually explain why they thought they had the right to do that to the people who’ve lost a loved one or have lost their business, I think it would be a very different consequence.”
Mayor Darrin Canniff says the people that are not following the health protocols for COVID-19 are not being fair to local business owners.
“It has all sorts of impacts, it has financial impacts on hundreds of small business across the community, we have to collectively think about it,” Canniff says. “I would love to party like anybody else, but there’s a consequence. You cannot do it right now, you have to wait until we get vaccinations in people’s arms.”
There are some changes to the Red level of restrictions, easing the pressure on area restaurants, allowing up to 50% capacity or 50 patrons dining indoors.