Municipal officials say they’re concerned about the potential for more anti-lockdown and anti-mask protests, particularly when it comes to outsiders coming to Chatham-Kent.
Mayor Darrin Canniff says he just wants to keep area residents safe.
“It’s not all local people doing this, in Aylmer I understand there was a lot of people coming from Toronto right through to Windsor,” Canniff says. “As we know, there’s some real hot spots in some areas of Toronto, so having all these people coming to our community, it just raises that potential, even if it’s outdoors or not.”
Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Colby says that while outdoor events have proven to be much safer than gatherings held indoors, it still boggles his mind.
“Wearing personal protective equipment, physical distancing, and hand hygiene, not associating in groups at this time is all that’s necessary to bring the transmission down,” Colby says. “Advocating for less stringent precautions at this time when it’s so important to keep this (virus) away from the vulnerable members of society, I have a lot of trouble understanding the rationale here.”
CAO Don Shropshire says he’s heard the local Hugs Over Masks and CK Freedom group is planning a rally on November 21st to protest COVID restrictions.
A number of anti-mask rallies were held in downtown Chatham after the mandatory mask bylaw came into effect in August, but municipal officials say their numbers have been dwindling the last few months.