Tighter limits are being placed on social gatherings in Chatham-Kent to stop the steady increase in COVID cases locally.
Effective Friday, December 10th, indoor social gatherings will be limited to 10 people and receiving lines will not be allowed at religious services including weddings and funerals. No changes are being made to organized sports, bars, or restaurants.
Chatham-Kent Medical Officer Dr. David Colby says transmission in Chatham-Kent has been coming primarily from gatherings and household exposures.
“In Chatham-Kent, we have had outbreaks from workplaces, churches, and schools, mainly very small outbreaks in schools because the cohort control system that we have implemented enables us to arrest spread in schools very rapidly, so we don’t have the outbreaks there,” Dr. Colby explains. “But we have not seen any outbreaks associated with restaurants and bars in Chatham-Kent, and that’s because these are very controlled environments and only those showing appropriate proof of vaccination are allowed entry.”
The “letter of instruction” issued Monday also includes a reminder to business owners to review their COVID safety plans, ensure physical distancing, and keep a list of everyone coming into the workplace.
55 new infections were confirmed this past weekend alone, bringing the active caseload to 138, the highest it has been since September. There are now 15 COVID patients being treated at the Health Alliance, six of whom are in intensive care.
Dr. Colby says while Chatham-Kent’s situation isn’t unique compared to health units across Ontario, it is still troubling.
“The province has indicated that province-wide control measures will not be brought into force, rather control measures will be left to each of the 34 local medical officers of health to enact, and as Chatham-Kent medical officer of health faced with this kind of increase, I must act.”
Earlier Monday afternoon, Chatham-Kent Public Health issued a letter to the public urging residents to avoid any social gatherings if they are not feeling well or believe they may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status.
