Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby has left no doubt he feels Chatham-Kent will be moved back to tighter COVID restrictions by the provincial government today.
Right now, Chatham-Kent is in the Orange zone of Ontario’s reopening framework, but Dr. Colby says Red is a distinct possibility, meaning more restrictions on everything from social gatherings to dining.
CAO Don Shropshire says the only reason they would do that is increasing numbers of COVID-19, and says we have to own the blame.
“We are the authors of our own futures with these sort of thing,” Shropshire says. “It’s unfortunate for restaurant owners that as a result of some private gatherings, they’re going to be restricted in terms of their business operations, but we don’t have any choice in the matter, that’s exactly what we’re going to have to do.”
He says the idea that people think they can go against the guidelines by holding large indoor gatherings and not believe that will affect everyone is extremely frustrating at this stage of the pandemic.
“When a few community members go off and do this, it has repercussions right across the whole community,” Mayor Darrin Canniff says. “It’s very unfortunate that small business is going to be impacted from decisions some people have made to have these parties and spread this across.”
