Neighbouring communities to Chatham-Kent are being moved to new levels within the province’s public health framework.
Windsor-Essex is being moved to the “Grey – Lockdown” zone, alongside York Region, joining Toronto and Peel. Windsor-Essex will now implement “widescale measures and restrictions, including closures, to halt or interrupt transmission.”
Middlesex-London will move to the “Red – Control” zone and implement “broader-scale measures and restrictions, across multiple sectors, to control transmission.” Restrictions are the most severe available before widescale business or organizational closure.
In total, seven public health regions are being moved to new levels with stronger measures. The province says these steps are being taken to stop the spread of COVID-19 in order to keep schools open in the regions where in-class learning is permitted, safeguard health system capacity, and protect the province’s most vulnerable populations. The regional levels and specific public health measures are set out in the Keeping Ontario Safe and Open Framework.
“Moving a region into Grey-Lockdown is not an easy decision, but it is one we needed to make in order to help stop the spread of the virus and safeguard the key services we rely on,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “As we enter the holiday season and as the province prepares to receive its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, it remains crucial for all Ontarians to continue adhering to public health advice and workplace safety measures to reduce the spread of the virus and keep each other safe.”
The following public health regions will move from their current level in the framework to the following levels effective Monday, December 14, 2020 at 12:01 a.m.:
- Grey-Lockdown
- Windsor-Essex County Health Unit; and
- York Region Public Health.
- Red-Control
- Middlesex-London Health Unit;
- Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit; and
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
- Orange-Restrict
- Eastern Ontario Health Unit.
- Yellow-Protect
- Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit.
All other public health regions will remain at their current level. Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications.
“Over the last week, public health indicators in the York and Windsor regions have continued to trend in the wrong direction and it is evident additional measures are needed to help limit the spread of the virus,” said Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “By making this difficult but necessary decision we can help to ensure that hospitals in these regions can work to provide patients with the care they need when they need it, including the performing of scheduled surgeries and other important procedures.”
For long-term care homes, visitor restrictions apply to those homes in the public health unit regions that are in the Orange-Restrict level or higher. In addition, long-term care homes must implement recently enhanced testing requirements.
Trends in public health data will continue to be reviewed weekly to determine if public health units should stay where they are or be moved into a different level. Public health units will stay in their level for a minimum of 28 days, or two COVID-19 incubation periods, at which time, the government will assess the impact of public health measures to determine if the public health unit should stay where they are or be moved to a different level. The government and the Chief Medical Officer of Health will continue to consult regularly with local medical officers of health on local context and conditions to help inform the classification of their public health unit region.
The Ontario government says they are now providing $600 million in property tax and energy cost rebates to support eligible businesses required to close or significantly restrict services due to enhanced public health measures. The government says this, doubles its initial commitment of $300 million made in the 2020 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover. To apply for this funding please visit Businesses: Get help with COVID-19 costs.
