Chatham-Kent's top doctor has a message for those in COVID-19 hotspots who think they can come to local bars and restaurants and party this New Year's Eve.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby wants them to stay home and respect the lockdown and red zone health and safety rules to avoid spreading the virus. Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton stayed in the Yellow-Protect level of Ontario's COVID-19 restrictions on Friday while Windsor-Essex remained in the Red-Control level, but London and Middlesex County are being moved to the Orange-Restrict level. Toronto and Peel Region remained in lockdown.
Colby said the COVID-19 restrictions are in place to slow the transmission of the virus and need to be respected, especially by residents of Windsor-Essex. Colby wants people in lockdown or on the verge of lockdown to stop trying to beat the system.
"Those are residents in a red zone and they need to stop thinking about how can we keep doing what we want to do through some kind of loophole by moving to a different jurisdiction," said Colby. "They should be thinking about how they can respect the lockdown and slow transmission in their communities. The very premise that anybody would look to moving elsewhere to circumvent the regulations, I have a problem with that."
Colby said is strongly encouraging people to stay in their jurisdictions no matter if it's hot or not.
"We don't want people from low prevalence jurisdictions to travel to high prevalence jurisdictions and potentially get exposed and we don't want people from high prevalence jurisdictions to travel to low prevalence jurisdictions and potentially expose people," he said.
Some establishments across North America have started asking for identification at the door to weed out patrons from hotspots. Dr. Colby said he's not considering such a move at the moment and added it's up to each individual business to do it if it's legal. He said businesses are free to put their own stricter policies in place as long as they follow human rights codes. The doctor added those policies can be stricter than the current ones in place by the municipality and the province.
Colby said those thinking they can rent ice at local arenas also need to think again. CK's Chief Administrative Officer Don Shropshire said the municipality is reviewing its options to rent ice to out of town teams but quickly added Chatham-Kent doesn't want to promote travelling in a pandemic. Colby added that current COVID-19 health and safety protocols should address long lineups at local stores this Christmas shopping season.
