Mayor’s Message on COVID-19 – July 14, 2020
Hello everyone, week 17 for my messages.
A lot can happen in a week but first an update within Ontario. Total cases in Ontario now stand at 36,955 with 88% resolved. Yesterday there were 116 new cases with most from the Greater Toronto area. As a result of this encouraging trend the province announced yesterday that most public health units in the province can enter Stage 3 of reopening starting July 17th. For greater detail, see here https://files.ontario.ca/mof-framework-reopening-province-stage-3-en-2020-07-13.pdf. Some highlights include:
- Indoor gatherings up to 50 people with physical distancing
- Outdoor gatherings up to 100 people with physical distancing
- Dine-in restaurants can open, again with physical distancing
- Wearing of a face covering both indoors and outdoors when physical distancing is a challenge
- Child care cohorts increased to 15 children as of July 27th
We are reviewing this new guidance within our local context to reopen our still-closed facilities as soon as we are able to do so safely and sustainably.
The unknown factor in this province and country is whether this virus can be contained with the reopening plans being implemented.
Worldwide the statistics are grim. On July 12 there were over 230,000 new cases, bringing the grand total to almost 13 million.
South of our border, 37 states are having increasing cases and there is growing evidence that this virus may also be airborne. On July 12 the US added 60,719 new cases.
Locally, I am very pleased and encouraged by the number of people that I see being patient, using face coverings at businesses and maintaining physical distancing. We do not want to lose the progress we have collectively made and be forced to return to the stay-at-home guidelines and closure of our businesses again. COVID-19 fatigue is what we are all experiencing to some degree, but we have more than enough examples worldwide for the need to be vigilant and continue to do our part to keep everyone safe.
Thank you,
Ian