Ford government considering changes to COVID-19 restrictions in some regions

The Ford government’s COVID-19 plan is once again up for discussion at Queen’s Park, including potential changes to public health restrictions in some regions.

Dr. David Williams is considering requests from some areas of Ontario that are concerned about rising infection numbers.

Cabinet is expected to decide Friday whether to move the Thunder Bay area into lockdown after rising infection numbers have forced several school closures and other outbreaks among vulnerable populations over the last several weeks..

A school board in Thunder Bay, Ont., has asked public health authorities to order a suspension of in-person learning after several COVID-19 outbreaks have forced hundreds of students to self-isolate.

Schools have had to dismiss classes repeatedly because of COVID-19 cases, which is affecting students’ learning, said board chairwoman Ellen Chambers.

“What we don’t want to have is (students) coming back to school and there’s another outbreak, so we have a back-and-forth and a back-and-forth,” she said in an interview Wednesday.

Currently, 576 students and 55 staff with the board are self-isolating, and that has created a shortage in teachers and support staff, including bus drivers, said Chambers.

Dr. David Williams, the province’s top doctor, said Thursday that he’s recommended a potential lockdown for the region, which is a travel hub for northern Indigenous communities with few resources to support case surges

Calling a spike in COVID-19 cases ‘worrisome,’ Simcoe Muskoka’s medical officer of health is considering asking the province to move that region back into lockdown.

The region, which includes the City of Barrie, is currently in the ‘Red-Control’ zone and Dr. Charles Gardner says the number of COVID-19 cases last week increased by 30 per cent compared to the week before. The region is also seeing a large number of cases of the B.1.1.7 variant.

Gardner says he’ll be monitoring the numbers over the next week.

“I’m watching this very closely,” said Gardner. “We need to be prepared to go into a shutdown again in the near future if we continue to see this.”

Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie, said Wednesday, she wants her city to enter the ‘Red-Control’ zone of the colour-coded provincial COVID-19 framework when the stay-at-home order is lifted.

Crombie said the decision will ultimately be made by the province and that Peel Region should expect to find out where they will be heading by next Friday.

York Region entered the ‘Red-Control’ zone this week, joining Durham, Halton, Hamilton, and other regions in the process. The government decided to hold Toronto and Peel back after the expressed concern from health officials in both regions.