THUNDER BAY - When the province-wide lockdown and stay-at-home order is lifted on Feb. 16, local health officials anticipate the Thunder Bay District will be in the red control category of the province’s COVID-19 response framework.
“It’s not so much I’m recommending one or the other at the present time,” said Dr. Janet DeMille, medical officer of health with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.
“I did have a discussion to review the data for the Thunder Bay District Health Unit in the larger context of what has been happening in the district and over the last couple of weeks. What I can tell by our numbers and the trends, I anticipate we will be in the red level when we come out of lockdown next week.”
The red control category places limits on social gatherings to fewer than five people indoors and 25 people outdoors. Restaurants and bars can reopen to in-person dining at limited capacity to allow for physical distancing and must be closed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Businesses are permitted to open to in-person shopping at 75 per cent capacity for supermarkets and grocery stores and 50 per cent capacity for all other retail businesses.
Personal care services can reopen with the exception of oxygen bars, steam rooms, saunas, and bath houses and services requiring the removal of a face covering are prohibited.
Sports facilities can reopen with a capacity of 10 people indoors in areas with weights or exercise equipment, team sports cannot be practiced or played, and no spectators unless it is a parent or supervising guardian.
Cinemas and performing arts centres will remain closed, with the exception of drive-in movie theatres.
DeMille said she expects the provincial government to make the announcement on Friday and the data will be reviewed on a weekly basis to determine if the district moves from one colour zone to another.
There were 21 new COVID-19 cases announced on Thursday in the Thunder Bay District and a total of 106 active cases.
As part of the province’s plan to lift the lockdown and stay-at-home order, local health units, in consultation with the chief medical officer of health, can implement what the government is calling an ‘emergency brake’ to move a region into the grey lockdown.
The emergency brake is in response to the increasing number of cases of COVID-19 variants being detected in Ontario.
“There is a significant concern that we will see more spread or increasing case numbers or as some people say a third wave,” DeMille said. “We know they are in Ontario and places in the north where that variant has shown up. It is very much an evolving situation.”
“As we reopen, this emergency brake as I understand it, is something that could be activated if there is evidence of the variant of concern in the community and spread as a result of that variant.”
