THUNDER BAY - With warm weather finally expected to arrive in the region and the long weekend just around the corner, the federal minister of health is still reminding people to stay home as much as possible.
“It’s really important that we stay put until we flatten that curve completely,” said Minister Patty Hajdu.
Hajdu said it is important people refrain from travelling, even to other regions within the province, to reduce the spread of COVID-19, particularly to smaller remote regions that may not have the capacity to deal with an outbreak.
“If you are in Thunder Bay and your camp is in Geraldton, all the sudden now you are traveling from one zone to another and may be introducing the virus to a region that has a fragile healthcare system,” she said. “We have to be very thoughtful of the choices we are making right now as Ontarians.”
For people who have a camp within the Thunder Bay area and are able to self-isolate, they are not putting other municipalities at risk, Hajdu added.
And with more businesses and services opening up this weekend and next week, Hajdu is advising the public to continue to practice all public health guidelines to keep themselves and others safe.
“It is super important that people remember, especially as things open up, that we can maintain simple things to reduce the spread,” she said. “Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re sick. The symptoms are very wide in this particular virus. You need to continue to social distancing.”
Hajdu added there are still no immediate plans to reopen the Canada/U.S. border to non-essential travel and she believes Canadians understand the situation.
“Nobody is in a real rush at this point to have nonessential travel restored,” she said. “Obviously the United States is dealing with it’s own series of outbreaks and Canada as we are descending the curve and really wanting to flatten it before we introduce any relaxation on borders anywhere.”
There is no definitive timeline on when the border between the two countries may reopen and Hajdu said the federal government is in constant talks with American officials. Essential trade and workers are still permitted to travel between the two countries.
“All we know is this is hard to predict where this is going to land in terms of infection rates,” she said. “Everyone agrees we have to get our own house in order before we see a resumption of free travel across the border. This is really about trying to restrict the number of people moving about. I don’t think we are seeing any real opposition to that.”